Azul product reviews

Azul is a game that I had heard plenty about but shied away because of the price, though I have been collecting board games for quite a few years now (but especially the last 4-5 years) but I managed to pick this up with a discount and I was glad that I finally had a copy. The premise might seem simple, you want to fill up as many spaces on your board as possible, before the end of the game is triggered, but it is a bit more complicated than that. As a result, it did take a few games before I was able to fully grasp all the rules but we got there in the end.

The tiles for this have a really good weight to them, they're nice and solid and you know that they are going to last you for years of gameplay. The boards are nice and thick and come with two options of gameplay (one where the tile placement is already decided for you and one where you get to pick the tile placement whilst still adhering to the rules of said placement). Tiles get placed on special boards in the center, from which each played takes turns. When selecting tiles, you have to plan carefully because each tile that you cannot place within the rules cost you precious points.

I have played this numerous times now with my friend, mother and my kids who range from 9-13 (though I will note that the youngest is special needs and is managing to pick this up well enough). Because the tiles placed in the middle differ each time, your play has to change each time. There are opportunities to earn bonus points, to add a little more strategy to the game should you wish. The game ends when someone ends up making a full column, so you can really draw out a game if you're aiming for high points, or if someone is getting bored you can make the game a bit faster. A beautiful game with lots of replay-ability.