Tuesday, June 20, 2023

Squid Games: Azul

The concept of Azul is simple.  You draft tiles from the center of the table and place them on your own board.  You gain points from certain tile patterns, after each turn and at the end of the game.  Simple, yet I haven't fully sorted out the strategy yet.

Racquet Man introduced it to our game group a few years ago, then it was a good choice for our Board Game Arena online sessions during COVID.  In total, I would guess that I have played it maybe a handful of time.  I'm fairly certain RM has won every time we've played so he, at least, has sorted out a few things the rest of us haven't.  I may need to pay closer attention to his board if we play again.

Racquet Man's winning board

The game art is beautiful, based on the Moorish tiles at the Alhambra palace in southern Spain, as seen by the Portuguese King Manuel I, who reigned 1495-1521.  The games name derives from azuleijos, the Spanish word for the tiles.  Azul has won numerous industry awards.  The Board Game Geek rating is 7.8/10 with a 1.76/5 for complexity.  

2 comments:

  1. I have never played that game before. Sounds interesting. Sometimes it takes a while for strategy to come to us. :) ~Jess

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    1. Definitely for me. In certainly helps to learn from those who play better.

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