Azul invites you, a tile laying artisan, to embellish the walls of the Royal Palace of Evora.

Azul was designed by the world famous, award winning game author Michael Kiesling. Azul captures the beautiful aesthetics of Moorish art in a contemporary board game.

Players compete as artisans decorating the walls of the Royal Palace of Evora. By carefully drafting the correct quantity and style of tiles, the most clever of artisans plan ahead to maximize the beauty of their work (not to mention their scores!) while ensuring they wasted no supplies in the process.

Introduced by the Moors, “azulejos” (originally white and blue ceramic tiles) were fully embraced by the Portuguese, when their King Manuel 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.

In the tactical tile-laying game Azul, the Portuguese King Manuel I commissions craftsmen to decorate the walls of his palace with beautiful mosaics.

They can’t just use any old tiles: they need the so-called ‘Azulejos’. Beneath the simple action of laying tiles burns a fierce competition to pick the best tiles from the factories at just the right time.

Each turn players have to take all tiles of the same type from one factory. Depending on the position in the mosaic, sometimes the craftsmen need a lot of tiles of one type to expand the mosaic, sometimes fewer.

Whoever over-speculates and takes too many tiles will receive minus points. You can earn a lot, however, by tiling connected parts of the mosaic and by having completed rows and columns at the end of the game.

The abstract game “Azul” combines several supposed contradictions: the almost sober functionality of the game board is in marked contrast to the fabulous aesthetics of the mosaic being constructed.

The feel of the tiles themselves increases the impression of value. The game components alone are a pleasure. The designer Michael Kiesling has succeeded in this masterpiece: giving so much depth to a supposedly simple selection mechanic, that you’ll want to play this again and again and again.

Content:

100 Resin Tiles
4 Player boards
9 Factory displays
4 Scoring markers
1 Starting player marker
1 Linen bag
1 Rulebook

2 to 4 Players
30 to 40 Min Playing Time
Age: 8+

2018 Spiele des Jahres Winner

It may not be possible to ship very heavy items outside of the Mainland UK.
Released: 10 January 2023