Azul was designed by the world famous, award winning game author Michael Riesling. Azul captures the beautiful aesthetics of Moorish art in a contemporary board game. Players compete as artisans decorating the walls of the royal Palace of Dvora. By carefully drafting the correct Quantity and style of tiles, the most clever of artisans plan ahead to maximize the beauty of their work (not to mention their scores!) while ensuring they wasted no supplies in the process. Introduced by the moors, "azulejos" (originally white and blue ceramic tiles) were fully embraced by the Portuguese, when their King Manuel I, on a visit to the Alhambra Palace in Southern Spain, was mesmerized by the stunning beauty of the Moorish decorative tiles. The King, awestruck by the interior beauty of the Alhambra, immediately ordered that his own Palace in Portugal be decorated with similar wall tiles. As a tile laying artist, you have been challenged to embellish the walls of the royal Palace of Dvora. Build a mosaic fit for a monarch! The king wants you to decorate his royal palace... Azul is a tile-placement game in which players compete for the highest score by claiming tiles and arranging them on their board to score points. Extra points are on offer for collecting sets of the same colour of tile, or for creating particular patterns, while there are penalties for taking tiles that you're unable to use. But every tile that you claim affects what your rivals can take next. You'll have to make choices that help you without helping them too much!
