2017 · Abstract Strategy
Azul
Decorate the royal palace by drafting colored ceramic tiles from communal suppliers and placing them on a personal wall grid. Players take turns selecting all tiles of one color from a supplier or the central pool, move remaining tiles to the center, and arrange chosen tiles on pattern lines before transferring them to the wall. At scoring, players gain points for tiles placed on the wall, complete rows/columns/patterns, and adjacency bonuses, while excess tiles and unplaced pieces incur penalties. The game ends after a round in which a player completes a horizontal row; highest total score wins.
- Players
- 2–4 best 2
- Playing time
- 30–45 min
- Age
- 8+
- Complexity
- 1.8 / 5
About the game
- Design
- Publishers
Expansions
See them in Ludoya
Photos from Ludoya tables
All photos in Ludoya
Where to buy it
Shop prices and second-hand copies, checked every day.
On Ludoya's tables
Full stats in Ludoya- 8,346
- Plays logged
- 3,036
- Players
- 26m 26s
- Average play
- 1,050
- In collections
- 37
- On wishlists
- 2
- Pre-ordered
7.6/10
from 415 Ludoya reviews
Garfield7.0 #37 BGExpansions in Box I'm waiting since about 8 or more months for my missing start marker tile!!! Will not change rating till I get it! Very good 2-player game that is easy to explain and plays very fast. [c] Theme: :nostar::nostar::nostar::nostar::nostar: <!-- size 7]No theme --> Gameplay: :star::nostar::nostar::nostar::nostar: <!-- size 7]2 choices --> Interaction: :star::nostar::nostar::nostar::nostar: <!-- size 7]Almost no interaction --> Artwork: :star::star::star::nostar::nostar: <!-- size 7]The tiles are beautiful, the rest is ok --> Luck: :star::star::nostar::nostar::nostar: <!-- size 7]Sosolala --> Strategy: :star::star::star::star::nostar: <!-- size 7]If you don't have one, you don't get the max points you could if you had one --> Components: :star::star::star::star::nostar: <!-- size 7]Beautiful tiles --> Play duration: :star::star::star::star::nostar: <!-- size 7]Very good --> Easy to teach: :star::star::star::star::nostar: <!-- size 7]Explained within minutes --> Setup time: :star::star::star::star::nostar: <!-- size 7]You only have to draw some tiles --> No downtime: :star::star::star::star::nostar: <!-- size 7]Almost no downtime --> [/c]
Mohasz7.5 After several 2p games I feel like the game is somewhat overrated. A lot of people compare this one to Sagrada, and I think I prefer the latter. Azul might be more streamlined and have more strategy to it, but I find the puzzle more satisfying in Sagrada, and it has the edge on replayability as well. Still a good game. After more plays with both, I might actually prefer Azul now. It's a cleaner, less fiddly game. I've kinda grown cold to it now. I no longer get excited to pull this off the shelf, although it's still pleasant enough every now and then. + Joker Tiles + Overlays
Vic Granell9.0 Present to parents. Also own mini and caramel version. Always willing to play!
Rules questions
Answered from the rulebook by Ludoya's rules assistant.
If I take tiles from the center, do I also have to take the starting player marker?
If you are the first player in that round to take tiles from the center you must also take the starting player marker and place it on the leftmost free space of your floor line; that grants you the marker for the next round setup (page 3).
Can I place tiles in a pattern line if that color already appears in the corresponding row of my wall?
No — in later rounds you are not allowed to place tiles of a color into a pattern line whose corresponding wall row already contains that color (page 4).
When I complete a pattern line, which tile moves to the wall and what happens to the extras?
For each complete pattern line you move only the rightmost tile to the matching space on your wall (scoring immediately) and then place the remaining tiles from that pattern line into the lid of the game box (page 4).
How exactly do I score when I place a tile on my wall — do I count both horizontal and vertical links?
If the placed tile has no adjacent tiles you score 1 point; otherwise first count all horizontally linked tiles (including the new tile) for that many points, then separately count all vertically linked tiles (including the new tile) and add those points as well (page 5).
If I pick more tiles than fit in a pattern line, what happens to the extra tiles?
Any excess tiles you cannot place in the chosen pattern line must be placed in your floor line, filling its spaces left to right, and if the floor line is already full further excess tiles are returned to the game box lid for now (pages 3 and 4).
Does the starting player marker in the floor line also cost me points and where does it go after scoring?
Yes — the starting player marker counts as a normal tile for floor-line penalties when you score, but instead of going into the lid it is placed in front of you after scoring (page 5).
Free, on web, Android and iOS
Play Azul with Ludoya
- Keep it in your collectionTrack your copy and its expansions, lend it to friends, or put it on your wishlist and get told when the price drops.Add it to your collection
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- Settle rules questionsAsk anything about the rules and get an answer from the rulebook, with the page to check it on.Ask the rules assistant
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Game facts (players, playing time, age, credits) from BoardGameGeek.