Azul: Summer Pavilion Board Game

2-4 Players | 1 Hour | Designed by Michael Kiesling

This review is going to be a bit different to the usual because Azul: Summer Pavilion is a sequel of sorts. Since that’s the case and it shares a lot of similarities with the original Azul I’m sort of going to build on my review of that and mostly discuss variation/differences between the two versions. If you would like some context (my opinions on the original Azul game and some details such as how the game works) check out the Azul Review here. Azul: Summer Pavilion (or as we have been calling it ‘Azul 3: The Azul-ening‘ is indeed the third entry in the series. I played the second game (Azul: Stained Glass of Sintra) once but it didn’t really appeal to me in any way. It had quite a different feel to Azul 1. Azul 3 seems to be more of a return to ‘Azul Classic’ and feels much more like the original albeit refreshed reshaped and reinvigorated.

At the turn of the 16th century King Manuel I commissioned Portugals greatest artisans to construct grandiose buildings. After completing the palaces of Dvora and Sintra the King sought to build a summer Pavilion to honor the most famous members of the royal family. This construction was intended for the most talented artisans — whose skills meet the splendor that the royal family deserves. Sadly King Manuel I died before construction ever began. In azul: summer Pavilion players return to Portugal to accomplish the task that never began. As a master artisan you must use the finest materials to create the summer Pavilion while carefully avoiding wasting supplies. Only the best will rise to the challenge to honor the Portuguese royal family. Azul: summer pavilion lasts six rounds and in each round players draft tiles then place them on their individual player board to score points. Each of the six colors of tiles is wild during one of the rounds.