NEXT MOVE Azul - The Queen's Garden

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I do appreciate that it may sound like I am very down on Azul: Queen’s Garden and I guess personally, I am. I am unlikely to play this game again because it is just so heavy and often frustrating, without ever feeling as rewarding as other heavy games I enjoy. That said, I tend to like very abstract puzzle games (like this) to be light because I enjoy immersing myself in theme when I play heavy games. So, if you’re a player who enjoys a fairly heavy,, deeply thoughtful puzzle, and especially if you like two-player games, Azul: Queen’s Garden might have a space in your collection. Sadly, it’s not for me. *** 3/5 The original is perfectly simple. With straightforward and easily understood rules, this is the least overwhelming in the series. It doesn’t try to get too cute with mechanics and that’s the beauty of it. Identical tiles could not be placed next to each other. If a player fully surrounds a garden feature (pavilion, bench, statue, or fountain) by placing a tile, the player immediately receives as many jokers as depicted on the bottom left side of the player board. If the player could not store all the jokers, those in excess are lost. Players Actions Using an innovative drafting mechanism, the signature of the Azul series, players must carefully select colourful tiles to decorate their garden. Only the most incredible garden designers will flourish and win the Queen's blessing.

Due to the heavier nature and the considerable playtime for an abstract game, this can push Queen’s Garden outside the realm of “welcoming” for those looking for an easy to teach game for new players.I originally bought this for someone who loves Azul games but little did I know this would be, not only the most unique title in the series but by far my favourite. It offers more choice, has more malleability and is a little bit more thinky than the other games in the series. Summer Pavilion is also, in our opinion, the most beautiful of the three games. Why you may not like Azul: Summer Pavilion: The scoring systems of Queens Garden are also different to what I am used to in Azul titles. Where the original and Summer Pavilion score as you place pieces and again at the end of the game, Queens Garden scores at the end of each round and then at the end of the game but both scoring phases are very unique to the series.

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If you are looking for an abstract game with a bit more depth and don’t mind a lot of moving parts, Azul Stained Glass of Sintra could be a great choice for you. The game plays out in six rounds. Unlike the original, no one can end the game suddenly. You’ll always know how much time is left in the game. Why You may Not Like Azul: Stained Glass of Sintra: Each game begins with the players taking a player board to represent their garden and another to be their store. Three grey “joker” hex pieces are placed in the store, and there are nine more empty spaces for more pieces to come later. There are also two spaces for garden expansion tiles, but aside from these outlined areas, the store board is empty. The garden board has six spaces for hex-tile placement, and there are a few ornaments to surround (similarly to Azul: Summer Pavillion) later on when garden expansions are added – spaces for this are clearly visible, and overall there’s little issue with looking down at your board(s) and knowing how you will use them, This juggling of both strategic and tactical aspects, alongside spatial play and pattern-building, is rich and engaging. There’s a lot to consider at every stage of the turn yet, as the game progresses, you won’t feel boxed in by your earlier decisions. Even the draft has interesting repercussions as garden tiles aren’t flipped face up until they’re clear of drafted hexes. So taking a hex you want might inadvertently create an opportunity for the following player.

Paying the cost of a tile (or a garden expansion) – The price of a tile or expansion is linked to the pattern on it as summarized nicely on the player board.

The design-it-yourself boards really make Queens Garden a lovely thing to play and make sure everyone’s board looks different and unique. The components for this game are great, bright and certainly well-made. It’s one of those games, similar to the other games in the same line, that grabs people’s attention. It’s gorgeous. Final Thoughts If you’re interested in trying out the original before you buy, we explain how we did so on this post. Azul Stained Glass of Sintra

In the Azul game series, players will take turns drafting colored tiles from the center circles to their player board. When certain sets of tiles are collected and satisfy placement requirements on their board players are able to score points. If players draft more tiles than they need they must discard the leftovers — this causes them to lose points. Tokens and Garden expansions. The first setup requires the players to unpunch all the garden expansions and the tokens first. Drafting also comes with its own challenges. Players can draft tiles for free to their storage area, however, to place them in the garden, they will need to pay the price of the tile: pay the value displayed on that tile by discarding other tiles of the same colour or type from their storage. That means that even though you may draft four or five tiles in the same round, only a fraction of them, if any, will end up in your garden. The chains of rigidity of previous entries have been thrown away for a more free, more personalized approach to your tile placement. I really like this a lot; it broadens the space for you to create what you want and allows you to change your layout and design on the fly. Costly, Costly Tiles Each of Queens Gardens tiles is one of six designs and one of six colours. When drafting you can take any combination of tile and expansion pieces as long as they share the same pattern or colour.

When placing a tile, it can only touch a tile of the same colour or symbol so when it comes to end-game scoring, planning and how you build your board is vital. The hexagonal scoring marker on the left of the scoring board is used to trace the progress of the final scoring and it is recommended that each player scores each of them one at a time. We always score each step for all players before moving to the next one as it is quite fun to see the race to the final victory.