Santorini FAQ
333 questions players ask · Updated Nov 10, 2026 · Full rulebook
How to PlayExpansion
- Do you have to build after moving up onto level 3 to win?
- Do you lose if you cannot move and build on your turn?
- Must you move and then build on every turn?
- Can a game of Santorini end in a draw or a stalemate?
- Can a worker move or build diagonally between buildings, past a diagonal corner or rooftop?
- Does "neighboring" take height into account?
- Can a worker drop down more than one level in one move, and does it need a dome?
- Can a worker climb more than one level in a single turn?
- Does the builder's own height limit what level it can build on?
- Can you build on the space your own worker is standing on?
- Can a worker move onto a space with a dome?
- Can a build remove blocks from the board or lower a level?
- What counts as a complete tower?
- Can you destroy a domed building instead of building on your turn?
- Can a dome be built on a level 2 block?
- What changed between the Roxley and Spin Master editions of the rules?
- What rules changed between the first and second editions of Santorini?
- Where can I find up-to-date rules, since the old rulebook and FAQ are out of date?
- Is the Riddle of the Sphinx tutorial's turn 1 label Blue or White Player?
- Is the "Do not attempt" warning for Godlike mode a rule that limits when you can try it?
- Does the Riddle of the Sphinx legacy campaign mark or change the cards and tokens?
- Can a ground-level space be domed, or only when a power allows it?
- Can you use the same worker on two turns in a row?
- Must the build after a move be made by the worker that moved?
- Must you move each of your workers every turn?
- Do you lose if one of your workers is trapped and cannot move or build?
Setup
- When do a god power's setup effects happen, relative to placing workers?
- When is Aeolus's Wind token placed during setup?
- Can Scylla be used in a game against Hecate?
- How is each player's god card chosen at setup?
- How many god cards are used in a two-player game?
- When does Chaos shuffle the unused god powers, and do other players lose their simple powers?
- Can simple and advanced god powers be mixed in one game?
- In a Circe versus Eros game, does Circe's power apply during setup?
- Why does Selene's setup call for one male and one female worker?
- How are workers placed at the start of the game?
Components
- What happens if you run out of building blocks or domes during a game?
- Does a dome left on the ground after blocks are reclaimed count as a complete tower?
- Do the level 1, 2 and 3 block counts limit how many of each level can exist?
- Which gods use more than the basic two workers?
- How do you tell a complete tower from one dismantled for lack of blocks?
Using God Powers
- Does a worker forced onto level 3, or moved from one level 3 space to another, win the game?
- Can I win by moving up to level 3 if that move breaks Aphrodite's or Adonis's requirement?
- Do god powers belong to the player or to the workers?
- How do gaining, losing, disabling and restoring powers work, for example with Circe, Chaos or the Golden Fleece?
- Are god powers optional, or must they be used every turn?
- Can Scylla force an opponent worker up or down more than one level?
- If Bia removes both of an opponent's workers in a two-player game, does Bia win?
- Are Clio's coins removed when a block is built on their space?
- Can Iris jump over two workers in a single move?
- Is there a maximum number of workers Hydra can have?
- Can an opponent lose on turn one against Moerea's selected spaces?
- If a board edge or an occupied space blocks a worker from moving in the same direction again, does the same-direction requirement fail?
Simple God PowersExpansion
- Can Apollo swap places with his own worker, and does the swap count as his move?
- Can Apollo swap with an opponent on level 2 from the ground, or swap with a worker that is not adjacent?
- Can Apollo's swap force an opponent worker up two or more levels?
- Can Apollo build after moving by swapping?
- Does Athena's restriction on moving up stop Apollo from swapping up onto a higher level?
- Can Apollo swap with Zeus to win when Zeus is forced up to level 3 beside him?
- Can Artemis's extra move pass over a worker or dome, or climb two levels in one step?
- Can Artemis's second move climb straight from level 1 to level 3?
