Played Santorini last night for the first time with my fiancee. We only got one game in, and that game did not involve the god cards as the instructions advise to play without them a couple of times before you move on. I'm gonna have trouble bringing this back to the table, I think. My fiancee was super bored throughout. Most of the time it felt like actions were being performed out of necessity, not out of any sort of strategy - there was usually a move I HAD to do on my turn, otherwise I was going to give the game away. I ended up winning, but it didn't feel earned. It just felt like the game was on a linear path and it just happened to end in my favour.
Does the game change dramatically with the god cards? I'm pretty sure the game existed previously without them, but I can't imagine playing the base game as is without some sort of hook. Unless I'm missing something?