Patrician — How to Play and Is It a Gem?

About Patrician: Towers of Influence, from BoardGameGeek:

The definitive version of a Michael Schacht classic, Patrician: Towers of Influence features an updated presentation, new two-player rules, and two expansion modules. Welcome to 13th Century Italy, a time when wealthy Patrician families build magnificent towers to represent their power and prosperity: the more influential the family, the taller the tower! You are a master builder, ready to profit from the vanity of the Patrician families. You take building orders, adding floor after floor, and when a tower is complete, you'll be there to take the credit. At the end of the game, the builder with the most victory points wins! Patrician: Towers of Influence is delightfully effortless to play. Each turn, play a Building card, which allows you to add to a tower in the matching city. Some cards allow you to take special actions that help you or hinder others. Next, take the face-up card from the pile next to the city where you just built a tower. As the game goes on, players will continue to build up the various towers, and points are scored for who controls the tallest towers in each city, as well as for playing Patrician portrait card sets. In the end, the builder with the most points wins! This new version of the classic game includes several expanded ways to enjoy the game. When playing with two players, you compete against the Architetto, a wily bot opponent who thwarts your plans. The Trade Routes and Delegates modules can optionally be added in to increase the decisions and affect final scoring. -description from the publisher