- El Grande
Infobox_Game
subject_name=El Grande
image_link=
image_caption=Players attempt to gain control ofmedieval Spain through manipulating the balance of power in the various provinces, as well as at the Royal Court.
designer=Wolfgang Kramer Richard Ulrich
publisher=Hans im Glück Rio Grande Games 999 Games
players= 2–5
ages=12 and up
setup_time= 5 minutes
playing_time= 90 minutes
complexity=Medium
strategy=High
random_chance= none
skills=Strategy
footnotes ="El Grande" is a
German-style board game for 2-5 players, designed byWolfgang Kramer andRichard Ulrich , and published in1995 byHans im Glück in German, byRio Grande Games in English, and by999 Games in Dutch. The game board represents renaissance-eraSpain where the nobility (the Grandes) fight for control of the nine regions. "El Grande" was awarded theSpiel des Jahres prize in 1996.Gameplay
The game is played in nine rounds. Three of these (rounds 3, 6, and 9) are scoring rounds, when player scores are counted according to their positions within the various regions. When the game is played with two players, it can be rather fast-paced. If five players participate, the game becomes very complex and challenging, as it becomes almost impossible to "do the mathematics" on the regions, and players team up and compete to keep others from winning, or to score more points for themselves.
Decision making
There are no
dice in the game, and players have an ample choice of cards to use in determining turn order. Thus the game is all about agonizing decisions. Often the path to scoring more points is clear, but sometimes it can be wiser to prevent opponents from scoring.The role of Luck
Since the game is played without dice, the role of luck is rather minimal. The original game has a number of cards that are turned up each turn as a random generator (where each player gets to pick one of the cards) to determine turn order; the expansion set, "Intrigue & the King", eliminates this aspect and instead gives each player a hand of identical cards (numbered 1-13) at the beginning of the game; each player may use each card only once in a given game.
The main challenge of the game is keeping track of the many factors that determine the balance of power in the regions and the score track.
External links
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###@@@KEY@@@###succession box
before =The Settlers of Catan
title =Spiel des Jahres
years =1996
after = Mississippi Queen
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