Lego Azul

[zephyr1934]

I normally hang out in the Trains forum, but every now and then I wake up and find something that is not a train sitting in my workspace. It happens to be digital this time. This one combines two of my hobbies.

I'm happy to present my Lego-ized take on the board game Azul designed by Michael Kiesling.

 

There is just something so enjoyable about a well designed board game, the combination of deep play and an attractive presentation. Azul delivers on both counts. Azul is a Spiel des Jahres (Game of the Year) winner along with just about every other award in the board game industry. As of this writing Azul is ranked in the top 100 board games (#3 strategy and #17 family) by Board Game Geek. I wanted to replicate the look and feel of the original game while bringing in the comfy feel of Lego and a few quality of life improvements literally built right in.

 

Like a duck in the water, it looks pretty calm on the surface, but there is a lot of snot going on under the surface to get the 2x2 squares offset by a sideways plate in two directions (okay, maybe ducks don't have much SNOT under the water, but somewhere there's something similar... maybe)

 

I really liked how well the 1x2 ingots captured the feel of the original boards. In translating the design to Lego the proportions shifted, giving me some room at the top to embellish the tiling. 

For reference, the minifig is holding the original board "printed" on a 2x2 tile

 

I'd be interested in hearing your impressions, and if you really like it, as the minifig's shirt suggests, you can find it on IDEAS.

 

 

[Toastie]

Wow. This is amazing.

I don't do games, for some reason they simply don't work for me. No idea why, family has accepted this, and I am very happy about that.

Of course, I never heard about Azul. So I did a little search here and there. 

Your realization of this board (and the replicated if not improved playability!!!) with existing LEGO pieces is mind-blowing. Normally, transferring something into LEGO world, e.g., super cars, which are in my view every time a total disaster, as super cars have seemingly seamless curves, leaves the viewer with some sort of imagination. A game board however is not without seams, it literally needs them. But there are these seams and there are beautifully played seams. This is what I see here: A piece of true artwork, despite being restricted by LEGO geometry ... but in contrast using that limitation in such a masterful way, that it vanishes. What is left, is - true art.

And then it sinks in: This is not only about appearance, or artwork: It is a fully functional, and what I have read, award-winning game!

Man.

I sure hope this gets through - but you know what: I am just so thankful that you posted it here.

Cross my fingers.

All the best
Thorsten 

[zephyr1934]

You are very kind. There are elements of Lego and good board games that are similar, e.g., pieces you just want to pick up and play with. Then there are the head scratching moments where you have to ask yourself, "how am I going to do this?" With Lego you have all the time in the world, but in a game you only have the amount of time before your friends start yelling at you to hurry up (grin).

There are some incredible board game interpretations in Lego, e.g., versions of Settlers of Catan and Ticket to Ride. Compared to those either non-rectangular or non-linear playing boards, it almost feels like cheating with all the straight lines of Azul.

[nimrod6134]

Really cool build, Azul is a very fun game! The board proportions are spot on, and the added depth for tile placement looks really good. An Azul set would have some fantastic prints!

[_TLG_]

Nice and clean version of the game!

[idlemarvel]

Mind-blowing. Almost craftsmanship not just brick building, and great artistry too. Great job. Vote from me on Ideas.

[zephyr1934]

23 hours ago, nimrod6134 said:

Really cool build, Azul is a very fun game! The board proportions are spot on, and the added depth for tile placement looks really good. An Azul set would have some fantastic prints!

Thank you for the kind words. I think there is huge potential to use lego for all sorts of abstract games. TLG missed the mark with their wave of games 10-15 years ago. Heroica worked across ages but most of the other games didn't enough depth for adults. Imagine an abstract game where you pulled parts off of your pawn throughout the game or added bricks to go from a field to a full city. So many possibilities.

 

21 hours ago, _TLG_ said:

Nice and clean version of the game!

Thank you kindly, I was surprised how well it worked in Lego. There's a lot to be said for picking a good prototype, helps the MOC shine brighter.

 

18 hours ago, idlemarvel said:

Mind-blowing. Almost craftsmanship not just brick building, and great artistry too. Great job. Vote from me on Ideas.

Okay, if I ever need someone to do my PR you're on the shortlist (grin). You are too kind.

[Yoggington]

I like the sound of mixing loose lego round in a tub, but this is very different to the satisfying click clack of Azul tiles in a cloth bag. 

[Holodoc]

Wow, you really created a masterpiece with your LEGO version of AZUL!

I love the original game because of the asthetics, the haptics and the fantastic gameplay - and you captured it.

But still I have to pour some vinegar in the wine what your ideas project is concerned:
- You definitely captured the look, but what about the feel? The haptics will defintely not be the same like the original, ABS won't be able to replace the somehow "ceramic" feeling of the original tiles
- This project will need quite some prints to capture the asthetics - which leads to
- did you ever think of the pricetag your game will have? I highly doubt it will be less than the original, which is sold for less than 30€!

