Michael Kiesling: Azul – Review

Designer	Michael Kiesling
Genre	Abstract Strategy
Number of Players	2-4
Play Time	30-45 minutes
Initial Review Date	3/16/21
Last Updated	3/16/21

In this board game players score points by creating patterns with tiles on personal player boards. However, the supply of tiles is limited and it’s first come first served. Additionally, tiles can only go in certain places and so you can find yourself backed into a corner where your taking tiles you can’t play, causing you to take penalties.

Setup

Each player is given a board and a scoring marker. Then several drink coaster sized disks are placed in the middle of the table (such that everyone can reach them). The number of disks placed varies based on the number of players. Then you fill each disk with 4 tiles from the bag. Finally, the unique tile (with a number 1 on it) is placed in the center of the table and play begins. 

Gameplay

The game is played in rounds with each round consisting of 2 phases.

Phase 1 – Tile Collection

Each player chooses a location (either one of the disks or the middle of the table) and selects one of the tiles from that location. They then collect that tile and any tiles identical to that tile at that location. If the center of the table is chosen and the unique tile is present they must also take that tile in addition to whatever they claim. 

If one of the disks was chosen, then any tiles remaining on the disk are dumped into the middle of the table and that disk can no longer be chosen for that round. 

The player must now place the tiles they choose on to a row. Each row can only hold so many tiles however and any extras are placed on the bottom of the board (the unique number 1 tile automatically goes here). The tiles on the bottom row will determine your penalty for that round. 

Once a tile has been placed on a row, any remaining empty spots can only be filled with tiles that match what has already been placed here. 

The current phase continues with each player taking tiles until all of the tiles have been taken. Then all players move to phase 2

Phase 2 – Scoring

Each player now scores their completed rows. If a player has filled in all of the spots in their row they take 1 of the tiles and place it on the spot that corresponds to the tile pattern used to fill that row. So, if all red tiles were used then 1 of the red tiles is placed on the red square on the wall section, for that row. Now that the spot is full, tiles of that type may no longer be used to fill that row. 

Then you look to see if the tile you placed is next to any other tiles. If there are no other tiles adjacent to the one you placed then you get 1 point. If there are tiles adjacent to it then you then score points equal to the number of consecutive tiles contained in that row, both vertically and horizontally. 

A penalty is then applied to your score equal to the value above the right most tile on the penalty row. So 5 tiles on this row would result in a -2 to your current score.

If no one has completed a horizontal line of 5 consecutive tiles, then any tiles that were collected that round (and were not placed on the wall section are set aside. Then the disks get refilled with 4 tiles each. Then, who ever has the unique 1 tile places it back in the center and is the start player for the new round.

Winning

The player with the most points wins. However, there are some bonus points that can be scored once the game has ended.

• 2 bonus points for every complete horizonal row of 5 consecutive tiles. 
• 7 bonus points for every completed vertical row of 5 consecutive tiles. 
• 10 points for every set of 5 of the same pattern of tile on your wall.

Conclusion

This is a really solid game. The components are well made with bright colors that are easy to distinguish. It isn’t difficult to teach but there is a surprising amount of player interaction. Mainly in the form of other players taking the tiles you wanted. Also, when tiles run low, because everything is public other players can see who’s currently winning and what they need and can not only deny that player the tiles they need by taking them. But you can even force a player to take tiles they can’t place, forcing them to take a penalty. All this to say there is strategy beyond just trying to figure out how to Tetris your tiles together to score you as many points as possible. 

Learning Curve	|	Rating
6/10	|	8/10

Marc André: Splendor – Strategy

Strategy

In splendor it all boils down to hitting 15 points before anyone else. This means that it’s really a game of efficiency. There are a few strategies that seem to work well toward this goal. I’m going to go over some basic strategies that other players have told me about. These are players who won, so these do work at least some of the time. You may find that a mixture of the following strategies works best for you.

Nobles

Each of these tiles is worth 3 points. This may not seem like a lot but keep in mind we just have to break 15 before anyone else. Ideally we want to grab two nobles for minimal effort. This will net us 6 points, this means in order to win we just have to bag a single 5 point card and a few 2 point cards.

3+3+5+2+2 = 15 points

The trick to this strategy is identifying 3 nobles with a lot of overlapping requirements. For example, if there is a noble that takes 3 red, 3 white and 3 blue. We just need to find another noble that requires 3 of two of the same colors, or 4 of one of those colors. Then we can work toward both nobles simultaneously. You’ll want to focus on the colors you need more than how many points they are worth. When none of the colors you want are available, try to pick up anything you can for the fewest gems as possible. This will help build your buying power making it easier to get the cards you want. Aggressively reserve cards if you need to since this will make it harder for others to meet the requirements for the nobles you’re going after.

One you’ve grabbed one or both of the nobles you’re after look for point cards that you can easily pick up via you’re buying power. Ideally, you’ll want a high point card that requires a lot of a single color you’ve collected for the nobles you’ve been focusing on.

Personal Goal

This strategy involves reserving a card off of the top row and then building toward that card. Do this 3 times and you’ll win.

