This is the Azul vs Stained Glass of Sintra game comparison showdown. Azul is the original game in the popular series and Azul: Stained Glass of Sintra is the second, coming out one year after. Both games keep the on brand tile drafting mechanic but change how your personal space building works. We dive deep into both. Learn a little about the games then check out our Azul vs Stained Glass of Sintra notes and final verdict.
ABOUT THE GAMES
About Azul (2017): The game is about helping the king decorate with Portuguese tiles. Azul is a well crafted set collection and pattern building game. You draft sets of tiles against other players in order to create strategic clusters that are going to get you big points. You need to strategically fill rows with groupings of colors in order to move them into your final square grid in order to score.
FOR MORE: Azul Page | How To Play Azul | Azul Review | Games Like Azul | Buy Azul on Amazon
About Azul: Stained Glass of Sintra (2018): This game challenges players to carefully select glass panes to complete their windows while being careful not to damage or waste supplies in the process. The window panels are double-sided, providing players with a dynamic player board that affords nearly infinite variability!
FOR MORE: Buy Azul: Stained Glass of Sintra on Amazon
AZUL VS STAINED GLASS OF SINTRA ANALYSIS
Theme: Azul: Stained Glass of Sintra is the direct follow up to Azul and brings you back into the same world. You are still helping out the king, but this time you are building stained glass. It has its own things going on, it doesn’t just feel like a generic turn out.
Gameplay: Stained Glass of Sintra takes everything about Azul and makes it a bit more complicated with not too much upside. The trademark tile drafting system of Azul remains the same in Sinatra, but the big difference is that you are working a more dynamic board that changes and there are many more rules to scoring. Scoring is probably easier to do than in Azul but there is more to it.
Mechanics: In Azul classic, you have a set square grid of your own that you need fill while in Sinatra you still have your own grid, but it is made of different strips and they flip over throughout the game with different formations. There is also a wild system and a meeple character that changes the value of things round by round.
Time Commitment: Stained Glass of Sintra feels like there is more to do and should be longer, but with set rounds still tops out at the same 40 minute point that you can expect to see Azul at. Azul original also has more complex in between round scoring which can be a round block. In Azul vs Stained Glass of Sintra, they run about the same.
Player Count: Every game in the Azul universe is 2 – 4 players. They all use the same, trademark tile drafting system that scales incredibly well at that count and Azul vs Stained Glass of Sintra is no different.
Cost: Both Azul and Azul: Summer Pavilion are not the latest Azul games so they have settled into the solid price point you should expect to see for awhile. You should expect to see both under $39.
VERDICT
Verdict For the Shelf: Azul (90% of the time) and Azul: Stained Glass of Sintra (10% of the time). Sintra is a valiant effort at a follow up and is a great game all on it’s own. When compared to the original Azul, however, Sintra is just a little bit too jumbled and not focused to be as good. Again, both games are top notch, fantastic games, Azul classic just has the advantage.
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OTHER SHOWDOWNS:
Azul vs (All Others)
Azul vs Summer Pavilion
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Azul vs Kingdomino
