New Azul Game Announced
Plan B Games has announced the latest in its popular series of Azul board games. Last month, Plan B Games announced Azul: Queen's Garden, the fourth installment of the popular series. Details about the new Azul are scant, but players will continue to draft tiles and use them to build mosaics in the hopes of scoring points. The description for the new Azul board game hints that trees, plants, and other garden ornaments will be utilized in the new installment.
Azul is a strategy game that involves drafting ornately decorated tiles and using them to file a 5x5 square. Players score points for filling rows and columns, and for having all the tiles in a completed row being of the same color. Players lose points when they waste supplies by not using tiles to fill their board. Two variants of the game, Azul: Stained Glass of Sintra and Azul: Summer Pavilion, add additional wrinkles to the core gameplay.
The original Azul won numerous board game awards, including the Spiel des Jahres, and is widely praised as one of the best "gateway" board games for bridging the gap between pure mainstream and lightweight board games and more complex strategy games. To date, over two million copies of Azul and its sequels have been sold.
The description for Azul: Queen's Garden reads as follows: "Welcome back to the palace of Sintra! King Manuel I has commissioned the best garden designers of Portugal to construct the most extraordinary garden for his wife, Queen Maria of Aragon."
"In Azul: Queen's Garden, players are tasked with arranging a magnificent garden for the King's lovely wife by arranging beautiful plants, trees, and ornamental features."
"Using an innovative drafting mechanism, the signature of the Azul series, players must carefully select colorful tiles to decorate their garden. Only the most incredible garden designers will flourish and win the Queen's blessing."
Azul: Queen's Garden will officially launch at Spiel later this year. The game will hit retail and hobby stories in late 2021. Keep in mind that, due to the global shipping crisis, release dates may vary by country.