Description
Santa Maria is a streamlined, medium-weight Euro game in which each player establishes and develops their own colony. The game includes elements of dice drafting and strategic engine building. It has low randomness and no direct conflict between players, and all components are language-independent.In the game, you expand your colony by placing polyominoes with buildings on your colony board. Dice (representing workers) are used to activate buildings; each die activates an entire 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 that space. So where in your colony you place new buildings and the order in which you use your dice are crucial.As the game progresses, you produce resources, establish shipping routes, send out conquistadors and improve your religious power to recruit monks. When you recruit a monk, you must decide whether they become 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 gathered the most glory after three rounds wins. The available experts, end-game bonuses and buildings vary from game to game, allowing almost endless replay.
