Santa Maria
Draft dice to activate rows and columns of buildings in your colony. Pure planning, near-zero luck.
Who it's for
Euro enthusiasts who enjoy spatial puzzles and engine building without direct confrontation.
Not for you if…
You want player interaction beyond drafting. This is a heads-down optimization game.
Vibe's take
puzzly, clean, engine-building, spatial optimization, low-conflict
About this game
Build a colonial settlement on a personal grid board where dice activate entire rows or columns of buildings at once. Drafted dice represent migrant workers, and placement order matters enormously: each die blocks the last building it activates, creating a spatial puzzle that rewards careful city planning. Ship goods along trade routes, send conquistadors exploring, and recruit monks as scholars, missionaries, or bishops. Three tight rounds with near-zero luck and no direct conflict make this a clean, satisfying euro.
Get it
from €13
Mechanics
Categories
By the numbers
Players
Duration
45–90 min
Ages 12+
Complexity
3.0 / 5 — MediumBGG Rating
7.0/10
Rank #532
7.5k ratings
Published
2017
Designed by
Eilif Svensson, Kristian Amundsen Østby
Published by
Lavka Games, Sharp Point Publishing, PaperGames (III), Summon Games, Dal Tenda, Aporta Games, Pegasus Spiele, Granna, Jumping Turtle Games, Arrakis Games
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