- Does Artemis allow a turn of move, move, then build?
- Can Artemis's quest be completed by climbing on one move and descending on the other?
- In a three- or four-player game, does Athena's restriction apply to both opponents and not to her teammate?
- When Athena restricts upward moves, can the Minotaur's forced push still move an opponent worker up?
- Can Atlas build domes at levels 1 to 3, or on the ground?
- Does an extra build onto a level 3 tower, such as Demeter's, place a dome?
- Does Hephaestus's extra block have to go on the first block built this turn?
- Can Hermes' workers move in any direction and any number of times?
- With Hermes, must your turn include a build, and does the build have to be made by a worker that moved?
- If Hermes is forced up or down, can he still choose which worker builds?
- Can the Minotaur push an opponent worker up to a higher level?
- Can the Minotaur push diagonally, and in which direction does the pushed worker go?
- Can the Minotaur push a worker into a dome, into another worker, or off the board?
- Can the Minotaur push one of its own workers?
- Can the Minotaur climb up to reach a push, or move down onto a worker to push it?
- Does Pan win if his worker drops down to ground level, and does he also win the usual way?
- Does Pan win if he is pushed or forced down two levels?
- Can Prometheus build before moving and then move up, and must he build after moving?
- Can Prometheus's second build go on the same tower?
- Can Prometheus build before moving and then move onto a space at the same level?
- Does Prometheus need to "not move up" or "be unable to move up" to build before moving?
Advanced God Powers
- Does Zeus win by building a level-3 block under himself?
- Can Zeus build a block under himself while Athena is in play?
- When Zeus builds a block under himself, does Persephone's must-move-up rule apply?
- Can Zeus avoid Hades' restriction by moving down one level and then building under himself?
- When does Medusa petrify an opponent worker?
- Does Medusa's petrification replace her normal build?
- Can Medusa petrify both opponent workers in one turn?
- Are petrified workers removed from the game, and does petrifying both opponent workers win a two-player game?
- Does Medusa's petrification count as a build, so that adjacent Limus workers protect each other?
- If Circe takes Medusa's power after a Medusa worker is removed or petrified, does she keep it?
- Can Medusa move to level 3 and still use her power when Hera is in play?
- Can other players exchange the blocks stored on Morpheus's card?
- Can Morpheus spend several stored blocks in one turn, building on more than one space?
- Can Morpheus skip building to save up blocks, and is there a limit on how many he can store?
- Must Morpheus still move on his turn, and does he lose if he has no legal move?
- If Circe takes Morpheus's power, what happens to the blocks stored on his card?
- If Circe or Chaos gives a player a new power mid-round, do the old power's lingering effects still apply?
- Can Circe be used against Gaea?
- Can Chaos's hidden power deck be shown openly to all players?
- When must Chaos discard its god power and draw a new one?
- Is Eros one of the powers Chaos can draw?
- Does Bia's power depend on the height of the workers involved?
- Must Bia place her workers on the perimeter during setup?
- If Bia is the second player, must she still place her workers first?
- Do Bia, Medusa and Theseus remove opponent workers before or after their build?
- Does Bia remove an opponent worker when her worker is forced into a space rather than moving there?
- In a three-player game, does Hypnus apply separately to each opponent?
- Does Hypnus stop a worker from building, or only from moving?
- Can Hypnus stop a player's last remaining worker from moving?
- Can Ares destroy a dome, or a block with a dome on it?
- Can Ares remove a block that holds an opponent's worker?
- When Ares removes a block that holds a token, where does the token go?
- Can Ares remove the bottom block of a tower and leave the top block floating?
- Can Ares be used in a two-player game?
- Does Ares's worker removal require the other worker to have not moved?
- Can Ares remove a block to open up a space for a worker to move onto in the same turn?
- Can the Minotaur push an Aphrodite worker so that its final move ends next to Aphrodite?
- If an opponent's worker is next to one of Aphrodite's workers, can the player move Aphrodite's other worker instead?
