Learn how to play Azul, the super addictive strategy tile-building game. In this helpful guide, you’ll find everything you need to get playing, including the core Azul rules and, most importantly, how to win!
What is Azul?
The popular Azul board game is inspired by the beautiful Portuguese tiles and involves using strategy to build colourful murals using the provided tiles, which will then be used throughout the mesmerising Royal Palace of Évora, based on a real palace in Portugal. Strategically place your tiles and decorate the palace to score crucial points throughout the game! Designed for 2-4 players, ideal for a cosy game night with a friend or three.
Setting up your Azul game
First things first, let’s go through how to set up your Azul board game!
- Give each player a double-sided play mat and decide which side you’ll play on
- Hand each player a black cube scoring marker to place on the scoring track of the mat
- You will also find nine circular mats in your Azul set, which you will need to place on the table in a circle (use 5 mats for a two-player game, 7 mats for a three-player game, and the full 9 mats if playing with a group of 4 people)
- Place all 100 tiles (you should have 20 of each pattern) in the draw bag and shuffle them around
- Once you’ve shuffled all the tiles, place 4 on each of the circular mats, also known as factories. This is used for players to source tiles throughout the game
- Lastly, place the first player marker in the centre of the factories. This is the square tile that will be marked with a 1.
Azul rules
You’re all set up; now, let’s dive into how to play Azul! The main aim of the game is to source tiles to build your 5x5 wall and impress the King by decorating his palace. You earn points for every tile you place, and they will be calculated at the end of each round. See a simple breakdown of the rules below!
- The first player chooses a factory (circular mat) to visit and can claim all tiles of the same colour; the remaining tiles should be placed in the middle of the table.
- Once you’ve claimed your tiles, choose a horizontal pattern line to place them on your mat (there are 5 pattern lines per player mat). These have to be placed in the same line and can’t be put on different lines.
- If in later turns you happen to pick up more tiles than you need to complete a pattern line, you can use the tiles you need and drop the rest at the bottom of your player mat, although your score will not thank you for this!
- Once the first player has taken their turn, the remaining players will follow the same steps in clockwise order.
- The next player is free to treat any tiles in the middle of the table as a factory and can pick them up to use on their own board, following the same rules as above. If you’re the first player to visit this central factory, you can claim the first player marker and take the first turn in the next round!
- The first round continues clockwise until every tile has been claimed. When you reach this stage, it’s time to count up your scores and see how you’ve done.
Scoring rounds in the Azul board game
Once each round comes to an end, each player should take a look at the pattern lines they’ve created throughout that round. If you’ve completed a full line of one tile type, move one of those tiles across to the horizontal row of the wall. If you’ve completed all five, you’re going to land yourself with a very good score and be in with a chance to win if you keep it up in the coming rounds!
Once you’ve moved all your completed tiles to the wall, it’s time to add up your score. If the tile is on its own, you’ll earn 1 point for this. If it’s sitting next to others, count up how many tiles are linked in that row, both horizontally and vertically, and add these together to determine your score. For any dormant tiles that you placed at the bottom of your mat throughout the round, these need to be calculated and taken away from your score for that round.
Starting a new round of Azul
Once all players have determined their scores for the most recent round, remove all the excess tiles from your previously completed lines and place them to one side. If you had any incomplete lines in the last round, you can leave them on your board, ready to complete the second time around if you can. Once your boards are organised, let the next round of Azul commence! Follow the same rules as above and continue playing clockwise.
How to win Azul
Now to the good stuff: how to win! As you might have guessed already, the player to earn the most points by the end of the game wins. The final round ends once a player completes a full horizontal pattern line across their mat, and it should follow the same format as previous rounds, where all players score their new tiles. And there are some extra points on offer when the game ends!
- 2 points for every complete horizontal row acquired throughout all rounds played
- 7 points for every complete vertical row acquired throughout the game
- 10 points for every time a player has filled in all 5 tiles for a colour
Whichever player has managed to build the most rows and acquired the most points is the winner, and the King’s number 1 tiler for his Royal Palace of Evora!
Discover our Azul collection
And that’s it; you now know how to play Azul! All that’s left to do is grab your chosen version, gather a few friends, and get playing! Browse our full Azul collection, including Azul Duel and the popular Azul mini, perfect for travel. Shop the collection online, or use our handy store locator to find your friendly local game store. If you’re looking for inspiration for other games to play, read our helpful guide on the best strategy board games!
