Introduced by the Moors, azulejos (originally white and blue ceramic tiles) were fully embraced by the Portuguese, when their king Mauel I, on a visit to the Alhambra palace in Southern Spain, was mesmerized by the stunning beauty of the Moorish decorative tiles. The king, awestruck by the interior beauty of the Alhambra, immediately ordered that his own palace in Portugal be decorated with similar wall tiles. Azul brings you, a tile laying artist, to embellish the walls of the Royal Palace of Evora.
In Azul, the beautiful, abstract tile laying game by Michael Kiesling, players will compete for the privilege of decorating the King's palace! They'll take turns drafting tiles from the factories to fill up their board and attempt to complete rows and columns of tiles to score points and end the game!
Do you have what it takes to be the king's interior decorator? Find out in Azul!
Abstract, Tile Laying Fun!
At its core, Azul is truly an abstract game of critical thinking and strategy. Choosing which tiles to draft and where to place them on your board to fill up your Pattern Lines is crucial to getting a high score and making sure you leave as few wasted tiles as possible. So, how do you go about this?
Factory Direct
On their turn, players will select a group of tiles from one of the many Factories in the middle of the table. A player must remove all tiles of the same color from a Factory, and any remaining tiles will be placed into a central pool that acts as an additional source of tiles to choose from. Players will then place the tiles in one of the Pattern Lines on their Player Board, attempting to fill it up and place one of the tiles onto their Wall.
The Big Score
Scoring in Azul is determined by many things. During the course of the game, whenever a player places a tile on their wall, they score points for each vertically and horizontally adjacent tile. At the end of the game, once a player has completed at least one horizontal row on their wall, players will score points for each completed row and column on their wall as well as any complete sets of five tiles that share a color. Watch out for wasting tiles during the game, though. Each tile wasted over the course of the game is added to your Floor Line and will subtract points from your score at the end of the game!
See what people are saying about Azul!
Check out Zee Garcia's Review for Azul on The Dice Tower!
Received a Seal of Excellence from The Dice Tower
"This is a stunning-looking game!"
"If you're looking for a tactically rich design that is beautiful, this is for you."
"I keep wanting to come back to it. It's a fascinating game!"
-Zee Garcia, The Dice Tower
"Everyone is gonna be talking about this game."
"The game is so much fun and so satisfying. Every turn is satisfying."
"The gameplay is amazing."
"It's a beautiful production."
-Man vs. Meeple
"A really fun, quick abstract game."
"Definitely take a look at it!"
-Joel Eddy, Drive-Thru Review
"This game is absolutely beautiful to look at."
-Game Boy Geek
Ending Head
The beautiful tiles and fun, strategic play of drafting and placing them is sure to be a hit at your next game night! Pick up your copy of Azul today!
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