- If an opponent's worker starts next to both of Aphrodite's workers, must its last move end next to both?
- What happens if the opponent has no legal move that ends next to Aphrodite's worker?
- Can Scylla move away and pull one of Aphrodite's workers next to her?
- Can you win by moving away from Aphrodite on the turn you reach level 3?
- How does Aphrodite's rule restrict a Charybdis whirlpool move?
- Can Triton move away from Aphrodite when he starts next to her and enters the perimeter?
- How far can Triton keep moving along the perimeter in one turn?
- Can Triton climb a level 1, level 2, then level 3 staircase of blocks in one turn?
- Does Persephone's move-up requirement count Triton's chain of moves, and can Triton move up and then back down?
- Does Triton get an extra move when Charybdis forces his worker through a whirlpool?
- Does Dionysus gain the god power of the opponent worker he moves on his extra turn?
- Can you lose during Dionysus's extra turn?
- If Dionysus controls one of Limus's workers, can that worker build normally?
- If Eris or Dionysus forces Chronus to build a fifth Complete Tower, does Chronus win straight away?
- Does a dome on a lower block count as a Complete Tower for Chronus's win condition?
- Can an opponent of Hera win by moving onto a perimeter space?
- In a two-player game, what must Eros's workers stand on to win by moving them next to each other?
- In a three-player game, does Eros win if his two workers end adjacent on the ground?
- Where must Eros's workers start during setup?
- When Eris copies a god that moves two workers, which worker counts as the most recently moved?
- With Harpies and Hades both in play, can a Harpies-forced worker be pushed down a level?
- Can Artemis's second move return her worker to its starting space when Harpies is in play?
- Does Harpies' forced movement stop Urania's wrap-around move from looping forever?
- Can Atalanta's extra moves go up and down levels?
- Must Hestia's second build use the same worker, and must it sit next to that worker?
- Can Hestia's first build go on the perimeter, with the second build only in the middle nine spaces?
- How many builds can Poseidon get in one turn?
- Under Terpsichore, can the second worker move into the space the first worker just vacated, and build on what the first built?
- Under Terpsichore, do you lose if one worker cannot move or build but the other can?
- Does Persephone force Artemis to move up when Artemis can only reach a higher level with her second move?
- If I have Charon and my opponent has Persephone, can Charon's ferry let me avoid moving up?
- When Persephone requires a worker to move up, does moving up to level 3 count as a win?
- Does Persephone's move-up requirement still apply when no build would be possible under Limus?
- What happens when Athena and Persephone are both in play and Persephone requires moving up?
- Does Hypnus stop a Graeae worker when two Graeae workers share the higher level?
- Can Prometheus build before moving when Persephone could force him up?
- Must Prometheus build after moving, and can he skip that build?
- Does Demeter build twice in one turn?
- Does Hephaestus's extra block on top of the block just built allow a dome?
- Can Atlas or Selene build a dome at any height after moving?
- Can Scylla's power force an opponent's worker up more than one level?
- How does Asteria's end-of-turn dome work?
- How does Adonis's end-of-turn power work?
- Can Orpheus's male worker trigger the power when it moves to a space at the same level as before?
- Under Aurae's end-of-turn move, can each worker move a different number of times?
- Does Proteus's forced move let a second worker move into the space a forced worker vacated?
- Can Charon's before-move ability use the worker you are not moving?
- After Charon forces an opponent's worker, must Charon's worker move into the vacated space?
- Can Charon move an opponent's worker that stands on a higher level?
- Does Charon flipping an opponent's worker onto level 3 win the game?
- Can Charon force an opponent's worker diagonally?
- After Charon forces an opponent's worker, must that worker move again that turn?
- Can Charon force an opponent's worker onto a space that has a building but no worker?
- If Charon's worker can only move by using Charon's power, can the player pass instead?
- If Hypnus stops one of my workers, can I build with it instead of moving with the other worker?
