Azul

 

Today's review is of the 2017 release, Azul. For 2-4 players, it takes 30-45 minutes.

Overview

You are a tile-laying artist, charged by the Portuguese King to decorate the palace along the lines of the Moorish Alhambra. On your turn, you'll choose all tiles of the same style from either a factory [4 tiles in each to start] or the center [when tiles are picked from a factory, those not chosen go to the center]. You'll use these tiles to fill your board on the left-hand side rows; when all tiles from both factory and center are gone, you'll populate the right-hand side (where the rows require one of each type of tile) with one tile from your left-hand row (if that row is full), placing it in the appropriate square, then scoring points based on how many are adjacent. After all tiles have been placed, remaining tiles in formerly-full rows are emptied (partial rows carry over to the next round) and a new round begins. The game ends when one player has completely finished one row on the right-hand side. Final scoring is done, and highest tally wins!

Game in progress; image from here

Review

Simple to learn but difficult to master, this is a great game. I'd have to play it a few more times to better understand solid strategies (my 5-year-old was able to play and be competitive, by luck), but this one is a winner.

Rating: A