You build the board with tiles that are 3 hexes joined together, each has a volcano on it. You stack them, and build stuff on them. Temples on tiles that are 4 high, villages need to have a certain size and there's a third building I can't remember.
or
They are both part of the Mask Trilogy of games created by Wolfgang Kramer and Michael Kiesling. Mexica is the third.
-
I played Tikal once and really enjoyed it - certainly matches the description by the OP! – thesunneversets Jan 6 '12 at 8:43