I was recently sent Azul an attractive coloured tile family game from Asmodee. It was a game I have enjoyed previously with friends, so I was delighted to introduce my boys to the concept. The game is based on Portuguese tiles (Azulejo) which lends to the game name and also which player goes first! The one who has been to Portugal last. For our family that’s a tricky one as we all visited Portugal at the same time! Although my husband claims he got on the plane last…

Award Winning Game

Azul has won lots of awards including the Spiel des Jahres in 2018. The game was designed by Michael Kiesling with this being one of his most notable games. The aim of Azul is to fill your player board with a combination of tiles to give you the most points. Excess tiles are something best avoided whenever possible. Try to be quite strategic when choosing your tiles (unleash your inner tile laying artist!).

The overflow floor line leads to minus points as marked on the board (as the tiles are considered broken after falling on the floor). The first time I played it was against my husband’s cousin and he just had a knack for always picking the best tiles to embellish the walls of the Royal Palace of Evora. But that is something that comes with practice and multiple games.

The pattern lines need to be complete before you can move tiles onto the Wall-tiling stage. This is when you score points, so again make sure you have planned ahead which patterned tiles will be to your advantage. Think about getting more complete horizontal and vertical lines whenever you can. You get extra points for completing those additional goals. I always try and get 5 of the same-coloured tiles on my wall for the extra 10 points each time. End of play is triggered when at least one player has completed a minimum of one horizontal line.

You might want to think about your gameplay so that you don’t end the game too early. Possibly when you still had plans to grab some more additional points.

Azul Competition

If you would like the chance of winning your own copy of Azul please fill in the form below by the 15^th of January.

Win Azul Board Game

Also do check out my other giveaways.