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Azul is my beloved, but expensive, starter game

Dark wooden Azul board and factory tile holders, with colorful tiles.
Stained wood Azul board and upgraded tiles.

It’s not the game itself—it’s around $30—it’s just my habit of upgrading it. I have spent nearly ten times the cost of the game on my remodeling and upgrading projects. 

I fell in love with Azul the first time I played it. 

I used to spend my lunch hour with the crossword and Sudoku (don’t judge me – I worked for a newspaper…) Azul appeals to all the parts of my brain that loved lining up numbers according to rules and then makes itself even more appealing by adding heavy, colorful tiles in a gorgeous cloth bag. Add in competition for resources – making it more than a test of planning, but a test of adaptability as well – and I was hooked.

I can not discount how much I love the tiles.

The weight of them.

The designs on them. 

The clink of them in the bag.

The bright colors. 

I made my husband play over and over. It plays well – if a bit cutthroat – as a two-player game and is quick to set up, so it was quickly a household favorite. I got all my friends hooked on the game as well and bought them copies as presents. 

The problem is there is always something that could be just a little more amazing. It started when we planned a trip to Italy and wanted to throw a few games in the bag for the trip. 

Everything about Azul can fit in the tile bag except the boards. Surely, someone crafty had solved this problem! 

I trawled Etsy, and I didn’t find a foldable or rollable board (there is one now, here.) I ended up making my own with an online image of the board, an old t-shirt, and printable iron-on paper. But I did find a whole world of upgrades that helped cement my upgrading habit. 

Mini Azul travel set with clear colored cubes for tiles.

First, there was the pretty extra tile bag to put discarded tiles in. Then there were the plexiglass interlocking rings to help keep the marketplace perfectly organized.  Next came the clear player board overlays to keep your board neat and tidy. And then a different version of overlay, just because it had grips at the corners and fit the tiles better. 

What I really wanted, though, was the wooden player boards and factory tile holders that were carefully stained and elegant in their simplicity and beauty. And not cheap. I decided I deserved them for my birthday last year. 

I regret nothing. 

We’ve also gotten the Crystal Mosaic expansion and all the additional new tiles from Plan B Games. 

While I was reviewing my purchases today, I saw a wooden mini travel set with pretty clear cubes – I am feeling like I deserve something pretty today…

Shopping that has left me blue

*No longer available, but similar products are on Etsy.com

If you have been charmed by Azul, there are three other games in the series, and I love two out of three (but I’m a completionist, so I have alllllllll of them):

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