El Grande - Is this "Classic" Game Actually GOOD?

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Decision Space is a board game podcast about the decisions in games and now on YouTube.

Episode Thirteen - Does El Grande Hold Up to 25 Years of Innovation?

The year was 1996, one year after the release of a little game we like to call Settlers of Catan (or just Catan now, I guess). The German board game circuit is absolutely buzzing about the exciting future for board games hobby and designers are poised to risk it all with their next design. At that moment, Wolfgang Kramer and Richard Ulrich seize the moment and shock us all with their new design, El Grande. Fast forward. It is 2021. The board game hobby now ascends to heights many never thought possible. Glossy games with beautiful components and spot UV crowd the marketplace, with innovative mechanics seeking to refine, explore, and improve on the giants that came before. In this landscape, is it possible for any game, even a bonafide classic like El Grande to hold up 25 years of board game innovations? So we must ask, is it time to thank this dusty, old relic for its service that led us to this moment and move on to bigger and better things, or is it possible... there's still some life in this game yet. There's only one way to find out. Hop into our interdecisional spaceship and let's explore the Decision Space together!

0:00 - Intro

1:16 - Where Is My Mind

6:51 - Ratings and Slogans

10:01 - Rules Overview

13:14 - Decision Space Exploration

24:05 - Power Cards

31:44 - Action Cards

47:47 - Castillo, Secret Disc, and El Grande Cube

58:50 - Provinces and the Court

1:02:29 - Region Scoring (Ties, Special Scoring Tiles)

1:06:51 - Final Thoughts and Turbulence

1:14:40 - Wrap Up (Leave a Review!)

Games Mentioned: El Grande, Rock Paper Scissors, High Society, Red Rising, A Feast for Odin, Blood Rage, Game of Thrones, Risk, etc.

Preplan Your Next Turn

Next week we'll explore the decision space in Star Realms with special guest, Paul Salomon.

Call to Action

Leave us a review and we'll read it on the next episode! (Still waiting, but not without hope!) We can be reached on Twitter at @jakefryd and @burnsidebh. Follow Decision Space on Twitter @DecisionSpa and talk to us there! Thank you for helping to grow the show!

Music Credits

Way Home by Tokyo Music Walker https://soundcloud.com/user-356546060​ Creative Commons — Attribution 3.0 Unported — CC BY 3.0 Free Download / Stream: https://bit.ly/tokyo-music-walker-way...​ Music promoted by Audio Library https://youtu.be/pJThZlOuDtI