5+5+5 = 15 points

Part of the trick to this is that there won’t be a 5 point card on the top row to reserve. This is when you’ll want to reserve a card blindly off the top of the deck that’s face down. The advantage to this is that nobody will have any idea what you need to play the card you’ve grabbed, also your efforts will never be in vain because no one can steal the card from you. As you are working toward your hidden goal, keep an eye on that top row. Look for other cards that have similar requirements to the one you’re working on and reserve those when you spot them as well. In this way you should be able to get your reserved cards down in rapid succession.

Efficiency, Efficiency Efficiency

In the beginning, you’ll want to focus on grabbing cards on the bottom row that cost the fewest gem tokens for you to purchase. Once you have some cards start watching the 2nd and 3rd rows for high point cards you can easily get for minimal effort. One advantage this strategy has over the others is that for you colors are merely a means to an end. As a result some cards may not see much competition even though they are worth a lot of points simply because nobody has been gathering the right colors because they didn’t care about them. This can be a shockingly strong strategy as your progress to get 15 points will pretty much be the same no matter what cards come out or what nobles are available.

Part 1: Marc André: Splendor – Review

Part 2: Marc André: Splendor – Strategy

Marc André: Splendor – Review

Designer	Marc André
Genre	Card
Number of Players	2-4
Play Time	30 minutes
Initial Review Date	3/8/21
Last Updated	3/8/21

In this card game players compete to collect gems (represented with hard plastic tokens, aka “poker chips”) which are then used to collect cards that are associated with a particular kind of gem. These cards not only are worth points but provide a discount when purchasing other cards. later on. Additionally, your collection of cards may attract the attention of a noble, which will cause you to earn even more points. The player with the most points wins.

Setup

There are 3 levels of cards. All of the cards of a particular level have the same color card back. Each level is shuffled separately and placed to the side. Then four cards are dealt out next to their respective deck creating a 3×4 grid of cards. The noble tiles get shuffled and a number of them are pulled based on the number of players (more players, mean more nobles). The gem tokens are then organized by color and some get removed based on how many players you have. Then play begins.

Gameplay

On a player’s turn they have 4 options:

• Collect 3 gem tokens of different colors
• Collect 2 gem tokens of the same color (but only if their are 4 or more of that color that can be taken)
• Collect 1 gold token and reserve a card.
• Purchase 1 face up card

Once a player has taken one of the above actions they may now claim a single noble tile if they meet that noble’s requirements. In order to claim a noble you must have at least as many cards of the colors and quantities as what’s shown on the tile. Nobles are not replaced after claimed so only the 1st player to meet their requirements gets them.

Then, before your turn ends, any cards that were taken from the face up grid are replaced with a new card from it’s corresponding deck and you must discard excess tile tokens (you can not have more than 10 at a time, including gold tokens).

Reserving Cards

When you reserve a card you take the card and place it face down next to you. You can look at the card at any time and may purchase it later on as an action. You can reserve any of the 12 face up cards or the top card of any deck. When you reserve a card off the top of a deck you can look at it afterward, but none of the other players get to know what it is until you purchase it. You can only reserve a total of 3 cards at any given time and they may not be discarded. So, while the action can still be taken once you have 3 cards reserved it would only net you a gold token and only if a gold token is available to take.

Purchasing Cards

Each card has several colored circles along the left hand side with numbers in them. This tells you the cost to purchase the card. The color lets you know what color gem is required and the number tells you how many of that gem is required. Gold tokens may be used in place of any singe gem when paying this cost (they are basically wild). Across the top of each card there is a number and a gem. The number tells you how many points the card is worth at the end of the game. The gem tells you what kind of gem token this card count as going forward.

If you have cards, these make purchasing cards cheaper for you every round. When determining the cost of a card, look at any cards you have already collected and subtract them from what’s shown on the card. This can reduce the cost to zero.

So for example. If a card costs 3 white gems, 3 green gems and 2 black gems. And you have so far collected, 4 white gem cards, 2 blue gem cards, 2 green gem cards and 1 black gem card; the cost of the card you are trying to buy only costs you 1 green gem and 1 black gem. The excess white gem card and the blue gem cards you have don’t do anything in this case.

Winning

The game ends once a player has 15 points between cards and nobles they have collected. However, other players get turns so that every player has had the same number of turns. So, if the start player triggers the end of the game then everyone else gets one more turn. However, if the last player triggers the end of the game then the game ends immediately and no one gets an additional turn.

Conclusion

This game is a lot of fun. The gem tokens have a nice weight to them and there is a lot of competition. Often someone else will take the card or noble that you wanted. This is why the ability to reserve a card can be so helpful. It will let you snatch up that critical card you need and keep others from taking it before you’ve built up the gems you need to buy it. It can be a bit difficult for players that don’t play a lot of board games to learn, but it’s by no means insurmountable to teach.

Learning Curve	|	Rating
5/10	|	8/10

Part 1: Marc André: Splendor – Review

Part 2: Marc André: Splendor – Strategy