Description
King Manuel I of Portugal was so taken with the Moorish tiles in the Alhambra palace that he had his own palace in Évora decorated with the same ones. In Azul Mini you are the artisans laying these tiles. It is the same game as the award-winning Azul, winner of the Spiel des Jahres 2018, just in a smaller format: the player boards sit in plastic trays, and excess tiles go into the box tray during play. That way you can set up the game anywhere.
How to play Azul Mini
In the middle of the table are factories with four tiles each. On your turn you take all tiles of one colour from one factory and push the rest to the centre of the table. Or you take all tiles of one colour from the centre. You place the tiles in one of the five rows on your board. Whatever doesn't fit falls to the floor and costs you points at the end of the round.
When the factories and the centre are empty, you move one tile from each full row to the wall. Each one scores points right away, more if it touches tiles already placed. The game ends after the round in which someone completes a horizontal line of five tiles on the wall. Then you score extra points for complete rows, columns and colours. Whoever has the most points wins.
Why you will like it
- A turn is simple, since you take only one colour, but every time you weigh how many tiles you really need.
- What you leave in the centre of the table can force an opponent to take too many tiles and lose points.
- Whoever reaches into the centre first starts the next round, but the first player token costs them a point on the floor.
- The board also has a grey side, where you choose yourself which colour goes where on the wall. That gives you a different challenge.
Who is Azul Mini for
Azul Mini is for 2 to 4 players aged 8 and up, and a game takes 30 to 45 minutes. It is one of the lighter games, so it also suits people who don't play board games often yet. Players on BoardGameGeek like it best with two. This is the English edition with rules in English, and there is no text on the components. If you love lots of table talk and luck, you may prefer something else, as in Azul everyone quietly plans their own wall.
If you like Azul, the shop also has other games from the same series: Azul: Summer Pavilion, Azul: Queen's Garden and Azul: Master Chocolatier.
What is in the box
- 100 resin tiles (20 in each of five colours)
- 4 player boards
- 5 plastic trays
- 9 factories
- first player token
- cloth bag
- rules
