The long-awaited Deluxe Pantheon Edition plus a brand new cooperative expansion!
Latest Updates from Our Project:
THANK YOU For a MILESTONE Finish! What Comes Next?
about 1 year ago
– Fri, Apr 28, 2023 at 11:02:16 AM
TL;DR: THANK YOU, from Gavan, and the rest of Team Roxley. More Dev Diary below, plus What Comes Next.
Hello, backers!
What a thrill ride this campaign has been for our whole team. With over $2 million Canadian raised, Santorini has surpassed Brass to become Roxley's most-funded Kickstarter campaign! (We didn't quite catch up to our Dice Throne partners' record-setting Marvel Dice Throne campaign... but we got close!)
Santorini is a very special game that anyone with even a remote interest in board games can sit down and enjoy. Now, thanks to you, you can also play it cooperatively. 🙂
THANK YOU, to each and every one of you for supporting the campaign, and an even bigger thank you to any of you who encouraged our team with a positive note in the comments. Making board games is hard, and running a Kickstarter is even harder. It's your positivity and constructive comments throughout this campaign are what inspire us to continually push forward to the finish line.
You all make it possible for this lucky ragtag gang of artists to make cool games that we hope you play for years to come, and we are so grateful for your continued trust and support.
Keep Rollin' Sixes,
Gavan
Our workers tend to get a bit existential when they're in their feels.
Due to an incredible effort from our supporters over the course of the campaign, and especially in the last few days, EVERY single Funding Quest we announced was achieved! Because of you, we were able to add a host of upgrades to the Pantheon Edition and Riddle of the Sphinx, including...
The Giant Die!
Prototype rendering only. Final may vary. (Final may also not be able to hypnotically attract the entire population of your island.)
PLUS, three more maps beautifully illustrated by Damien Mammoliti ... including The Circling Predator!
Dev Diary - The Circling Predator
OK who put the Wanderer on watch? With a name like that, how can we expect them to stay at their post?
This scenario opens as our citizens spot the Sphinx closing in on the city. We must quickly pull together the city's defenses before she arrives to threaten us!
Don't look now, but I think something is following you...
This scenario is a time-based puzzle, because after every player's turn, they must roll the die and move the Sphinx according to their result. The Sphinx will circle back and forth along the map, rising up by 1 row every time she reaches the map's edge. If she ever lands on a worker, she will stop her move and have a tasty snack! (Suffice it to say that worker is destroyed.) There are a few other things the players can do to slow the sphinx's progress - for example, if she ever encounters a dome, or one of the adorable sheepies on the hillside, she will also stop for a tasty nom.
Drone footage from above
The neat thing about this design is that it places a new value on specific god cards that may be less valuable in other missions. For example, initially, it is very important to utilize movement gods to get your workers out of the path of the sphinx. Later on in this scenario, builder gods become crucial as you only have a small window of time to complete the wall you will require for victory, so any god like Demeter or Hephaestus, which allows you to build more than one block in a turn, becomes critical!
Now go away, or I will taunt you a second time!
It has been very fun to take the core framework of the Santorini rules and to develop new ways to flip the puzzles around so that you have to look at each puzzle with fresh eyes!
Let's see - that's one riddle for you, one for you, one for you, and one for you!
What Comes Now?
The buddy buys have been organized. The questions have been answered. The conversations at BGG have been conversated... and we are all so grateful to all of you for helping us make our most backed Kickstarter ever happen.
So what comes next?
Before the city of Santorini can be built, Team Roxley will take a few days off to catch up on sleep, visit with our families and recover our energy, so we can be bright and fresh when we return to work next week. In the meantime:
Kickstarter Payment Processing
Kickstarter should by now have billed your pledge to the credit card associated to your Kickstarter account. If there are any issues, they will automatically try to resolve them for several days; this process takes care of itself in most cases, but you can try to reach their support department if necessary at support (at) kickstarter.com if you have something special that needs to be asked or addressed.
NOTE: Team Roxley does not have access to their payment and support portal during this time. We'll be happy to support you with any issues you have, but we can't do anything for most cases until Kickstarter has finished this process and exports the final backer data to us.
The Pledge Manager
Over the next few weeks, we will be finalizing and testing the pledge manager. (Once we have this setup, we can start assisting backers with any issues Kickstarter could not resolve.) When this is finished, you'll be automatically sent a survey link; in that survey, you'll have the option to confirm or upgrade your pledge, add any add-ons or additional copies, provide your shipping address, and confirm your shipping charge and any taxes that apply. Roxley will use a reputable and secure pledge management platform for this.
