Board Game Azul

MOSAIC OF THE ROYAL PALACE

According to legend, the Portuguese King Manuel the Lucky, having visited the Alhambra, was so captivated by the beauty of the mosaic there that he wanted one for himself. The Arabs called this white-blue glazed tile - zullaij, the Spaniards - asulejos, and among the Portuguese it was transformed into azulejo. 

The players are invited to become not stokers, not carpenters, but tile-mosaicers - and try their hand at this amazing decorative art. They will be transported to medieval Portugal, where they will decorate the royal palace in Évora with azulejo tiles.

QUICK SETUP

At the beginning of the game, participants receive tablets. Factory disks are laid out around the center of the table: nine disks for a four-player game, seven for a three-player game, and five for a two-player game. All tiles are placed in a bag. The first player draws random tiles from the bag and fills the disks with them, placing four tiles on each.

GAME PROCESS

A game round consists of three phases - tile selection, facing, and preparation. At the beginning of the round, the first player places a token of the same name with a unit in the center of the table. He goes first.

1. Selecting tiles 

Participants take turns, starting with the first player. 

The active player has two options:

• take all tiles of the same color from one disk, and move the rest to the center of the table

OR

• take all tiles of the same color and the first player`s token (if it has not already been taken) from the center of the table.

The selected tiles are immediately placed on the board - on one of the five horizontal lines. Only tiles of the same color can be on a separate line. If any tiles do not fit, they "fall to the floor". All such tiles are laid out on the floor line.

The phase continues until the players have sorted out all the tiles on the disks and in the center of the table.

2. Tiling

Players tile the walls simultaneously. They do not touch unfinished lines. If there are completed lines on the board, the rightmost tile takes its place on the corresponding wall line, and the other tiles are discarded. The player immediately receives points for adjacent tiles in horizontal and vertical rows. At the end of this phase, players subtract points for tiles on the floor line, and then discard these tiles as well.

3. Preparation

The first player fills the factories by drawing four tiles from the bag and placing them on each disk. If the bag is empty, the tiles from the discard pile are placed in it.

DETERMINING THE WINNER

The game continues until someone completes a horizontal line on the wall. Players add to the points scored during the game:

• 2 points for each completed horizontal line on the wall;
• 7 points for each completed vertical line on the wall;
• 10 points for every five tiles of the same color on the wall.

The player with the most points becomes the winner.

Publisher: Plan B Games

Language: Ukrainian

Players: 2-4

Play time: 30-45 m

Age: 8+

• 100 tiles
• 4 game boards
• 9 factory discs
• 4 scoring markers
• first player token
• linen pouch
• game rules