Renaissance

Description from BoardgameNews.com:

The Gonzaga family ruled part of northern Italy for nearly five hundred years, losing control to the Hapsburgs from Austria in 1708. During their reign, two daughters of the House of Gonzaga married Holy Roman Emperors. In Gonzaga, players must get into the expansionist spirit of the times and build fiefdoms across Europe to stake a claim on harbors and cities, while also trying to complete secret missions. The game lasts 7-12 rounds, and players are competing in some of six regions in Europe. (The number of regions and the specific regions vary based on the number of players and the scenario tile drawn at the start of the game.)

A round starts with each player drawing a fief card from their individual deck; each fief card depicts one of twelve fiefs: plastic components comprising multiple hexagonal loops with castles on some of these loops. Each player then secretly chooses both a region card and an action card, then reveals them simultaneously. Part of the fief (but not all of it) must lie in the chosen region, and the action card determines whether a player must play the fief on one or more harbors, on one or more cities, on open land, or on both harbors and cities. With this last action – the alliance card – a player can alternatively place one or two of six individual rings on the board, even on spaces that another player has already claimed with a fief. You score points for covering cities and harbors, for connecting at least three harbors in a sea, and for setting aside your fief as a donation to the church. The cards you play are set aside for the next turn, thereby forcing you to switch regions and actions as you place fiefs.

The game ends either after twelve rounds or after a trigger point based on the cities and harbors not covered. The player with the most connected fiefs, including the individual rings, scores a bonus, then players reveal their hidden objectives and score based on the number of target cities they covered.

Granada – many artisans, traders and entire families have settled at the foot of the Sierra Nevada because the Palace of Alhambra promises all people work, contracts and above all prosperity.
(From the publisher's blurb.)

Granada is new member of the Alhambra family with a more challenging character: in this standalone game the players develop the city of Granada next to Sierra Nevada, where the famous Alhambra stands, by buying building tiles to construct the city which will earn the most victory points. Building tiles now have two sides and there are new building types for which the value is set during the game.

Link to Trailer http://www.queen-games.de/index.php?id=2537----2

Play Differences from Alhambra
Alhambra advanced. Play is the same: buy a building tile, take money or remodel. If you buy a tile for the exact amount, you can take another action, same as in Alhambra. The differences: new building types, building values are dynamic, two-sided tiles, and moats instead of walls.

There are 9 building types in Granada. Unlike Alhambra, the buildings do not have a set value. Instead, building value is determined by the count of that type of building in all players' cities times a multiplier. As in Alhambra, there are 3 scoring rounds during which each building type is examined and points awarded for the player with the majority of that type of building. In the first scoring round, A, only the player with the most tiles of a particular building type scores for that building type (1 times the total count). In the second scoring round, B, the top 2 players score (2 times the total count and 1 times the total count respectively), and in the final round, the top 3 score (3x, 2x, and 1x the total count of that building type). Scoring for a "Beginners Game" is a little different.

There are no ties in Granada: points are never divided like in Alhambra. In the case of two players having the same number of tiles of a particular type in their cities, the player with the highest valued tile of that type wins, and the other player takes next place. So, in Granada, it pays to buy the more expensive buildings.

For example: When the A round-scoring card is turned up, Cindy has 2 Schools, Diana has 2, Tim has 1, Tina and Bailey each have 0, for a total of 5 Schools currently in cities. Cindy's highest School is a 10, Diana's is a 7. So, in round A, Cindy would score 1 x 5 = 5 points.

When the B round-scoring card is turned up, the count for Schools is: Cindy 2, Diana 3, Tim 1, Tina and Bailey 0 each for a total of 6 Schools. So, Diana scores 2 x 6 = 12 points and Cindy scores 1 x 6 = 6 points.

In the final round, the School count is Cindy 2, Diana 3, Tim 1, Tina 2, Bailey 0 for a total of 8 Schools in cities. Cindy's highest School is a 10, Tina's is a 4. So, Diana scores 3 x 8 = 24 points, Cindy score 2 x 8 = 16 points and Tina score 1 x 8 = 8 points.

Another difference in Granada is that the tiles are two-sided: on one side an even-numbered building of some type, on the other a different, odd-numbered building valued exactly one higher. The configuration of the buildings on both sides is identical in terms of moat placement or lack thereof on each side. When purchasing a building, a player can immediately place the building, as is, into her city or may flip it to the other side and place it in her supply for later placement during a remodel action.

The Building Market is initially filled with tiles even-side up. The next time the market is filled, the odd side will be placed up, then even, then odd, etc. A handy toggle feature is provided on the board near the Building Market to facilitate this.

The last difference between Alhambra and Granada, moats instead of walls, is really just a difference in artwork. As in Alhambra, during each scoring round, each player scores points for her longest continuous moat, instead of wall, surrounding her city. The rules are the same regarding tile placement: must be able to trace an unbroken path back to the city's center, moat can touch moat, etc. In games I've played, players have often commented that it seems to be harder to build with the moat tiles of Granada than with the wall tiles of Alhambra. Just one more way to make Granada an advanced version of Alhambra?

The players act as traders trying to get victory points for building a network of offices, controlling cities, collecting bonus markers or for other traders using the cities they control. After controlling a line between two cities with your pawns you can decide to build an office (and maybe also establish control and/or get a bonus marker) or to get a skill improvement from some of the cities.

Players have to improve their traders' "skills" for the following effects: getting more VP from offices in their network, getting more available action points, increasing the number of available pawns, and getting the right to place pawns and get more special pawns.

This game appeared originally as Wettstreit der Händler at the Hippodice competition.

Game description from the publisher:

In an age of great battles, valiant leaders, and unscrupulous mercenary armies, fortune lies within your grasp.

Ventura is a board game of nobility and conquest for 2-4 players. Set in 14th century Italy, Ventura puts players in control of warring noble houses, each vying for control of the country's growing wealth. Balance your house’s earnings and maintain your hired soldiers to keep your family’s noble standing. Remember, the best armies are also the ones that cost the most!

With more than 120 plastic pieces, 40 Territory tiles, 4 Family Boards, a scoring board, and over 100 cards, Ventura will whisk players into a world of warring mercenaries and noble families, all seeking control of Italy’s burgeoning wealth.

El Capitán, a game that is based upon Tycoon but with many improvements and upgrades.
The game is now playable with 2-5 players (instead of 2-4); it has 11 new groundbreaking rules, and on top of it all, expansions and a whole new exciting look!
All together we have now the following changes/improvements for the basic game:
new grouping of the cities on the game board
new payout table for distribution
3 new Distribution Cards
new rules for the forts
start money is 20 florins instead of 15
place up 4 multi travel cards instead of 2
new rule for the loan cards (not allowed in the first round)
new start player after a payday (a special start player figure is added)
building up to 12 (instead of only 9) warehouses in a city
limitation of warehouses in series (limited to 3 now)
a rule for the first warehouse in a city

Also included is the first expansion "Portuguese Powers" with some extra city boards and strategy!!
There are now special rules for 2 or 3 players (extra renovation fields) and a special rule for 2 players (payday and additional warehouses).

The game was published in October 2007 by QWG Games in the Benelux, by Pro Ludo in Germany, by Ystari Games in France, and by Z-Man Games in USA, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, UK, and Ireland.