NEXT MOVE Azul - The Queen's Garden

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So before you can even start to think about getting pieces onto your garden, you have to plan ahead and ensure you can actually place the tiles you need. But wait: before you can even do that you have to ensure there’s room for them in your storage! Choosing which pieces to draft on your turn can thus become a snake pit where you might want a particular item from those on offer, but end up passing because you don’t want other matching colours or symbols clogging up your store. Starting from the first player, each player could only perform one of four actions choosing among: acquire tiles and garden expansions, place a tile, place a garden expansion, and pass. 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. Everyone knows what to expect here. Lovely artwork, nice clean symbology and a lovely presentation make up a game that looks fantastic on the table and after a play or two, is very simple to understand. Every one of the symbols shown on the tiles is worth a different point value that players could earn at the end of the game, but they also represent how much it costs to play that tile into a garden. Should a player ever want to place a tile in their garden they need to spend an amount of tiles - of either the same colour or symbol - equal to the point value of the one they want to place. For instance, a player could pay for a turquoise butterfly tile with two other turquoise or butterfly tiles. However, just as players cannot draft identical tiles, they also cannot pay using identical tiles. Having to consider how you’re going to pay for tiles, as well as which tiles you want to put into your garden, serves as an even greater test of your ability to think ahead and significantly rewards players who make clever decisions. The player boards feature an area for players to store their tiles before placing them in their gardens.

In Queens Garden, instead of the rounds being very regimental like in the original title or Summer Pavillion, the other two Azul’s I have played, you have a tad more freedom in what you are doing. On your turn, you can either draft tiles and Garden expansions or place tiles or Garden Expansions. If you are looking for a crunchy abstract game with a large lean toward the puzzle category, Azul: Queen’s Garden could be a good fit for you. Summer Pavilion is also, in our opinion, the most beautiful of the three games. Why you may not like Azul: Summer Pavilion: Considering the simplicity of the original Azul, it’s surprising that designer, Michael Kiesling, continues to produce more and more follow-ups. The fourth entry in the series, Azul: Queen’s Garden, was revealed just last month and will be seeing a wider release later this year. Of course, if you happened to be at Essen Spiel 2021 - the biggest board game event in the world - this weekend, then you’d be able to get your hands on the game right there and then. 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 ThoughtsWhile some will definitely like keeping tiles from round to round, others may not find it restrictive or punishing enough. This process will result in the display area being progressively populated by expansions with 0 to 3 tiles on it thus increasing the potential amount of tiles a player could acquire at the same time. Each player takes a player board and a player marker in the same colour (the boards are coloured on the upper and lower side although is not immediate to see them at first), a storage board in the same colour, 1 fountain board, and three jokers.

Unlike the other Azuls, Queens Garden’s drafting starts out as one pool to draft from and steadily increases as more tiles are taken, rather than all pools being available from the start. This simple change changes the feel of the drafting quite a bit, akin to Seven Wonders Duel, taking something you want may lead to you revealing something your opponent desires.When placing tiles or expansions, each of the six symbols has a cost, from one to six tiles and you must discard as many tiles or expansions, including the one you place to pay for the placement. Each of these tiles must be either the same symbol or colour but not a mix of the two. While going through the material in the box you may have found a clear piece of adhesive: as per the printed instruction, you should add it to the base of the tile tower to make it a bit sturdier. It is not a drama if you missed or discarded it as it does not prevent the game to be played. Assembly The Rotary Wheel For the few people reading who have never played any of the Azul games, they are abstract, tile drafting, puzzle games. Each one has its differences, but the basic premise is to draft a set of tiles from a shared pool and place them on your player board to score points.