Much like the great designs of Reiner Knizia, Azul simply stepped out of the way of the players and allowed them to work the system.

is a visually appealing tile drafting and placement game that challenges players to efficiently complete their window panes. Firstly, the player scores 1 point for each Pane Piece which matches the colour of the round track’s Pane Piece. If you haven’t played Azul I’d try that first, it will make learning the rules for Stained Glass of Sintra much easier. Azul: Stained Glass of Sintra offers a different experience to the original Azul, which may be slightly more challenging and suited to experienced players. You always have to take all the tiles of the same color, whether they’re on a factory tile or in the middle.I am happy for both games to reside in my collection and I would choose to play Sintra as it breathes new life into the Azul game which was one of my most played games from 2017. It may be the best selling board game of the last few years, with Next Move/Plan B reporting sales of above 325,000 copies even before that red SdJ Pommel was placed on the box. If they are the first player to take from the centre of the table, then they also take the Starting Tile for the next round and move their marker on the broken glass track one space downwards.

Unlike many remakes, which just add glut to a game that was already fine without it, this new Azul game is equally, but differently good. When a game wins the prestigious Spiel des Jahres award, it is common practice for the publisher to produce a series of expansions to both capitalise on the success of the base game whilst maintaining the public’s interest in the game.

Azul: Stained Glass of Sintra, will be a staple game in my collection, more than likely usurping the original Azul. A lot of folks are going to like that, and they may use nonsense descriptors like “gamer-y” or “thinkier” when describing it. At the start of the game a number of Factories (circular disks) depending upon the number of players are put out in a circle in the centre of the table. Azul: Stained Glass of Sintra challenges players to carefully select glass panes to complete their windows while being careful not to damage or waste supplies in the process.

There are eight different windows on each player board, and each window wants a different set of glass. With two players the game is a fun back-and-forth battle, and with four players it becomes a more hectic game of trying to plan ahead and pulling the rug out from under other players. So points can be swingy, sometimes you will score one point for finishing an entire window, other times you can score upwards of 15 points, it’s all about your planning and knowing when to finish and went to take the right color tiles to do so.Azul: Stained Glass of Sintra | The Gaming CircusHave you ever dreamed of creating beautiful stained glass windows? Created by Michael Kiesling, Azul: Stained Glass of Sintra challenges players to carefully select glass panes to complete their windows while being careful not to damage or waste supplies in the process.

Thus, I was skeptical when I heard about Azul: Stained Glass of Sintra, but it was foolish of me to doubt all-star designer Michael Kiesling. Designed by the world famous, award winning game author Michael Kiesling, Azul captures the beautiful aesthetics of Moorish art in a contemporary board game. Azul: Stained Glass of Sintra builds on the Spiel-des-Jahres-winning formula of the original, using the same basic concept but offering new strategic options.

Should the column be completed again, another tile is moved to the lower section, and the column is removed. That said, I recommend first-time players start with the original game before diving into the sequel, just for the sake of getting comfortable with the core system. Instead of taking glass on your turn, you can pass and reset your glazier fully to the left of your player board, sometimes you’ll do this out of necessity and other times it will be more of a stall tactic. For me the simplicity and and elegance of the original, beat out the newer choices and extended game play, but both are worthy games that should be on the shelves of folks who like lighter strategy games that allow for as much interaction with the other players at the table as they want to allow. It builds on the addictive gameplay of the original Azul, adding exciting gameplay features without over-complicating the the experience.