Note: As stated throughout the campaign and in the FAQ, backers who backed for only $1 will not receive a survey link. You can still purchase Santorini & Riddle of the Sphinx as a Pre-order when that option becomes available.
Ongoing Updates
As with our other Kickstarter projects, we want to keep our supporters up to date with all the news, so we will be publishing continuing updates until the games have been fulfilled (even if there's sometimes no real news to report, we still want to stay in touch; it's what we would prefer in your shoes).
Those of you who follow our social media channels already know we post regular images of our games and components; Santorini & Riddle of the Sphinx will be added to the mix of those, so you'll be able to catch regular glimpses of additional content from the game by following us on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. For all the news about our upcoming projects, you can sign up for our newsletter at roxley.com, follow us on Kickstarter, and subscribe to our YouTube channel.
If you are reading this after the campaign and missed out, then sign up HERE for an alert when Preorder sales go live! Preorders placed before fulfillment begins will have their order shipped at the same time as regular backers and will have access to all Kickstarter content unless specified in the Preorder item description (although we will not be able to offer the same pricing and shipping as we did for campaign backers).
Day 18 - FINAL FQ - 30% Bigger Dice! Gods, Scenarios, & Ocean Board Spot UV Unlocked! Art From Mr. Cuddington
about 1 year ago
– Fri, Apr 28, 2023 at 08:00:04 AM
TL;DR - ALL the content we wanted has been unlocked - 8 more gods, 3 more scenarios, plus spot UV ocean board coating! Our final FQ is to increase the size of our dice by an awesome 30% more. Gorgeous artwork from Mr. Cuddington below.
The Final Countdown
We've unlocked the full Pantheon of everybody we wanted to include - eight more gods, a beautiful spot UV finish on the ocean board, and three more scenarios for the adventure book!
(Since we can't spot-UV your computer monitor or phone screen, you'll have to apply a certain amount of imagination to this one for the moment - but trust us, it's going to be gorgeous!)
Some scholars say the name "Cerberus" came from a Proto-Indo-European word k̑érberos, meaning "spotted" - if this is true, this would mean Hades literally named his dog "Spot"!
Now, let's SUPER SIZE those dice!
No More Speaking In Riddles
Our final riddle has been solved! This one was a bit of a stumper, and we got many brilliant and creative answers - some of which are quite good - including everything from imagination, faith, fantasy, love, caffeine, alcohol, and drugs (you all okay out there?).
Invisible Tree Games' suggestion, 'placebo', and David Anderson's 'distraction' were very close to the mark!
But the first to guess the Sphinx' intended answer to the final riddle was ALEX, with A LIE.
Thank you so much to everybody who has engaged with us through these riddles - it has been a great challenge to try to match wits with you all, but clearly, 11000+ gamer brains are just way too many for us to try to outsmart for any length of time. It's been fun trying, though!
Some Of Mr. Cuddington's Finest
Mr. Cuddington, the amazing artist team behind Santorini's god cards, just released some of the artwork behind several of the newest additions to Santorini Pantheon! Here's a closer look for you:
Asklepios
Boreas
Dryads
Kratos
Perseus
Polyhymnia
Stymphalian Birds
Thank you so much to everybody who is here hanging in with us as we make the final push.
We’ll be back soon with the first of our post-campaign updates!
Day 17 - Talus Miniature! Video Coverage From Before You Play, Scenario Design Diary, & More Unlocks!
about 1 year ago
– Thu, Apr 27, 2023 at 10:39:25 AM
Tl;DR: Check out the Talus miniature, unique sculpts, and new gods unlocked below. Before You Play video below with Riddle Of The Sphinx playthrough. Riddle Of The Sphinx Dev Diary below. New Riddle below, plus some more fun shares!
Talus Has Entered The Buildings!
Wait... that thing doesn't have repulsor beams, does it?
Once again, we're overjoyed to be announcing so many unlocks for you, including the FREE addition of the much-requested Talus miniature! Enjoy these prototype renderings of him, our newly unlocked gods, and all of the unique sculpts that will now be included in the Pantheon Edition:
"You have to admit, nobody breaks traffic laws any more since he took over..."
Always remember, you are unique and special - just like everybody else!
Watch out - Moros has his eye on you. 👀
Prototype rendering only. Final version will not include salty red sarcasm from outvoted staff members.
We've still got two more Funding Quests to unlock - so if you're still sitting on the fence, this is your chance to help make it happen!
MOAR Video Coverage!
