The game board represents renaissance-era Spain where the nobility (the Grandes) fight for control of the nine regions.

[3][1] Christian T. Petersen comments: "El Grande showed me the surprising depth that could be achieved by interlocking simple mechanisms — the principle that lies at the heart of the German school of design.

"[4] Mikko Saari from Lautapeliopas also praised the game's replayability and components, but critiqued its scalability under four players.

[9] The jury praised strategy, "clearly structured" gameplay, the game board landscape designed by the artist Doris Matthäus, and the "well-explained" rules despite the complexity, concluding that the "two authors have impressively succeeded in bringing all this together into a harmonious whole".

[9][10] Stewart Woods, writing in Eurogames: The Design, Culture and Play of Modern European Board Games, described it as "relatively complex" compared to other winners.