In Azul, players work strategically to make mosaic creations. Every mosaic is beautiful and a piece of art. But one of them will be the best.
Azul is a multi-award winning game of tile placement, mosaic construction, and art. Follow the patterns to make your tile wall the most beautiful. And earn the most points for your effort.
| Quick Guide | ||
|---|---|---|
| Mechanics | Tile Placement, Chaining, Grid Coverage | |
| Players | 2-4 Players, Age 8+ | |
| Playing Time | 30-45 Minutes | |
| Similar Games | Bonsai, Cascadia, Canvas, Carcassonne | |
| Publisher | Next Move Games |
Azul Overview
At its core, Azul is a pretty simple tile placement game. You’re just taking the tiles from the center and placing them on your play mat in the pattern. The better you do, the more points you score. But there is a lot more strategy, as all of the other players are attempting to do the same. Will you go for the tiles you need, or will you try to protect your lead by swiping someone else’s needed tiles first? It’s your choice – but don’t get caught with too many tiles you don’t need…
Component wise, Azul‘s boards are colorful and inviting. The tiles themselves practically beg you to pick them up and play with them. You also get a really nice bag to put the tiles in for random draws. It really is a game for all ages and once you get how the board placement works, it’s a really fun and interesting game.
Azul‘s simple and beautiful gameplay and design have been a hit with players since 2017. From 2017 to 2019, the game has been nominated for and won more awards than I can list here. They have also made spin-offs and expansions including “Stained Glass of Sintra,” “Crystal Mosaic,” and “Azul Duel.“
How to Play Azul
Azul is a tile-placement game where players try to build the most impressive and beautiful mosaic and earn the most points. Points are earned for proximity to nearby tiles and completing patterns. It’s a highly visual game that’s easy to teach and learn, and very fun to pick-up-and-play once you know how it works.
To start, each player will take their game board and score cube and set their score to a zero. A number of tiles correlated to the number of players are laid out, and players take turns picking from these tiles. These tile are then placed on the player’s game board to match the design there. Single tiles earn a single point, while two adjacent tiles earn two and three earn four. Additionally, completed horizontal and vertical rows will also earn points. Extra tiles left over will count against the player, and take points away from their score at the end of the game.
At the end, players will tally up their score. The player with the most points – and by extension the most completed and well executed design – wins.
Should I Buy This Game?
Definitely, yes. This game is shockingly fun and fast to learn. The time between learning the rules, and constructing your own beautiful mosaics is minutes. Making this equally perfect for your standing game night with your board game friends or when your family comes to visit and doesn’t want to spend a lot of time in a rule book.
At $32, it’s also very reasonably priced compared to some bigger and more involved games. Sometimes you spend a lot of money to add a giant game to your collection with lofting dreams of finally getting all of your friends together and diving in it, while other times you add a game that you know you can play anytime and with any group. And Azul is very much the latter.
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