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“Azul - a simple tile drafting game that sees you complete a set pattern in every game unless you flip the board to the neutral side giving you free choice and you attmept to score the most points. That about sums up the game, but the execution of the premise is what makes Azul special. Azul starts off simply enough, select the tiles you need to complete your pattern, taking it in turns to take tiles from the centre, focussing on building your own tile and maximizing your score. Simple, and no doubt like us you'll spend your first few games playing in this straightforward way. Pretty soon though you and your opponents will have learned the best ways to maximise your score and develop your pattern. This is when the real fun starts! The game stops being a peaceful, quiet, slow paced pleasant game and becomes deadly serious and competitive as you start to find ways to maximise your own score whilst disrupting other player's strategy which not only costs them points they don't score but can cause them to lose points. This is the core of the game. The competitiveness of the competing Artists - it's led to many an argument. The tactical element of the game is ramped up as the deviousness of other players becomes a major factor in your tactics - do you complete that row that will get you a few points, or leave all those tiles in the middle for a player to collect forcing them to lose 10 points? Game play is simple and caused little confusion even on our first playthrough. Everyone understood the mechanics and in the early rounds scoring (done at the end of every round) was simple and understandable. In later rounds as some tiles score multiple times and multiple points the scoring sat a little uncomfortable but after a few games feels natural. I'd advise scoring as a group until you are sure everyone understands to score a single tile once but if in rows and coloumns score the hrizontal and then vertical or vice versa. It's an odd rule to describe but makes sense. The components in Azul are gorgeous and this helps the game. The tiles you use are beautiful, well rounded weighty things that feel good to hold and make a satisfying sound when shaken in the gorgeous linen bag. The theme, whilst not essential to the game, enhances its appeal. The artwork is stunning, really bringing the artistry of the tiles to life. The game boards themselves are thick and sturdy, well laid out and functional. From a component point of view, the game boards are the only area I can criticise. It would be good if the game boards had grooves on them so that your score tracker, tiles etc sat slightly in the board, preventing them from sliding around. But it's a minor quibble. Azul is excellent since it arrived I think we've played it nearly nightly, definitely whenever a game has come out, and I imagine it will continue to be that way for a while. It's a simple game with simple mechanics, that draws you and allows for variety in each game - largely due to your opponents. The game scales well from 2 -4 players, although I find the 4 player games tend to be less hotly competitive, as you can't watch your opponents as closely. I think it's an essential for any collection.”

Helpful Report

Posted 8 years ago

“Such an amazing game. There's only a couple of rules which even a non-gamer can grasp quickly. After half a dozen games I've only just scratched the surface of the tactics - I can see this being a table staple for a while yet!”

Helpful Report

Posted 8 years ago