Monique and Naveen from Before You Play are here to give you an overview and a scenario playthrough of Riddle Of The Sphinx! Check them out HERE - and don't forget to give them the like/comment/subscribe treatment!
Riddle of the Sphinx Dev Diary: The Battle of Corinth
In Santorini, we play as builders, but there are many battle stories in Greek mythology. So we thought it would be neat to try and tell one of those stories from the perspective of the builders.
One of the maps we recently unlocked is called "Battle of Corinth." It is one of a few maps from a cluster called "Isles at War," which each tells the ongoing story of a battle between the Greeks and the invading Roman armies. The Battle of Corinth scenario takes place in the city of Corinth, as we are shoring up the city walls against a fleet of invading warships.
The gameplay in this scenario is like a tower defense game. Every time any player takes any action, they must also roll the die. Whatever color they roll indicates which color of ship will attack! The attacking ship will look up along its column and destroy the top layer of a building or the worker closest to it. If there are no buildings or workers in the way, the invaders have breached the city walls and the scenario ends! In order to win, the players must construct two tall towers behind the city walls whilst keeping those walls from crumbling apart!
This was one of the easiest scenarios to design. It was easy because right from the very first time we played it, we knew it was a winner. Everything just worked. It is such a lovely and frantic twist on some of the other brain-burny riddles, and the theme of this scenario comes through very strongly. The constantly attacking ships put real pressure on the players to act and react to what is going on. And sometimes, you will even have to throw your worker in harm's way just to buy a much-needed turn to finish your objectives. It is tense and delightful! This scenario was such a good fit that we even used some of its ideas on other maps as well throughout the campaign!
The Final Riddle
Congratulations go out to yesterday's winner, Tux Edo, for being the first to post the correct answer to the last riddle: SALT!
Today's challenge from the Sphinx is your final chance for riddle-solving glory and for all the bragging rights. Post your answers below - and may the smartest backer win!
Santorini in Santorini...
This was sent to us from Dice Throne co-designer Nate Chatellier yesterday while on vacation:
Speaking of Santorini in Santorini, our photographer George Georgeadis (aka Oniro) took some lovely photos years ago for our first edition of the game. Behold!
Now this is an older video, but it's become one of Team Roxley's absolute favorite pieces of content that has ever been created for this game, so we just kind of wanted to share it with you!
(Unfortunately, No Time For Games appears to have stopped uploading videos, but we encourage you to show them some love on their channel anyway to let them know they'restill appreciated.)
Lastly, here's a closer look at the Hydra acrylics in action with a fun caption added by our own Adam Wyse. It gave us all a chuckle and so, we thought we would share it with you, too!
Day 16 - Good Time Society LIVE at 10:30 MST! Design Team Q&A!
about 1 year ago
– Wed, Apr 26, 2023 at 09:19:31 AM
TL;DR - Join us at 10:30 AM MST with the Good Time Society for live play! The unlocks continue; many more gods highlighted below! Designer Q&A with the team behind Pantheon & Riddle of the Sphinx. New Riddle Below.
We wanted to rush today's update out this morning to make sure you all have time to join the Good Time Society with Paula Deming & Jake Michels! TUNE IN HERE for live play, don't forget to subscribe, and let them know we sent you!
For this update, we caught up with the team behind Santorini Pantheon & Riddle Of The Sphinx to bring you some insights into the creation process!
Q.How does it feel knowing Santorini has become such a staple of so many game collections around the world?
Gord: It feels wonderful. There are only a handful of great games that are good for six-year-olds. As an educator, I'm especially happy to have helped create something that encourages tough problem-solving by young kids.
Gavan: I only recommend a specific one of Roxley's games to a person who I think will actually play and enjoy it. But Santorini is special because I recommend it to everyone. It is our most universally loved and accessible title, and nothing makes me more happy than seeing a Santorini how-to-play Youtube tutorial being taught by 4 year old girl, while at the same time working with former Google developers on the insanely skilled AI engine implemented into the app.
Paul: I've loved this game since before Roxley signed it, so I am incredibly happy that Roxley has put it in homes and stores all over the world.
Q.How long has a new edition of Santorini been on your radar?
Gavan: The new edition's art and revisions have been development for about the last year or so.
Gord: The wish to expand the pantheon of gods has been a constant for thirty years. That has not changed. What did change after the 2016 release was the mounting evidence that some gods were imbalanced? The opportunity of fixing these got my radar beeping!
Paul: And it wasn't just us. A dedicated core group of fans has been demanding this for years.
Q.What were some fears or risks you took on as you started on Riddle of the Sphinx?
