In El Grande, an award-winning classic, you play as a Grande in medieval Spain, seizing the king's weakening power to expand your influence and control. The goal is straightforward, but the execution is packed with strategy: dominate as many regions on the board as possible. How? By recruiting loyal caballeros to your court and then dispatching them to strategic provinces. The game unfolds over nine rounds, with intermediate scoring every three rounds and the grand final tally in the ninth turn, where the Grande with the most points claims victory.

Each of the nine rounds kicks off with you choosing one of your 13 power cards. This card not only dictates turn order but also how many caballeros you can move from the general supply to your personal court. Next, it's time to pick one of the five available action cards. These cards are the game's core, introducing rule variations, extra scoring opportunities, and, of course, determining how many caballeros you can move from your court to the board's regions – or even into the mysterious castillo, a secret tower! Generally, your caballeros can only be placed in regions adjacent to the king's location. And here's a golden rule: nothing moves into or out of the king's region. But don't fret, one of the five action cards always allows you to move the king to a new region, reshuffling possibilities each round. The other four action cards vary from turn to turn, ensuring each game is a unique experience.

The secret to victory is achieving a majority of caballeros in as many regions (and the castillo) as you can during scoring rounds. After the castillo is scored, any cubes you had there are secretly reallocated to a region you indicated on your region dial. Each region is then scored individually, with two-point bonuses awarded for having the sole majority in the region containing your Grande and in the region containing the king. Get ready for plenty of tactics and thrilling twists!