Azul

01Discover the game

In Azul, you get colored tiles to decorate a wall. A nice lot is not necessarily a good choice: you must also plan where to place the tiles, how many places there are left and what others will leave you. The same choice can complete a line, prepare a bonus or make you lose points.

This chapter presents Classic Azul, from Next Move and Plan B Games, on the face of the colorful wall. It does not concern Summer Pavilion, Sintra Stained Glass, or an extension. 2 to 4 players, for about 30 to 45 minutes. The overall difficulty is Medium : the gestures are simple, but choose its lots well and anticipate the other demands of the practice.

02Equipment

Reference box includes 100 tiles, or 20 of each of the five colours, 4 individual trays, 4 score markers, 9 discs Fabric, 1 first player marker, 1 bag and the booklet. The lid of the box is used to collect the tiles apart; it is not a second starting bag.

Each board has three zones. On the left, five preparation lines contain 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 places respectively. On the right, the wall has five rows of five squares, with coloured places imposed. At the bottom, the Floor line displays the penalties. The score track surrounds the board.

The patterns complete the colours: a tile remains identifiable if two shades are similar. In the diagrams, one can write the names of the colors rather than reproduce the commercial decorations.

03The goal

Get the most points. The tiles transferred to your wall immediately bring back according to their neighbors. At the end, complete rows, columns and collections of color give bonuses. The fallen tiles on the floor lose points.

The part stops after the round where someone finished a horizontal row of five tiles on his wall. Triggering the end does not automatically give victory : the others also finish their pose and calculate all the bonuses.

04Prepare the table

Give each one a tray, facing the colored wall, and place his score marker on zero. All use the same face. 5 factories with two players, 7 with three and 9 with four, leaving a central area free between them. Put back the unused discs and trays in the box.

Pours the 100 tiles into the bag. The first player is the one who visited Portugal most recently; for a discovery where it is not suitable, you can draw it by lot by announcing this adaptation. He receives the First Player marker and shoots four tiles by Fabrique. Each disc shows its own small batch; the colors can be repeated.

Place the First Player Marker in the centre at the beginning of the round. The first player makes the first choice, and then play in a clockwise direction.

05Take the tiles and build the wall

Choose a single lot

Your turn, choose one color in a single factory, and take all its tiles of this color. Push immediately all the other tiles of this Fabric in the center. The disc remains empty until the next handle. You cannot leave a tile of the color chosen on the disc to reduce your batch.

You can also take all tiles of a color in the centerThe first player who takes to the center also recovers the First Player marker and places it to the left of his Floor line. He will start the next round, but will bear the penalty for this place. Taking a color to the center does not allow to take a second color at the same time.

Assign lot to one line

Place your lot in only one preparation line, from right to left. An empty line can receive the chosen color; a line already started can only receive the same color. You cannot use a line whose wall already contains a tile of this color on the corresponding row.

If the line does not have enough seats, place the excess tiles in the Floor. You never distribute a lot between two prep lines. You can also voluntarily send the whole lot to the Floor, especially to avoid blocking a line. A complete line no longer receives any tile.

At the Floor, fill the seats from left to right. When it is already full, the additional tiles go directly to the lid of the box: they do not create a penalty beyond the seven printed boxes.

We continue the choices until all the Fabrics and the center are empty. This is not the end of the game, only the end of the catch phase.

Transfer complete lines

Process your preparation lines from top to bottom. For each complete line, transfer a single tile, the one on the right, to the box of its color in the corresponding row of the wall. This place is imposed on the coloured face. Mark immediately its dots, then the remaining tiles of this complete line go to the lid.

An incomplete line does not send anything to the wall. Its tiles remain in place for the next handle, with the same color. So they are not emptied at the end of each handle.

Counting a new wall tile

A tile without neighbours directly above, below, left or right is valid 1 point- Diagonals don't count.

If it forms a continuous horizontal line, count all tiles of this line, including the new, and mark this number. Then do the same thing vertically if it also forms a vertical line. When both directions are involved, the new tile is counted once in each direction. An empty box interrupts a line: you do not jump a hole.

Apply the Floor and restart

The printed penalties, from left to right, are -1, -1, -2, -2, -2, -3 and -3. Each tile and the First player marker occupy one place. Retracts the total, without going down below zero. Floor tiles go to the lid; the First player marker returns before its owner.

If no one has finished a horizontal row of the wall, the holder of the marker fills the Fabrics with four tiles and starts the new handle. If the bag emptys during this filling, pour the tiles from the lid into the bag and continue. In the rare case where there are no more tiles even after that, play with the incomplete Fabrics. The tiles remaining in the preparation lines are never taken back to fill the bag.

06An example of a round and score

A Fabrique contains three blues and one yellow. Lina takes the three blues. The yellow reaches the centre. Its third line of preparation is empty: it places the three tiles and completes it. It does not yet place blue on the wall; this waits for the end of the catch phase.

Later, she takes three reds while the chosen line has only two free places. She places two in this line and one in the Floor. She cannot use her excess red to start another line.

At the transfer, its blue creates a continuous horizontal of four tiles and a continuous vertical of three. 4 + 3 = 7 points. If another complete line sends an isolated tile, this one is worth 1. It thus marks 8 points of pose. With two places occupied at the Floor, it loses 1 + 1 = 2 points: the net gain of this handle is 6 points, provided that no penalty is imposed against zero.

A fourth row started with two tiles out of four remains as it is. The next round will be able to provide him with the two missing ones.

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07The End and the Bonuses

After the round where a horizontal row of the wall is complete, stop the new distributions. Players add to their score: 2 points per complete horizontal row, 7 points per complete column, 10 dots per color with five tiles placed on the wall. The same tile can contribute to many of these bonuses.

The tiles still in the preparation lines do not yield anything, nor do they give an additional penalty: only those of the Floor have been penalized.

Final example: a current score of 48, two complete rows, one complete column and one complete color gives 48 + 4 + 7 + 10 = 69 points. The highest score wins. In case of equality, the player concerned having the most complete horizontal rows on his wall wins. If equality remains, the victory is shared.

08Frequent errors

• Take only two of the three blue tiles of a Fabric: all the color chosen must be taken.
• Divide a lot between several preparation lines: one line, then any surplus at the Floor.
• Start a color already present on the corresponding row of the wall.
• Empty an incomplete line at the end of a round: it keeps.
• Count diagonals or tiles separated by a hole.
• Forget that the first player marker occupies a penalised place.
• Stop as soon as a player completes his row, before transferring and planting others.

09Tips to Start

Before taking a lot, name the line where it will go. Check the color of the wall and the free spaces: this small control avoids surprises. Filling a large line too early may make it necessary to accept annoying tiles afterwards.

Observe the adjacent trays. A color that no one wants to grow in the center; if your only compatible line is almost full, prepares a solution or takes the risk knowingly.

On the wall, bring the tiles closer to create continuous lines. A crossing can bring a lot, but stubbornly pursuing a precise box can cost more in penalties. Finally, monitor the almost complete rows of others: the end can come before your main lines are finished.