Gavan: Initially Gord didn't believe it was possible, nor did he think anyone interested in Santorini would care. But with the popularity of pure strategy puzzles, I knew there was a way to make it work. Me, Paul, and Adam set a direction together, and Paul, very early on, discovered that adding resource management to the game made it incredibly interesting and was the linchpin to the design. Needless to say, Gord is now a fan.
Paul: I was quite nervous about the ambitious scope of Riddle Of The Sphinx. But James Van Niekerk is the hero who stepped in to meet this challenge. He's been an absolute wizard at scenario creation and at refining the rougher ideas that I started off with.
Q. What are the challenges of designing/developing an expansion for another designer’s base game?
James: Gord Hamilton has created in Santorini a simple and brilliantly elegant design. Picking up on such a solid core system definitely does make the task of designing an expansion much easier. The challenge is mostly making sure you do your homework. Santorini has a huge existing fan base, and it also has a great yet simple rule set. The most important thing was to make sure that we could capture the things that make the original game so great.
Adam: It's an interesting challenge to help contribute something to a system someone else has built. You want to do it justice but also bring something new to the table. A new way of looking at or interacting with a core system so deservedly beloved.
Gavan: The biggest challenge is to ensure that the expansion doesn't decreased the game's pacing or increase the game's complexity to a point where the players would simply rather play the base game. Luckily, Riddle of the Sphinx also fundamentally changes the mode of the game to be cooperative play. So because you are trying to overcome a puzzle with your teammates, the game continues to flow at generally the same pace as the base game. There is a minor increase in the game's complexity because each scenario introduces new mechanisms, which still feel good to the player because they get to experience all new dynamics throughout the adventure.
Q. Were there any “Aha!” moments when designing Riddle of the Sphinx?
Paul: Our first several attempts at solo mode for Santorini were all hopelessly complex and very frustrating, as the base game is so simple and elegant. The core system of the dynamic deck, limited resources, and mini-puzzles came together for me in a moment of inspiration one afternoon, when I was mucking around with blocks and god cards on my game table. After a couple of self-playtests, I presented it to Gavan and Adam, and when they brought James onto the project, it really took off.
James: Early in development, we had each scenario on cards, with multiple stages. You would earn stage 1 on the card, then look at a stage 2 diagram to work toward the next goal.
An aha moment for us was when we decided the game would become a storybook, because this allowed us to change a multi-stage diagram on cards (which had be cross referenced as you played) into a simple coin collection system which was printed right onto the map where you played. This was a huge gain for us in terms of simplicity and setup time!
Q. For Dr. GordonHamilton: As the designer of the original Santorini, what were your first impressions of Riddle of the Sphinx, and have they changed at all?
Gord: I had tried hard to design a cooperative version and failed. It is with growing joy and admiration that I've been introduced to Paul & James' beautiful design. I Kickstarted a copy for my family!
Q. For James Van Niekerk: How has bringing Riddle of the Sphinx to life been compared to other games you’ve brought to completion, such as Valor & Villainy?
James: The last game I designed before ROTS was Valor & Villainy: Lludwik's Labyrinth, a multi-mission dungeon crawl campaign adventure. It was a big project, and coming into the world of Santorini was very refreshing because it has a much much shorter play time than V&V. This means you can churn through and iterate on playtests much quicker, and I loved that part of the development process.
I was able to leverage some of my learnings from the V&V project too and bring little bits of those ideas into ROTS. My experiences with scenario design certainly came in handy, for example. I was also able to bring lots of my learnings from structuring a campaign-based experience into ROTS's constellation map reward tree, which was a lot of fun to design.
I also designed a lot of Bosses for V&V, which each used a unique deck to drive their actions in the game like an AI. I don't want to spoil anything... but I mean... we did tell you there'd be a boss battle in ROTS, didn't we? ;)
Q.Do you have a favorite god, mode, or other new feature from the Pantheon Edition?
Gavan: My favorite new god is probably Hippolyta, as she creates a very mind-warping experience and can tightly control her opponents. My favorite feature in the Pantheon Edition is the new foundation frame that holds the pieces in place. Many people asked for this feature in the original Kickstarter, but all the ideas that we had to do this were simply not good enough or very ugly. James and I came up with the solution of making the little ruins on the board into an actual 3D frame. A lot of work and iteration went into this design to ensure it's not only manufacturable but also robust, functional, and attractive.
Gord: My favorite feature is definitely the dice. There are eight directions that workers can move, so it was not at all an obvious design decision to utilize only 4 of those 8 directions. It is the decision I'm happiest with, and the dodecahedral dice is just so much more beautiful than the ugly tetrahedral dice that are usually used to randomize four things.