- If Hermes's workers do not move up or down, can both workers move any number of times in one turn?
- Can Gaea place her new worker in the middle of an opponent's turn, right after the opponent builds a dome?
Advanced God Powers (with Tokens)
- How many neighboring spaces does Urania have on the edge of the board?
- Does Urania's edge wrap-around apply when Harpies forces her worker across the board?
- If Charon plays against Urania, does Urania's edge wrap-around apply when Charon forces a worker?
- Does moving onto a Charybdis whirlpool that carries your worker up to level 3 win the game?
- What happens to a Charybdis whirlpool token when it is built on or removed?
- Can a worker move onto a whirlpool when only one whirlpool is on the board?
- When Charybdis and Harpies both trigger on the same move, which power resolves first?
- What happens when Clio builds on top of her own coin token?
- If Clio builds over her own coin to remove it, can the removed coin be placed on the new tower?
- Which blocks get Clio's coins, and who controls a space Clio builds on?
- If a dome is built over a block carrying Clio's coin, is the coin lost?
- Can Clio move and build freely on spaces that hold her own coins?
- On an opponent's turn, are Clio's coin spaces invisible to powers like Bia, Charon and Medusa?
- Can Ares remove a block that has a Clio coin token on it?
- If Tartarus's secret Abyss space is built over, does an opponent still lose by entering it?
- Does Clio lose if she steps onto her own coin space that is the Tartarus Abyss?
- Can a worker lose to Tartarus's Abyss during setup?
- How are Hecate's invisible workers placed?
- If Hecate's invisible workers make a player's move or build illegal, is the rest of their turn, including End of Your Turn powers, cancelled?
- What does Hecate's rule to use a power on an opponent's behalf mean in practice?
- In Hecate vs Dionysus, how does Dionysus take his extra turn using Hecate's invisible workers?
- What happens when Medusa is next to Hecate's invisible workers?
- How does Harpies's forced movement continue after an opponent's normal move?
- Can Europa's Talus token be placed on a whirlpool or other token?
- Does Aeolus's wind block Siren's movement ability?
- Can the Siren use her ability if no opponent worker has a legal space to be lured to?
- How does Nemesis's end-of-turn swap work, and does it teleport workers?
- Does Morpheus get a new block only at the start of each turn, and an extra block when he plays a collected block?
- Can Limus's restriction on building next to its workers stop Selene's female-worker dome?
- What are tokens in Santorini, and which gods use them?
- Can Moerae win by moving to level 3 as well as by an opponent entering her Fate spaces?
- Can Siren force two adjacent opponent workers in a line at once?
- If Gaea's new worker would be placed next to a hidden Hecate worker, where does it go?
Golden Fleece Variant
- Does a player gain the Golden Fleece god power every turn, and do both workers share it?
- Can Athena be used with Chaos's unused simple powers in the Golden Fleece variant?
- In the Golden Fleece variant, does the player who places workers first take the first turn?
- If neither player has a worker next to the Golden Fleece, do gods that restrict opponents still apply?
- Can Ares be used in a Golden Fleece game?
- What does the ram-head column symbol on some god cards mean?
- Do Golden Fleece's male and female workers have to be designated during setup?
- Does Hades' Golden Fleece power affect me at the start of my turn when my opponent's worker is next to the Fleece?
- Does a space described as containing only a dome count as a complete tower?
Hero Powers
- Can heroes be used together with gods, or played against gods?
- Can Heracles build domes on ground level with his power?
- When a player picks Heracles, who chooses which player starts?
- Are hero powers usable only once for the whole game?
- What is the difference between Scylla and Adonis?
- Can you win by a move that breaks Adonis's lure, and does winning skip Adonis or Aphrodite's end-of-turn obligations?
- Can Atalanta climb more than one level in a turn with her unlimited-move power?
- Can Medea's Hero Power remove blocks from under opponent workers too?
