Objective of the Game

Welcome, tile-laying artists! In **Azul**, you're tasked with embellishing the walls of the Royal Palace of Evora, just like King Manuel I was mesmerized by the Moorish decorative tiles. Your ultimate goal is to be the player with the **most points** at the end of the game. How do you get there? By strategically placing beautiful ceramic tiles on your wall and completing horizontal and vertical lines! The game concludes once at least one player has completed a horizontal line of 5 consecutive tiles on their wall.

Preparation (Setup)

Let's get those gorgeous tiles ready for some palace decorating!

1. Each player takes a **player board (A)**. Make sure you're all using the side with the colored wall. (The gray side is for a variant play, but let's stick to the basics for now!)
2. Grab one **scoring marker (B)** and place it on the "0" space of your **score track**.
3. Arrange the **Factory displays (C)** in a circle around the center of the table. The number of displays depends on your player count:
   • **2-player game**: Use 5 Factory displays.
   • **3-player game**: Use 7 Factory displays.
   • **4-player game**: Use 9 Factory displays.
4. Fill the **bag (D)** with all 100 **tiles (E)** (there are 20 of each color).
5. The player who most recently visited Portugal gets the **starting player marker (F)**. Then, this player randomly draws 4 tiles from the bag and places them onto each Factory display.

Any unused player boards, scoring markers, or Factory displays can go back into the box. You're all set!

The Turn of Play

Azul is played over multiple rounds, and each round has three exciting phases:

A. Factory Offer

This is where the tile drafting magic happens!

1. The **starting player** places the **starting player marker** in the center of the table and takes the first turn. Play then continues clockwise.
2. On your turn, you must pick tiles in one of two ways:
   • **EITHER**: Pick all tiles of the same color from any one **Factory display**. Any remaining tiles from that Factory display are then moved to the **center of the table**.
   • **OR**: Pick all tiles of the same color from the **center of the table**. If you're the first player in this round to pick tiles from the center, you also take the **starting player marker** and place it onto the leftmost free space of your **floor line**.
3. After picking tiles, you add them to one of the 5 **pattern lines** on your player board.
   • Place the tiles, one by one, from right to left in your chosen pattern line.
   • If the pattern line already holds tiles, you may *only* add tiles of the same color to it.
   • Once all spaces of a pattern line are filled, that line is considered **complete**.
   • **Important Rule**: You are not allowed to place tiles of a certain color in a pattern line whose corresponding line of your wall already holds a tile of that color. For example, if your second wall line already has a yellow tile, you cannot place yellow tiles in your second pattern line.
   • If you've picked up more tiles than you can place in your chosen pattern line, or if you can't or don't want to place them according to the rules, you must place the excess tiles in your **floor line**, filling its spaces from left to right. These tiles will give you minus points later! If your floor line is full, any further "fallen" tiles go into the lid of the game box.

This phase ends when the **center of the table** AND all **Factory displays** contain no more tiles. Then, it's time for the **Wall-tiling phase**!

B. Wall-Tiling

This phase can be done simultaneously by all players – it's time to move those tiles from your **complete pattern lines** to your **walls**!

1. Go through your pattern lines from top to bottom. For each **complete line**, move the rightmost tile to the space of the same color in the corresponding line of your wall.
2. **Scoring**: Each time you move a tile to your wall, you score points immediately!
   • If there are no tiles directly adjacent (vertically or horizontally) to the newly placed tile, gain **1 point**.
   • If there are adjacent tiles:
     • First, check for horizontally linked tiles. Count all these linked tiles (including the newly placed one) and gain that many points.
     • Then, check for vertically linked tiles. Count all these linked tiles (including the newly placed tile) and gain that many points.
3. After moving tiles and scoring, remove all tiles from any pattern lines that now have no tile in the rightmost space. Place them into the lid of the game box.
4. Any remaining tiles on incomplete pattern lines stay on your player board for the next round.
5. Finally, check your **floor line**. For each tile in your floor line, you lose the number of points indicated directly above it. Adjust your scoring marker accordingly (you can never drop below 0 points!). Afterward, remove all tiles from your floor line and place them into the lid of the game box. If the **starting player marker** is in your floor line, it counts as a normal tile for negative points, but instead of placing it in the lid, place it in front of you for the next round.

C. Preparing the Next Round

If no one has completed a horizontal line of 5 consecutive tiles on their wall yet, it's time to prepare for the next round!

1. The player with the **starting player marker** refills each of the **Factory displays** with 4 tiles from the bag, just like in the initial setup.
2. If the bag is empty, refill it with all the tiles that you have placed in the lid of the game box, and then continue filling the remaining Factory displays.
3. Then, a new round begins!

End of Game and Scoring

The game concludes immediately after the **Wall-tiling phase** in which at least one player has completed at least one horizontal line of 5 consecutive tiles on their wall. Once the game has ended, it's time for final scoring! You'll gain additional points for these achievements:

• Gain **2 points** for each complete horizontal line of 5 consecutive tiles on your wall.
• Gain **7 points** for each complete vertical line of 5 consecutive tiles on your wall.
• Gain **10 points** for each color of which you have placed all 5 tiles on your wall.

The player with the **most points** on their score track wins the game! In case of a tie, the tied player with more complete horizontal lines wins. If that still doesn't break the tie, then victory is shared!

Tips for Winning

Ready to become a master Azulejo artist? Here are a couple of tips to get you started:

1. Mind Your Wall Restrictions: Remember that crucial rule: you cannot place a tile of a certain color in a pattern line if that color already exists in the corresponding wall line. This means you need to plan ahead and choose your tiles carefully to avoid getting stuck with tiles you can't place, forcing them into your floor line for negative points!
2. Strategic Negative Pointing: Sometimes, taking the **starting player marker** from the center of the table is worth a few negative points from your floor line, especially if it allows you to grab a crucial set of tiles that your opponents desperately need. Weigh the immediate cost against the long-term gain of being the first player in the next round!
3. Combo Scoring is Key: Don't just aim for single points! Look for opportunities to place a tile that connects to both horizontal and vertical lines of existing tiles on your wall. These "combo" placements can net you a significant amount of points in a single move.