2–4 players30–45 minAge 8+

Base game (2018 rulebook) · Checked against the rulebook, Oct 2026

In short

Draft colored tiles from shared factory displays and line them up on your board to decorate a palace wall. Each round, completed pattern lines move one tile to your wall, which scores by how many tiles it links up with. Spare tiles crash to the floor and cost points.

How do you score a tile placed on your wall?What happens when you take the first player marker?When does Azul end?
1

Setup

  1. 1Each player takes a player board and turns it to the colored-wall side. Everyone must use the same side.
  2. 2Put your scoring marker on the 0 space of your score track.
  3. 3Arrange factory displays in a circle around the middle of the table: 5 for 2 players, 7 for 3 and 9 for 4.
  4. 4Put all 100 tiles (20 in each of 5 colors) into the bag.
  5. 5Choose a starting player. They take the first player marker (the rulebook's starting player marker) and fill every factory display with 4 tiles drawn at random from the bag.

Rulebook p. 2 (Game Setup)

2

How a turn works

Factory offer

The first player puts the marker in the middle, then players take turns. Take every tile of one color from a factory display (push the rest into the middle) or from the middle. Put them in one pattern line; extras, or any you choose, go to your floor line.

Wall-tiling

Each completed pattern line moves its rightmost tile to the matching space on your wall and scores it. Then lose points for tiles on your floor line.

Next round

If no one finished a row, the marker holder refills each factory display with 4 tiles. Empty bag? Refill it from the box lid. If the lid is empty too, start anyway with the factories you could fill.

Rulebook pp. 3–5 (Gameplay)

3

How to win

Most points

The game ends after the round in which someone completes a horizontal row of 5 tiles. Then add end bonuses:

Each full row +2Each full column +7Each full color +10

Rulebook p. 6 (End of the game)

4

Rules people get wrong

8

Azul rulings

Can you put tiles in a pattern line if that wall row already has their color in Azul?Can you put tiles straight into your floor line in Azul?Do unfinished pattern lines carry over to the next round in Azul?How do floor line penalties work in Azul?How do you score a tile placed on your wall in Azul?What happens when you take the first player marker in Azul?When does Azul end?Who wins a tie in Azul?

Official sources

Official Azul page (Next Move Games)
Rules download

Play better with

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Last checked Oct 2026 · Report an error