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Azul: Summer Pavilion
The third game in the Azul series, and the freest and most strategic of them: you take colorful diamond-shaped tiles and decorate a garden of six-pointed stars. A wild color is named every round and you may keep up to 4 tiles for later, so it asks for more planning than the earlier games.
Rules
Taking tiles works just as in «Azul», but there are no pattern lines and no floor line. You place tiles straight onto the stars on your player board, and the wild color changes every round. Keeping tiles over is no longer a loss but a plan.
What is the same, and what is gone
Taking every tile of one color from a factory display and pushing the rest to the center works just as in «Azul». So does taking the start player token when you are the first to take from the center.
| In the original | In Summer Pavilion |
|---|---|
| Pattern lines (a stair of 1 to 5) | Gone. You place tiles straight onto your board |
| Floor line penalties | Gone. Instead your score drops by the number of tiles you take |
| The 5×5 wall | Replaced by a structure of 7 stars |
| 5 tile colors | 6 colors — a wild color was added |
| 5 rounds (conditional end) | Exactly 6 rounds |
What is different ① The wild color changes every round
One of the 6 colors is the wild color for that round, and the round counter tells you which. A wild tile can stand in for any other color, but only in that round.
The wild comes as exactly one «extra»
The color you pick has to be a color other than the wild color. If that factory display (or the center) holds one or more wild tiles, you must also take exactly one of them. You cannot pick several wild tiles on their own.
What is different ② Taking costs points, placing earns them
- Your scoring marker starts on space 5.
- When you take tiles, move your marker back one space for each tile taken. It stops at the first space.
- So taking a lot is a cost in itself. It is what replaces the floor line penalties of the original.
The cost of placing a tile is «the number on the space»
Each star has 6 spaces, numbered 1 to 6. To place one tile there you must hand over that many tiles of that color. Filling a «6» space really does mean spending 6 tiles and discarding 5 of them.
- You must have at least one tile in the color you are placing. The rest may be wild tiles, and only one tile actually goes onto the board — the others are discarded into the tower.
- A wild tile may only be placed on a space of its own color. It cannot be placed on a space of the color it stands in for.
- Each tile you place scores 1 point, plus 1 point for every connected tile beside it.
The multicolored star in the middle needs 6 different colors
The rainbow star in the middle of the board has 6 spaces, and the 6 tiles placed on it must all be different colors.
What is different ③ You may keep 4 tiles
- If you cannot place any more, or do not want to, you drop out of the round.
- As you drop out you may keep up to 4 tiles in the corners of your player board. They score nothing.
- Every other tile is discarded into the tower and costs you 1 point each.
- Kept tiles carry over to the next round. Any still there when the game ends cost 1 point each.
In the original every leftover tile was a penalty. Here up to 4 are savings, so you can plan across two rounds to reach an expensive space (a 3 or a 4).
What is different ④ Surround a structure and take tiles
| Structure | Completed when | Reward |
|---|---|---|
| Pillar | Every space around it is filled | 1 tile from the supply |
| Statue | Every space around it is filled | 2 tiles |
| Window | Every space around it is filled | 3 tiles |
Surround one of these points on the board and you take the tiles right away. Ten tiles lie on the supply spaces of the scoring board each round.
End of the game and bonuses
The game ends once 6 rounds have been played. There is no early end from completing a row, as there was in the original.
| Star completed | Bonus |
|---|---|
| Multicolored (rainbow) star | 12 points |
| Red star | 14 points |
| Blue star | 15 points |
| Yellow star | 16 points |
| Orange star | 17 points |
| Green star | 18 points |
| Purple star | 20 points |
| Cover every space of one number | Bonus |
|---|---|
| Every «1» space | 4 points |
| Every «2» space | 8 points |
| Every «3» space | 12 points |
| Every «4» space | 16 points |
| Every «5» space · every «6» space | no bonus |
Spaces run 1 to 6, but the bonus stops at «4»
These are easy to mix up. The number on a space runs from 1 to 6 — it is what the space costs. The end-game bonus for covering them all exists only for the «1» through «4» spaces. You get paid for the 5s and 6s through the star bonus instead.
Tiles you are still keeping cost you 1 point each. It is better not to keep any in the last round.
The monochrome side variant
Turn the board over and you get the monochrome side, where no colors are printed on the stars. For each star you decide yourself whether to fill it with six different colors or with one color, which gives you much more freedom.
Rules people get wrong
Q. Do I need «Azul»?
No. This is a standalone game. It is the same series, but the rules are quite different.
Q. Can I take several wild tiles on their own?
No. The color you pick has to be a color other than the wild color, and exactly one wild comes along as an extra.
Q. Can I place a wild tile on a space of another color?
No. A wild tile stands in for another color when you pay, but on the board it only goes on a space of its own color.
Q. Is taking a lot of tiles a bad idea?
Your score drops by the number you take. Up to 4 can be saved for the next round, though, so with a plan it pays off.
Q. Does completing a row end the game, as in the original?
No. You play exactly 6 rounds.
Q. If I only buy one, which one?
The original has shorter rules and is easier to teach. Summer Pavilion has a placement cost and savings, so there is more planning and less penalty stress.
History and editions
| Item | Detail |
|---|---|
| Designer | Michael Kiesling |
| Publisher | Next Move Games / Plan B Games, 2019 |
| Series | «Azul» (2017) → «Stained Glass of Sintra» (2018) → «Summer Pavilion» (2019) → «Queen's Garden» (2021) |
This guide was checked against the official English rulebook. The Korean edition rulebook has not been checked, so Korean terminology may differ. If the booklet in your box says something else, let us know in the comments.
Sources
Official rulebook (English) — Next Move Games: Azul Summer PavilionOfficial product page — Next Move Games: Azul Summer PavilionRules summary — UltraBoardGames: Azul Summer PavilionWiki cross-check — Wikipedia: AzulRule summaries are reference content written by us, not quotations from the official rulebook. Always check the official rulebook for exact rules. Diagrams are original schematics, not rulebook illustrations.
Spotted a mistake? Tell us in the comments below →
Last updated 2026-09-14
💡 Master tip
Use the fact that you may keep 4 tiles for the next round: save up wild tiles and take a hard 5 or 6 space in one go. It also pays to check ahead which color is wild in each round and go first for the spaces that need it.
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Wild color round chart
Shows which color is wild in rounds 1 through 6
Star completion bonus scanner
Adds up the bonuses for the 7 stars and for covering all 1s through 4s
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