Azul

1 Game Overview

Azul is an elegant tile-placement game inspired by azulejo tiles decorating the Royal Palace of Evora in Portugal. Players take turns drafting colorful tiles and placing them on their personal boards to complete pattern lines.

The game has a wonderful tension: grab the tiles you want, but forcing your opponent to take leftovers they don't want is equally strategic. Every tile left on your floor line at round's end costs you points.

2 What's in the Box

• 1 central bag with 100 tiles (20 each of 5 colors)
• 9 factory displays (round cardboard circles)
• 4 player boards
• 1 center tile holder / first player marker (the "1" tile)
• Scoring markers

3 Setup

1. Place factory displays in the center of the table (use all 9 for 4 players, fewer for fewer players: 2=5, 3=7, 4=9).
2. Place the "1" first-player marker in the center of the table.
3. Draw 4 tiles from the bag and place them face-up on each factory display.
4. Each player takes a player board. Choose a starting player (suggest the most recently visited Portugal).

4 How to Play

Each round has two phases:

Phase 1 - Tile Drafting

On your turn, either:

• Take from a factory: Take ALL tiles of one color from one factory display. Move the remaining tiles to the center table.
• Take from center: Take ALL tiles of one color from the center. If the "1" marker is there, take it too - you go first next round but lose 1 point.

Place your taken tiles on one pattern line (rows 1-5 on your board) - all tiles in a row must be the same color. You can only place a color in a row that doesn't already have that color on your wall (right side). Overflow tiles go to your floor line (penalty).

Phase 2 - Wall Tiling (end of each round)

For each complete pattern line, move one tile to the corresponding space on your wall (each color has a fixed spot per row). Discard the rest back to the bag. Score immediately for that tile: count tiles adjacent horizontally and vertically. Empty pattern lines stay for next round.

Floor line penalties: -1, -1, -2, -2, -2, -3, -3 (left to right). Discard floor tiles.

5 Winning

The game ends after the round where any player completes a horizontal row on their wall. Then add bonus points: +2 per completed row, +7 per completed column, +10 per all 5 of any tile color. Highest total score wins.

6 Strategy Tips

• Deny tiles to opponents. If an opponent desperately needs blue tiles, grabbing blue yourself (even imperfectly) can be worth it.
• Avoid the floor line. Penalties hurt. Don't take more tiles than you can place legally.
• Plan for end-game bonuses. Full columns (+7) and all-five-of-a-color (+10) are worth steering toward from the start.
• Complete rows efficiently. Each completed row scores at least 1 point plus adjacency. Try to build dense clusters on your wall.
• The 1 marker is a trap. Taking it from the center gives you first pick next round but costs you 1 point. Worth it in tight situations.