When comparing Santorini vs Junk Art, the Slant community recommends Santorini for most people. In the question“What are the best board games for beginners?” Santorini is ranked 7th while Junk Art is ranked 10th. The most important reason people chose Santorini is:
The basic premise of Santorini is simple; players use their workers to move around the map, build towers, and attempt to be the first to ascend to the 3rd level of one of these towers. However, much like its more serious counterpart, Chess, Santorini has an astounding amount of depth as players move to block and trap one another all while positioning for that one winning move. Adding in the God Powers further opens up the options for interesting gameplay and in-depth strategy as players make use of one of these unique cards to give their workers special powers like building twice, moving opponents, or even removing buildings.
Specs
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Pros
Pro Easy to understand yet deep gameplay
The basic premise of Santorini is simple; players use their workers to move around the map, build towers, and attempt to be the first to ascend to the 3rd level of one of these towers. However, much like its more serious counterpart, Chess, Santorini has an astounding amount of depth as players move to block and trap one another all while positioning for that one winning move. Adding in the God Powers further opens up the options for interesting gameplay and in-depth strategy as players make use of one of these unique cards to give their workers special powers like building twice, moving opponents, or even removing buildings.
Pro A ton of replayability
The base game of Santorini will almost always play out differently as players try different techniques and strategies for besting their opponent - different starting points, different routes, trying to build up yourself or trying to disturb the opponent. However, the game gets really interesting with the introduction of God Power cards.
Adding in the 30 God Powers from the base set adds a whole new layer of variable conditions for each game and allow for a huge variety of potential combinations. Each God Card adds some sort of different rule to the game, and you must follow this instruction for the whole game. Otherwise, you lose. Some God Cards give you specialized win conditions, some allow the removing of opposing workers, and others make you specifically alternate your movement patterns. For example, the Apollo card allows a player to swap positions with the opponent.
If that isn't enough, the Golden Fleece expansion adds another 15 God Cards, 10 Hero Cards, and an entirely new variant to the game.
Pro Excellent component quality
From the raised, three-dimensional board to the high quality building blocks, all of the components in Santorini are top-notch. The tarot sized cards are beautifully illustrated and contain easy to recognize iconography, the main game board is made up of 3 parts that raise it up off the table and give it an excellent sense of scale, and the building pieces are fantastically modeled so that they stack together easily and look great as the city is built from the ground up!
Pro Easy to start playing
The basic premise of Junk Art can be taught within a minute or two. The whole game revolves around stacking pieces and getting points from your structures. Each game has three rounds – three cities you must go to, which are either chosen or randomized at the start of the game. They are sort of like mini-games that each have their own rules – what must be built, what is the win/lose condition, etc. The goal of the game is to be the player with the most fans after three rounds.
For example, Indianapolis makes players simultaneously flip the top card of their 10-card deck, find the matching piece, place it, and say “Done!” The last player to say it doesn’t place the piece. This is done until all cards have been played, the player with the most pieces gains the most fans.
Pro Engaging
There’s almost never a dull moment while playing Junk Art because most of the time everyone’s playing at once. Every round will be different – some cities are time-based, others just require you to keep building, but all of them involve some sort of interaction between players – passing cards, swapping places, cooperating, etc.
Pro Silly
There are plenty of laughs to be had while playing Junk Art, be it funny creations, memories of someone’s tower falling apart, or a specific city.
There’s a sense of achievement when you manage to create something that looks cool and doesn’t instantly fall apart. Creations tend to get quite unstable, so there are going to be some intense moments where they wobble around a bit, but both outcomes are good – it falls, and everyone laughs, or it doesn’t, and everyone still laughs.
Some of the cities you’ll encounter in the game can also create hilarious and memorable moments. for example, Montreal, where you must choose one out of three cards, pass one to the player on your left, place the piece you received, and then swap places with the next person in the direction of play. Basically, you pass bad cards to your opponents, but if your opponent manages to place them, then that becomes your problem in just a few seconds.
Pro Good components
The game excels with truly high-quality components. The box itself is made of wood and works as a great storage for all the small pieces. The stackable pieces are either wooden or plastic, depending on which edition you’ve got. Either way, both materials are durable and do not feel cheap.
Many of the stackable pieces are unusual shapes – partially curved figures, dumbbells, flowerpots, etc. However, their centers of mass are very well-balanced, which means that no piece is better than another – it’s all situational.
Pro A lot of variety
You will never play the same game of Junk Art twice. Usually you’ll get different combinations of cities and your constructions will be unique every time. The base game comes with 12 cities (one of which requires the game “Flick ‘Em Up” to play) and 3 blank cards for custom cities.
The 12 cities are diverse – some require you to be the fastest, others make you compete in creating the highest structure, and there are even some especially interesting cards, for example, Montreal makes you swap places with other players, or Paris requires you to cooperate and create one structure together.
Cons
Con Not for people with shaky hands
It’s no surprise that dexterity games require steady hands, otherwise creations risk falling. Some cities allow room for errors, but in others the round ends as soon as someone drops a piece or two, which is fine occasionally, but if it happens too often because of trembling hands it kind of ruins the gaming experience with an abrupt ending.
Con Expensive
Junk Art is quite a pricey game due to the components – there’s a lot of them and they are of high quality wood or plastic. The version of the game with wooden pieces sells for $40-60, whereas the plastic version goes for $25-40.
Con Environment dependent
Junk Art is a game that requires you to stack pieces together – this demands a completely even surface, so the tower won’t fall over, and some room for every player, so they don’t accidentally elbow each other. Moreover, this game can’t be played outside or next to an open window very well because a gust of wind might ruin your construction.