With all that said: Why should I buy the LEGO version instead of the original???

Nevertheless great work!  And I wish you success on ideas - just to see the final price...

[zephyr1934]

9 hours ago, Holodoc said:

Wow, you really created a masterpiece with your LEGO version of AZUL!

I love the original game because of the asthetics, the haptics and the fantastic gameplay - and you captured it.

Thank you kindly!

 

12 hours ago, Yoggington said:

I like the sound of mixing loose lego round in a tub, but this is very different to the satisfying click clack of Azul tiles in a cloth bag. 

 

9 hours ago, Holodoc said:

But still I have to pour some vinegar in the wine what your ideas project is concerned:
- You definitely captured the look, but what about the feel? The haptics will defintely not be the same like the original, ABS won't be able to replace the somehow "ceramic" feeling of the original tiles
- This project will need quite some prints to capture the asthetics - which leads to
- did you ever think of the pricetag your game will have? I highly doubt it will be less than the original, which is sold for less than 30€!

With all that said: Why should I buy the LEGO version instead of the original???

 

The odds of anything making 10k are slim even with a brilliant design. Then given the number of ideas that do reach 10k compared to the number that turn into a set, I suppose it is higher odds than winning the lottery but not much higher. Though you never know what the wizards at Lego might come up with for the tactile feeling. Just look at the Lego typewriter, impossible how they captured the haptics with that thing (even though I built the set I still don't believe it). Sure, pretty hard to hide all that technic in a 2x2 tile but think of the power of SMART Play (grin some more). In all seriousness, agreed that the feel of Azul tiles is an important element of the game that might be impossible to reproduce. So that's an open question. I'll tell you what, I would be quite happy if it ever came to that and the idea never made it past the 10k club.

When my computer geek buddy saw that Lego had a model of the Atari 2600 he scoffed at the $240 price tag and said he could buy a real one on EBay for a quarter of that price.

 

But anyway, one big reason for me to support this version of Azul, as well as the Lego versions of Settlers of Catan and Ticket to Ride is that it sends the message to Lego that AFOLs are interested in good games built of Lego. Be it interpretations of existing games or well designed games that are in new directions. There is immense potential there.

 

[Yoggington]

I didn't mean to come across bluntly, I'm just not sure this is a space where these hobbies need to cross paths.

[zephyr1934]

@Yoggington No offense taken, it's valid feedback and it is always nice to hear all perspectives.

[imvanya]

First of all, amazing work! I can immediately see some train-building skills in the raised cell borders, they remind me of some wooden boxcar MOCs I've seen  My head hurts just thinking of what's going on under the surface. I would imagine all the new bracket pieces proved very useful.

Secondly, time for some unwarranted advice and suggestions  I've had the idea of "AZUL out of LEGO" ever since I first saw the 10359 Fountain Garden set with this 2x2 tile in it:

And now there's a new Friends set with a similar setting, 42691 Garden Restaurant, with these 2x2 tiles:

Obviously, these aren't an exact match for either the patterns or the colors of the AZUL tiles. But while IDEAS would allow for custom prints, should you ever decide to Bricklink this, you could as well use these 3 designs if LEGO has already produced them. Other decorations would be harder, though.

Anyway, good luck with the IDEAS submission!

[zephyr1934]

Thank you @imvanya! I wasn't even thinking of existing Lego prints, good find there. There are so many recolored parts in my build that there is no way it could be built using this color palette and existing parts. Possibly more recoloring could make it buildable IRL though. The compact board (shown on IDEAS but not in this post) could mostly be built IRL, only obvious barrier is that I used one of the new corner cheese bricks and those are only available in black right now. Good call on the printed tiles.

Yeah, the 5x5 grids are a crazy mess of snot. The playing squares are just 2x2 tiles on top of trusty old 1x2 x 2x2 brackets (varies up or down) and those are spaced left to right using 2x2 plate with two studs. Each row of the playing squares has the occasional stud on the lower level holding the 2x6 tiles in place to separate it from the next row. Underneath, on the left I use 2x2 x 1x2 centered tiles to pin down the left side and the same part at the end of the snot section with the 1x2 studs pointing down. These are held in by a studs up plate above.... If you can actually follow that description you should get a PhD...

[eljanos]

That's a real great Idea, original game is cool and slots for the mozaic parts is a cool improvement ( voted of course )

[zephyr1934]

On 2/26/2026 at 8:31 AM, eljanos said:

That's a real great Idea, original game is cool and slots for the mozaic parts is a cool improvement ( voted of course )

Thank you for your kind words and support!