Description
On a visit to the Alhambra, King Manuel I of Portugal grew so fond of the Moorish decorative tiles that he had his palace in Évora decorated with them. In Azul you are the master who carries out this work. You choose coloured tiles from a shared offer and use them to build your wall row by row.
How to play Azul
In the middle of the table are the factories, each holding four random tiles. On your turn you take all the tiles of one colour from one factory and push the rest to the centre of the table. You can also take all the tiles of one colour from the centre. You place the tiles in one of the five rows on your board. Whatever does not fit falls to the floor and costs you points.
When the offer is empty, one tile from each full row moves to the wall and scores points: more if it touches other tiles. The game ends after the round in which someone completes a horizontal row on their wall. The player with the most points wins.
Why you will like it
- Every turn is a small dilemma: take the colour you need, or the one that would help your opponent too much.
- Whatever you leave in the centre piles up. Towards the end of a round you can force someone to take a whole heap of tiles that fall to their floor.
- Tiles that touch each other on the wall score more points, so it pays to build with care.
- The heavy, smooth tiles and the bag you draw them from are a real pleasure to handle.
Who is Azul for
The game is for 2 to 4 players aged 8 and up, and a game takes 30 to 45 minutes. It is easy, and players on BoardGameGeek like it best with two. There is no text in the game, so children and adults can play it together. Once you have mastered it, flip the board to the grey side, where you decide yourself where each colour goes. Anyone who dislikes having the tiles they were waiting for snatched away by other players will be in a bad mood now and then.
Other games from the series in our shop: Azul: Master Chocolatier, Azul: Summer Pavilion and Azul: Queen's Garden.
What is in the box
- 100 tiles in five colours and a linen bag
- 4 player boards and 4 scoring markers
- 9 factory displays
- starting player marker
- rules
