The best Azul strategy is to score the end-game bonuses while keeping your floor line almost empty. A complete column is worth 7 points and a full set of one color is worth 10, while a complete row is worth just 2. So build down and across the middle of your wall, and take tiles only when they fit.
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The numbers here come from the official Azul rules. If you’re new to the game, start with our full Azul review or the rules explained.
Why Columns Beat Rows
At the end of the game, every complete vertical column scores +7, every color with all five tiles on your wall scores +10, and every complete horizontal row scores only +2. A column takes five tiles, the same as a row, and pays 3.5 times as much.
Rows still matter, because completing one is what ends the game. But a row is worth more as a trigger than as a bonus. Complete one when you’re ahead, and build columns and color sets the rest of the time.
The rule: aim for at least one complete column and one complete color. Together they’re worth 17 points.
Build From the Middle
Every tile scores for the connected tiles around it, counting its row and its column separately. A tile placed in a corner can connect in only two directions. A tile placed near the center can connect in four.
Your wall has a row of three tiles in the middle. Directly below the empty space at the right end of that row, you have a column of two tiles. You place a tile in that empty space. It completes a row of four for 4 points and a column of three for 3 points, so 7 points from one tile. A tile in an empty corner scores 1.
So fill the middle of your wall early, where later tiles can connect in every direction.
Keep Your Floor Line Clean
Floor penalties start small and get steep. The first two tiles cost 1 point each, but a full floor line of seven costs 14. In total, one floor tile costs 1 point, two cost 2, three cost 4, four cost 6, five cost 8, six cost 11 and seven cost 14.
What new players often do: grab the biggest pile of tiles on the table because it looks like the most progress.
What actually works: take piles that fit your open pattern lines exactly. Five tiles for a line that holds two puts three on your floor, which costs at least 4 points.
One or two floor tiles can be worth it. The first-player marker takes the next free space on your floor line, so it costs at least 1 point, but it puts you first next round, when the factories are full and you have the most choice.
Watch What Your Opponents Need
Every tile you take changes what’s left for everyone else. Before you pick, look at your opponents’ open pattern lines.
- If an opponent needs exactly two blue tiles, avoid leaving a factory with exactly two blue tiles on it. Take those yourself, or take a different color from that factory so the blue tiles join a bigger pile in the center.
- Late in a round, look for a move that leaves an opponent with only tiles that overflow onto their floor.
- In a 2-player game, there are only five factories, so you can often count exactly which tiles will come back to you.
Time the End of the Game
The game ends after the round in which someone completes a row. If you’re behind, avoid completing a row, and keep building columns and color sets so you score more when it does end. If you’re ahead, finish a row as soon as you safely can.
Worth knowing: the bottom pattern line holds five tiles, so fill it over two rounds. Leaving it half-full is fine, since incomplete lines stay on your board for the next round.
Ready to play? The original Azul is the version these numbers apply to.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the best strategy in Azul?
Go after the end-game bonuses and keep your floor line nearly empty. Complete columns score 7 and full color sets score 10, far more than the 2 points for a complete row.
Is it better to complete rows or columns in Azul?
Columns. A complete column scores 7 bonus points and a row scores 2. Complete a row mainly to end the game when you’re ahead.
Should you take the first-player marker in Azul?
Often, yes. It takes the next free space on your floor line, so it costs at least 1 point, but you pick first next round when every factory is full. With an empty floor line, that 1 point is usually a good trade.
How do you avoid floor line penalties in Azul?
Take tile piles that fit an open pattern line exactly, and keep a few lines open so you have somewhere to put any color. The first two floor tiles cost only 1 point each, but seven cost 14.
Where should you place tiles on your Azul wall?
Near the middle early on. Center tiles can connect with neighbors in four directions, so later tiles there score more points.