El Grande

Set up the game board representing Spain, with various regions. Each player receives a set of cubes in their color, including one larger 'Grande' cube (representing their home region) and numerous smaller 'Caballeros' cubes. Place the King pawn in a starting region. Assemble the 'Castillo' (castle) where Caballeros can be placed secretly. Distribute Power Cards (numbered 1-13) to each player and place Action Cards face-up in designated stacks.

The main objective of El Grande is to gain control over different regions of Spain by strategically placing your Caballeros. Players earn victory points by having the most influence (Caballeros) in regions during scoring rounds. The player with the highest total victory points at the end of the game wins.

Each round, players simultaneously choose a Power Card from their hand (numbered 1-13). The player who chose the highest unique number goes first. The number on the Power Card determines how many Caballeros they can move from their 'Province' (general supply) into their 'Court' (personal supply). After determining turn order, players, in order, choose one of the available face-up Action Cards. The Action Card has two parts: an action to perform and a number of Caballeros to move from their Court onto the board. Players can perform these two actions in any order. When moving Caballeros to the board, they must be placed in regions adjacent to the King's current region or into the Castillos. The King's region is 'taboo,' meaning no Caballeros can be added or removed from it. Players must openly declare how many Caballeros they place in the Castillos, but their color is hidden.

Scoring rounds occur after rounds 3, 6, and 9. First, each player secretly chooses a region on a 'wheel' where they want their Caballeros from the Castillos to be moved. All Caballeros from the Castillos are then revealed and moved to their chosen regions (they cannot move to the King's region). Next, each region on the board is scored in a specific order. For each region, players determine who has the most Caballeros. The player with the most Caballeros receives the first-place points indicated on the board for that region, the second-most receives second-place points, and so on (the number of scoring places depends on the player count). If players tie for a position, they both receive the points for that position, and the next position's points are skipped. Bonus points are awarded if a player wins the region where the King is located, and additional bonus points are given if a player wins their Grande's home region. If there's a tie for control of the King's region, no one gets the King bonus.

The game concludes after the third scoring round (round 9). After all regions have been scored for the final time, players tally their total victory points. The player with the highest score is declared the winner. In case of a tie, the tied player with the most Caballeros on the board wins. If still tied, the tied player with the most Caballeros in their Court wins. If still tied, the tied player with the highest Power Card played in the last round wins.