Board game guide
Azul
Draft beautifully. Leave trouble behind.
Azul is tactile, elegant and quietly ruthless. Every tile you take helps your wall, changes the shared market and may leave the next player with an awkward choice.
- Players
- 2–4
- Time
- 30–45 min
- Experience
- Approachable strategy
- Track
- Final points
How to play
Give the table a clear rhythm.
Use this as a quick first-game guide, then keep the official rules close for edge cases and exact details.
Fill the displays
Place four tiles on each factory display. Keep the centre of the table open for tiles that are pushed out during drafting.
Take one colour
Choose a factory or the centre, then take every tile of one colour there. Move any remaining factory tiles into the centre.
Build a pattern line
Place the drafted tiles into one pattern line. A line may hold only one colour, and overflow drops to your floor line.
Tile the wall
When every tile has been drafted, move one tile from each complete pattern line to its matching wall space.
Score the mosaic
Score connected horizontal and vertical tiles, apply floor penalties and begin another round. The game ends after a horizontal row is complete.
Before the first turn
Set up for a smooth start.
- Give each player a wall board and scoring marker.
- Use the number of factory displays shown for your player count.
- Fill the bag with tiles and place four on every display.
- Put the first-player marker in the centre and choose a starting player.
Make it a season
Reward consistency across every mosaic.
Keep each game’s final score and placement. A short series works especially well because the same rules produce very different drafting puzzles.
Create your season- Result
- Final score + placement
- Season points
- 4 / 3 / 2 / 1
- Format
- Four-game series
- Tiebreak
- Most table wins