Paul: It's hard to narrow down, but my favorite new character is Pythia, who can partly "predict" what your opponent is going to do every turn. I've always been fascinated by oracles to begin with, but Pythia brings a whole new level of chess-type thinking to the game for me, and I adore her artwork from Mr. Cuddington. (I'm also super happy to see Eris, the Hydra, and all of our other promo cards being promoted to full members of the Pantheon.)
Adam: Hope it's not a spoiler... I think it is, but I want to talk about it anyways (shhh!). My favorite new mode from Pantheon is Harmonia's Challenge - a teamplay mode where partners sit side by side and are not allowed to communicate. One partner will make all movement decisions for the team, and the other partner will make all building and other decisions. It's a fascinating (and sometimes agonizing) way to play Santorini.
Q.If you had to describe Riddle of the Sphinx in just one word, what would it be?
Gavan: Scholarly.
Adam: Fascinating.
Paul: Satisfying.
Gord: Sumptuous? Possible, but that can underplay the excellent mechanics. Roxley-itious. That's it.
The Newest Riddle
Once again, the minds of our backers are entirely too strong... there were many excellent and creative answers, but our congratulations go out to David Anderson for being the first to correctly answer SAIL less than two minutes after the update was posted.
Who will be the first to answer this one correctly? Post your answer in the comments below!
Our unlocks continue! Check out these wonderful new editions to the Pantheon, lovingly illustrated by the incredible Mr. Cuddington:
In mythology, Antaeus drew strength from the Earth and was undefeatable when he stood upon it - even the legendary strength of the mighty Heracles could not defeat him when they wrestled. According to the myth, Heracles defeated him by lifting him off the ground - so when playing Antaeus in Santorini, don't let your opponents do this to you!
The Stymphalian Birds are another one of designer Gord's favorite cards - and another one that might break your brain (at first). They have tremendous movement powers... but are the only card that effectively has a minimum amount of movement, meaning they can move 2 or 3 spaces, but only to somewhere they *couldn't* have gotten to by only moving one space.
If the first square they move to as part of these two or three spaces would have been a win for a normal card, they don't get to win there - they must complete their full move before winning the game!
A Bonus Gift - Sisyphus' Boulder!
The Boulder's over his conflicted feelings and now he's ready to bury you in a rock-alanche!
Tomorrow we will dive into the new maps you all just unlocked!
We’ll be back soon with more to report!! Until then…
Day 14 - "The King" Mini, MOAR Gods, LIVE Play @ 10PM EST With Beneeta Kaur!
about 1 year ago
– Mon, Apr 24, 2023 at 01:07:32 PM
TL;DR: Unlocks are happening fast and furious now - The King miniature and 4 more gods listed below. Livestream tonight on Twitch, 10PM EST / 7PM PST with Beneeta Kaur. New Riddle Below.
We've got so many unlocks happening that our updates can barely keep up! Over the weekend, we added 12 more pages to the Riddle of the Sphinx adventure book, so those concerned about replayability now have room to record LOTS of campaigns.
And check out our newest awesome worker miniature, "The King":
Now Santorini truly is the sport of kings.
The King plays a special role in some of the later scenarios in Riddle Of The Sphinx, but as many have observed in the comments, he can be used alongside the previously unlocked Wanderer to form a new player/team color in the base game of Santorini!
In addition to that, the Pantheon continues to expand, with four more new faces, including the much-requested Kratos:
Note: that is, of course, Kratos, the divine personification of Strength, and not that other guy from that video game.
"Frozen" is a new keyword used for several gods, which basically means you can't move, build, or use god powers in that space unless otherwise specified by the card.
Plus: Sisyphus' long and fruitless labor now finally has a chance to end! Move the boulder token to the top of a level 3 tower to claim your victory and to get the poor guy a much-needed rest... but beware, your opponent can push it back down again, forcing him to begin his work all over from the beginning!
TONIGHT! Join us on Twitch for another LIVE look at Riddle of The Sphinx through the eyes of Beneeta Kaur & Amanda Panda! (Do pandas play board games? Is this a thing?)
Once again, many of our backers had creative and intelligent answers to last week's riddle, including numerous navigational aids such as stars, maps, and even a GPS... but our congratulations to Neil Mesick Jr for being the first to guess the intended answer, A ROAD correctly!
This one's a bit more tricky, we think, but we're sure one of you will figure it out soon :)
Drop your answers in the comments below!
We’ll be back soon with more to report!! Until then…
