Santorini

In Santorini, your aim is to be the first to move one of your minions to the top of a three-story tower. Each turn, players pick one of their two minions, and move it one space over grass and half-built towers on a 5x5 game board. After each turn, the minion you moved constructs one floor of a tower in a bordering space. Sounds easy, right?
Wrong, wrong, wrong. Ignore the cartoonish artwork, the Duplo-esque game pieces, and simple rules. This game is chess with more dimensions, where the most strategic, cutthroat player wins. Each player gets a mythical Greek hero card that gives them a special power—like building two pieces of tower, or moving twice under certain conditions. With the cards, Santorini plays best as a three-player battle, where you and two other friends are continually self-balancing the game. You'll find yourselves ganging up on anyone close to winning, capping towers so they can't climb on top—until somebody discovers a brilliant move no one can stop and takes the match.