- BGG rating
- 7.7
Santa Maria: American Kingdoms
- 1–5 players
- 45–90 min
- Complexity 3.2/5
- 2018
- BGG rank
- BGG #549
- BGG rating
- 7.5
Santa Maria
2017
Rules assistance for Santa Maria
Plain-language explanations of turns, card effects and disputed situations, with official source references and saved question history.
- 1–4 players
- 45–90 min
- 12+
- Complexity 3.0/5
For 1 player
Rules assistant for Santa Maria
What would you like to know?
Answers come from the official rulebook, with the page to check.
Santa Maria is a board game released in 2017 for 1–4 players, 45–90 minutes per game, and ages 12 and up. It was designed by Kristian Amundsen Østby and Eilif Svensson and its main mechanics are Variable Player Powers, Set Collection, and Dice Rolling.
Expansions
- BGG rating
- 7.7
Santa Maria: Exploration Deck
- 1–4 players
- 45–90 min
- Complexity 2.3/5
- 2019
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Come Together
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- 60–90 min
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About the game
Santa Maria is a streamlined, medium complexity Eurogame in which each player establishes and develops a colony. The game features elements of dice drafting and strategic engine building. The game is low on luck and has no direct destructive player conflict; all components are language independent. In the game, you expand your colony by placing polyominoes with buildings on your colony board. Dice (representing migrant workers) are used to activate buildings; each die activates a complete row or column of buildings in your colony. The buildings are activated in order (left to right / top to bottom), then the die is placed on the last activated building to block this space. It is therefore crucial where you put new buildings in your colony, and in which order you use the dice. As the game progresses, you produce resources, form shipping routes, send out conquistadors, and improve your religious power to recruit monks. When you recruit a monk, you must decide if it becomes a scholar (providing a permanent special ability), a missionary (for an immediate bonus) or a bishop (for possible end game points). The player who has accumulated the most happiness after three rounds wins. The available specialists, end game bonuses and buildings vary from game to game, which makes for near endless replayability.
Categories
Mechanics
Publishers
- Pegasus Spiele
- Granna
- Lavka Games
- PaperGames (III)
- Dal Tenda
- Arrakis Games
- Summon Games
- Aporta Games
- Jumping Turtle Games
- Sharp Point Publishing
Questions and answers
Santa Maria supports 1–4 players according to the catalogue. This range comes from the publisher’s listed player count, so the game can be set up for any group size within it. Some setups, rules and scoring details may still vary by player count, so check your edition’s rulebook for the exact configuration.
The listed playing time for Santa Maria is 45–90 minutes. This is the publisher’s estimate for a full game. The actual duration depends on the group, the player count and familiarity with the rules: first sessions usually run longer, while experienced groups often finish faster. Setup and teaching time are not included in this estimate.
The catalogue lists Santa Maria for ages 12 and up. This is the publisher’s recommendation and reflects reading demands, rule complexity and small components rather than theme alone. Younger players can often join with help from an adult, so check the age guidance on your edition and consider your group’s experience with board games.
Santa Maria has a complexity rating of 3.0 out of 5 from BoardGameGeek players, which makes it a medium-weight game. The rating reflects how much rules knowledge, planning and decision-making a typical game demands. Expect a longer first teach for heavier games, and use a preparation guide before game night.
Santa Maria belongs to these categories: Farming and Civilization. Its main mechanics are Variable Player Powers, Set Collection, and Dice Rolling. Categories describe the theme and setting of a game, while mechanics describe what players actually do on their turns. Each mechanic links to a catalogue hub with similar games, which helps when you want something comparable.
The credited designers of Santa Maria are: Kristian Amundsen Østby and Eilif Svensson. These credits come from the published game data and name the people responsible for the game’s design, not its illustrators or publishers. Designer pages on MeepleRules collect other titles by the same designers, which helps when you enjoy a game and want to find similar ones.
The catalogue lists Santa Maria as a base game. It can be played on its own with the components in the box and does not require any other title. Expansions, if any exist, add new content or rules on top of it and are listed separately in the catalogue with a link back to this base game.