Azure

• Designers: Trevor Benjamin and Brett J. Gilbert
• Publisher: Bitewing Games
• Players: 2
• Age: 8+
• Time: 20 minutes
• Amazon affiliate link: https://amzn.to/3RjFga2
• Played with review copy provided by publisher

The Lung Mei, or dragon paths, are lines of energy that cover the Earth. They are derived from the Four Auspicious Beasts: the Azure Dragon of the East, the Vermilion Bird of the South, the White Tiger of the West, and the Black Tortoise of the North. When a path runs in a straight line, that energy builds in power, but these paths can be broken up by barriers such as mountains, which diffuse the energy. Invoke the power of the Four Auspicious Beasts, carefully channel their energy through the Earth, and triumph in this battle for qi and wisdom that will shape your destiny and intertwine it with the Beasts of legend.

In Azure, players position their stones to gather qi (cards) and wisdom (points) from the realm. They also compete to bring the Auspicious Beasts to their aid. The first player to reach the end of the path of wisdom wins.

Players take turns placing a stone, gathering boons from the space they cover, and gaining the favor of Auspicious Beasts. In order to place a stone in a space, the player must be able to pay the qi cost. The color of the domain (board) tells you the color of qi needed, and the number of boon symbols in the space tells you the amount of qi needed. Through careful management of the qi cards in your hand, you’ll be able to grow in power.

Thanks to the four double-sided boards that can be connected, flipped, and oriented in any way in a 2×2 grid, Azure features over 24,000 different layouts. Azure also includes the Gifted module for experienced players — a variable one-time-use ability that can help turn the tides in your favor.

To set up, take the four different game boards, rotating them and flipping them as you wish to form a 2×2 grid. The scoring board is placed nearby.  On each board, the mountain of matching color is placed on the space designated for it, and the Auspicious Beast of that color is placed on top of the mountain.  Each player gets the 14 stones of their color.  The four types of cards (one to match each of the four boards) are sorted, and then a hidden deck is made of 3 cards of each color.  This deck is shuffled – 2 cards are given to the start player and 3 cards are given to the second player. The game is now played until someone has reached the end of the scoring track (25 points).

Each turn has three phases:

1] Place a Stone – the player can choose any space they like to place their stone.  Each space has a card cost equal to the number of boons (symbols) seen in that space.  The player has to play that number of cards matching the color of the board where the space is.  A discount of one card is given for each stone the player already has in the same column or row as the desired spot; so long as those stones are not blocked by a mountain.

2] Gather Boons – collect bonuses as shown on the space.  The small dots are victory points, and these are marked on the scoreboard.  The cards tell you which color cards to draw from the supply.  There is no hand limit.  

3] Check Auspicious Beasts – each of the four Auspicious Beasts has a different bonus and different ways to earn those bonuses.  You must have at least two qualifying stones to take control of an auspicious beast, and your opponent takes it from you only when they have strictly more stones that you do (think Settler’s Longest Road)

• Azure – gain 3VP when you control it (and lose 3 VP when you lose control).  It counts stones in its row or column across the board
• White – gain 2VP when you control it (and lose 2 VP when you lose control).  It counts stones in its row or column across the board
• Black – place a stone on top of the black mountain, and this can be used for both card discounts on stone placement as well as support for other beasts.  It counts stones placed on serpent spaces on the board
• Vermillion – take 2 cards from the hidden deck when you take control; you must discard 2 cards if you lose control.  It counts stones placed on the vermillion board.

Again, the game ends immediately if a player has 25 or more points – i.e. they have reached the end of the scoring track.  Otherwise, the other player takes a turn.

My thoughts on the game

On the table, Azure looks a bit like a mini game of Go.  The stones are very similar, and while you’re not building the same sorts of patterns, the resemblance is hard to ignore.  Most of our games start in similar fashion – as you only start with 2 or 3 cards, and the only way to draw more cards is to play on board spaces that provide cards, both players generally start by playing on the few spaces which only have 1 boon on them.  Once a few stones are on the board, you’re able to consider many more spaces given the discounts granted by the other stones. The game gets much more interesting when you have most of the board to consider.

At this point, there are multiple levels to your decision making.  Do you play in a space to work on Auspicious Beast control?  Each of the Auspicious Beast bonuses is quite useful, and once you have the bonus, it’s worth it to try to keep it as you have to give back the bonus if you lose control.

Are you interested in the specific boons that it provides?  Again, the only way to get more cards is to play on spaces that provide them.  Are you setting up a later play by trying to develop a maximum discount?  (There are spaces which provide up to 6 VPs, but the cost is 6 cards – so it’s hard to afford this without significant discount).  With luck, you can find a space which meets multiple criteria, but if not, you’ll have some difficult decisions to make.

You can try to read your opponent and possibly play defensively, but this is not as easy as it seems.  Again, given the method of discounts, it’s hard to take expensive spaces that your opponent desires, though you might be able to block spaces that provide those discounts or take spaces that provide the cards of the desired color.

For a quick game (15 to 20 minutes around here), there are a lot of interesting decisions to be made.  While the overall feel of the game doesn’t change based on setup, you do need to take a nice Turn Zero each game to see what combinations of board spaces work for you.

Thoughts from other Opinionated Gamers

Mitchell T: As a fan of two player semi-asbtract games with just a touch of randomness, I was naturally pulled to Azure. I have also enjoyed Benjamin and Gilbert’s other abstract efforts, especially Mandala, Patterns, and Great Plains. I love that the Azure board is different every game. I love the interesting spatial economy in which bead placements offer discounts. And I very much enjoy the different conditions for temporarily winning the dragons. It’s mainly a tactical game but there is some strategy in deciding how to play, whether to focus on lines that will provide discounts for important spaces, whether to focus on amassing lots of cards, etc. As each game has a different set up the replayability is outstanding. We’ve played close to 50 games now and it hasn’t gotten old. I do recommend the expansion with the bigger boards and the fifth dragon as that opens up some additional threats and possibilities. I have not played with the special powers as it struck me as less interesting. But the basic game works so very well on its own. 

Ratings from the Opinionated Gamers

• I love it! Dale Y, Mitchell T,
• I like it.
• Neutral.
• Not for me…

Amazon affiliate link: https://amzn.to/3RjFga2