- Does the Odysseus player choose which corner the opponent workers are forced to, and can he displace both?
- Does Jason keep his extra Argonaut worker for the rest of the game?
- Can Bellerophon win by moving up from level 1 to level 3 in one move using his hero power?
3 & 4 Players
- In a 4-player team game, can each player move either of the team's workers, and can the god power be used with either worker?
- How does a four-player game work with shared worker colours, and how many god powers does each player hold?
- Are 4-player games played as teams, and is the team game an official mode or a misprint?
- In a 4-player team game, does the team lose when one player cannot move and build, or when one worker is stuck?
- In a 4-player game, do players each have their own workers, and how many are needed?
- In 4-player games, does a player's god power apply to a teammate's turn?
- How does a player lose in a three-player game, and what happens to their pieces?
- In a 3-player game, when a player loses, does their God Power stay active?
- In a 3- or 4-player game, does a power that restricts opponents, such as Athena, Limus or Hades, apply to both opponents?
- Are God Powers required in 3-player and 4-player games?
- With 4 players in 2v2 teams, why does the box say 2 to 4 players and show only two colours?
- In 4-player Agora mode, do teammates control all four workers or only their own colour?
Santorini: Golden FleeceExpansion
- Can a worker move onto or build on the Golden Fleece Ram's space?
- In Golden Fleece with Hyppolyta, if both male workers touch the Fleece, can the female worker move freely?
- Is the Golden Fleece expansion explained in the main rulebook?
- Does the Ocean board have any gameplay effect in Golden Fleece?
- Are the God cards with the Golden Fleece icon fair to play without the Fleece piece?
Santorini: Riddle of the SphinxExpansion
- Do you shade a friendly god's arrow when you pick that god mid-game or replay a riddle?
- When is a god's checkmark on the Constellation Tree shaded, and does it cost anything?
- Can you choose a friendly god again to retry a riddle when all of its arrows are filled?
- Can a riddle's friendly god be a god you have not unlocked yet?
- Is the two-god limit for all players combined or per player?
- Can you hold and use two god powers in the same turn in Riddle of the Sphinx, including solo?
- Must you use a god power you hold in Riddle of the Sphinx?
- Does a held god keep working, and when is its card discarded?
- What does 'clear' mean for a god's default quest, and what counts as using its power?
- Does Demeter's optional extra build need to be used to clear the default quest?
- If you spend a block from another god's card, does that god's quest become impossible?
- Can Dolos's Plan discards count toward clearing a god's default quest?
- Does Triton's quest require that you used Triton's power?
- Can Artemis and Perseus be combined on the same worker?
- Can Minotaur and Perseus both apply to the same move?
- Can Scylla's power trigger on each of Artemis's two moves?
- Can two 'instead of a normal move or build' powers be combined, such as Triton and Artemis on one move?
- What counts as a normal move or build that an instead-of power like Kratos or Artemis can replace?
- Can Artemis or Triton's instead-of-move power replace a move that Antaeus granted?
- Does Antaeus's 'after you first build' power trigger on every build or only the first build of the turn?
- Which build counts for Antaeus's quest?
- For Antaeus's bonus worker, does it need to be on ground level at the start, the end, or both?
- Does Demeter's extra build trigger after each of Antaeus's bonus builds?
- Must Eirene's extra build be made by the same worker that built first?
- Can Eirene's extra build go on the same space as the first build?
- Do the two ends of a bridge count as neighbouring spaces for Eirene's extra build or for building next to a figure?
- Can you use Hephaestus to build again on a space you built on earlier in the turn?
- Can Kratos attack the same space twice by combining him with Hephaestus?
- Can Tyche's blessing roll follow a Kratos attack, and what roll is needed?
- Can Iris jump over the Sphinx, and can she move onto an unoccupied space at any height?
- Can Iris's jump pass over more than one worker?
- Can Minotaur push the Sphinx or the King?
- Which spaces count as exactly 2 away for Siren?
