Site owned and operated by D.Floss as part of the Strategy Gamers World group. All rights reserved. Duplication in part or whole without direct authorization is not permitted.
Published
By:Rio Grande
Currently in Print
In this Spiel des Jahres winner, players take on the roles of Grandes in medieval Spain. The king's power is flagging, and these powerful lords are vying for control of the various provinces. To that end, you draft caballeros (knights) into your court and subsequently move them onto the board to help seize control of provinces. After every third turn, the regions are scored, and after the ninth turn, the Grande with the most points is deemed the winner.
The players are the Grandes in old Spain. Each wants to increase his influence at the court and in the regions. Each turn, the players choose from 5 actions, different on each turn. But first choice goes to the player who plays the highest priority card and you have only 13 for the game. Choose your actions and priorities wisely to become the most powerful Grande and win the game!
This Decennial version also contains the expansions previously known as Intrigue & the King, Grand Inquisitor & the Colonies, and Grandissimo.
In Intrigue & the King, each player has 18 or 28 cards that replace the action cards from the basic game. Before the game begins, each player chooses 13 cards to be his action/priority deck for the game. The players use these cards instead of the action a nd priority cards in determining turn order and special actions. Grand Inquisitor & the Colonies adds four new regions, the Grand Inquisitor, and new action cards to support these additions. The new action cards are in two new stacks, giving players seven options on each turn instead of the five from the basic game. By combining the two, you can play The King & the Colonies. In this game, you use the action/priority cards from Intrigue & the King, and the new regions, the Grand Inquisitor, and the new action cards supporting them from Grand Inquisitor & the Colonies.
Grandissimo adds a ship, jail,
Portugal, the Grand Inquisitor, the Queen, the Jester, and new action cards
in two new stacks to support these additions.
El Grande Decennial Edition
Overall Rank (5 out of 5)
Our Feedback:
This is a great strategy based game. You bid for position and place peices to gain control over regions, but beware the Castillo, it's hidden secrets may tip the balance of power. A bit lengthly, but great for long term gamers.
This is a great "pure" strategy game as wel as an intro into semi-covert playing. I won a game simply by following the exact rules, placing units in the castillo each turn and just saying in a normal tone "two in the castillo" for example. Amazingly people barely paid any attention to the Castillo trying to get every unit on the board, then during the reveal, I would win points for the castillo as well as the placement on the board for a substantial victory.
Awards
Spiel
des Jahres Game of the Year 1996
Deutscher
SpielePreis 1st place 1996
Games
Mag Best Family Strategy Game 1999