- Can Scylla force a worker from the ground up to a higher level?
- Can Scylla pull a worker across a bridge?
- Can Scylla's forced worker chain, pulling a line of workers one after another?
- Can Daedalus's pieces be used by other effects, such as Kratos, Dolos' Plan or Dreams of Grandeur?
- Does Daedalus earn the bonus for achieving the gods' quests in Riddle 19?
- Can Pleiades and Perseus be combined to move through occupied towers?
- When Hypnus copies a move, is each step a separate move that can be copied?
- Can Hypnus copy a build using blocks from the box?
- Does Morpheus's power trigger if his worker moves up two levels?
- How does the Sphinx move and attack, in Riddle 8 and in Ward off the Beast?
- When the Sphinx's health reaches zero, is she removed or does she keep attacking?
- Do the buildings in the corners of Riddle 8's setup have any purpose?
- In Riddle 20, must the Sphinx be turned every turn, and do you roll if it already faces the king's row or column?
- In Riddle 4, does the Sphinx move only when you build next to it?
- In Riddle 4, when Zeus forces a worker and the Sphinx is triggered by the same build, which resolves first?
- Can a build that moves the Sphinx onto a new block let you collect the last gold coin and end the riddle?
- Can you build on the Sphinx's space?
- Do workers destroyed by other god powers count toward ending the Sphinx's game?
- When you roll a two-colour gem in the Sphinx's game, does the first roll remove the gem?
- When you lose the Sphinx's game, which worker is destroyed?
- Can you sacrifice a worker to play the Sphinx's game when no gems are left?
- In Riddle 9, can the Sphinx's procession be stopped by a dome?
- How are the five queue gods chosen in Riddle 9, and can you choose your two friendly gods?
- How do the numbered spaces connect when moving the domes on Riddle 12?
- Do you need physical bridges for every bridge link in Riddle 5?
- What are the 'instant builds' reward in Riddle 7, and where can they go?
- Are green gods available in the first Riddle of the Sphinx scenario?
- In the Riddle tutorial turn 3, can the white player build two levels at once on space D?
- Can you earn the heroic achievement without the silver objective?
- What counts as the final coin for heroic objectives in Riddle of the Sphinx?
- Can you complete the gold objective without the silver and still end the riddle? Does taking all gold end it even if silver remains?
- If a Riddle scenario is failed after you completed one objective, do you still win it?
- If the riddle ends because a second worker is destroyed, do achieved quest rewards still count?
- When 'This ends the riddle' is an objective reward, when does it resolve relative to a quest reward?
- When repeating a riddle, do you gain rewards again for objectives you already completed?
- How does the shared red Wanderer work in a 3-player Riddle game?
- In solo mode, must the first worker you move match the colour the Wanderer is placed on?
- In solo mode, can Commandment let you move or build with a worker of a different colour than the quadrant you chose?
- In solo mode, what does Ferryman's Passage do to your chosen quadrant?
- Can the Commandment blessing be used on a turn when you play the Sphinx's game or select a god?
- Do you spend a turn to gain a blessing from the queue?
- When does the god or blessing queue refill after one is taken?
- Does a Divine Ally god placed in a map slot give you its starting block or its quest?
- When do you choose which piece an 'any block' symbol on a god card becomes?
- If a building with a blessing token is destroyed, is the blessing token destroyed too?
- Can you move onto a space holding a gold or silver coin in Riddle of the Sphinx?
- Can you build on a space without a coin in Riddle of the Sphinx?
- Which Santorini editions and components does Riddle of the Sphinx need?
- Does Riddle of the Sphinx need the bridge pieces, and is there a substitute in the retail edition?
- Does every page of the Riddle book count as a game board?
- Can Santorini: Riddle of the Sphinx be used with Santorini New York?
- Can players discuss strategy freely during a Riddle of the Sphinx game?
- Does a move granted by Perseus count toward Artemis's two-move quest?