Azul: Stained Glass of Sintra

A Stunning Sequel with a Strategic Twist

Azul is one of my favourite games, so when Stained Glass of Sintra arrived I was both excited and slightly nervous. Sequels to beloved games have a habit of fixing things that did not need fixing, or adding complexity for its own sake.

This one does neither. Azul: Stained Glass of Sintra takes the core drafting mechanic and builds something genuinely different on top of it. It is not better than the original. It is a different kind of good.

Designed by Michael Kiesling and published by Next Move Games in 2018, it plays 2 to 4 players in around 30 to 45 minutes.

What Is Azul: Stained Glass of Sintra?

Where the original Azul is inspired by Portuguese azulejo wall tiles, this version draws from the stained glass windows of the Pena Palace in Sintra. The same designer, the same publisher, but a meaningfully different puzzle.

The drafting works the same way: pick all tiles of one colour from a factory display or the centre pool. What you do with them is where things diverge. Instead of placing them on a fixed mosaic grid, you are filling column-based panels. Your glazier marker determines which columns you can access, and completed columns flip or are removed, shifting what is available to you on future turns.

It is a more forward-thinking game than the original. The decisions carry further into the future, which some players love and others find slightly maddening.

Key Game Information

Players	2-4 (best at 3-4)
Play time	30-45 minutes
Designer	Michael Kiesling
Publisher	Next Move Games
Categories	Abstract Games, Strategy Games, Family Games
Mechanics	Drafting, Pattern Building, Tile Placement
Theme	Historical, Abstract and Minimalist
Complexity	Medium-light
Best for	Players who enjoyed Azul and want something that rewards longer-term planning

How to Play Azul: Stained Glass of Sintra

The drafting phase works identically to the original. Factory displays are seeded with tiles at the start of each round, players take turns picking all tiles of one colour, and leftovers go to the centre pool.

The key difference is what happens next. Each player has a personal board with six column panels and a glazier marker that starts on the left. When you place tiles, they go into the column your glazier is currently on. Your glazier can only move right. Once a column is filled, it scores, flips, and may be removed, advancing your glazier to the next position.

Scoring is cascading: columns on the right are worth more than columns on the left. This creates a meaningful tension between filling columns quickly for early points and holding out for the bigger payoffs on the right side of the board.

Any tiles that cannot be placed go to the floor and deduct points, just as in the original.

Rules clarification Your glazier must move right when a column is filled. You cannot go back. This means committing to a column is a real decision, particularly when a better scoring opportunity might be two columns to the right.

Playing at Different Player Counts

2 players: Plays well and quickly. The competition for specific tiles is lower, which makes it feel more like a personal puzzle. Perfectly enjoyable, but the strategic tension is reduced.

3 players: A solid middle ground. Enough competition for the game to feel interactive without the chaos of four.

4 players: The most competitive experience. Tiles disappear quickly and planning around what will be available becomes genuinely difficult. Some find this chaotic; others find it thrilling.

I prefer it at three. Four is fun but can feel like your plans dissolve every round.

Playing Solo

There is no official solo mode for Stained Glass of Sintra. If you want a solo Azul experience, Azul: Summer Pavilion has a more developed solo variant worth checking out.

Components and Production Quality

The translucent tiles are the headline. They genuinely look like stained glass pieces when placed on the board, and they catch the light in a way that makes the game look properly beautiful mid-play.

The glazier markers are small wooden pawns that are pleasant enough but nothing special. The panels on the player boards are dual-layered, which helps tiles stay in place and feels premium.

One note on accessibility: the translucent tiles have subtle colour differences that can be harder to distinguish in low light. Worth keeping in mind if anyone at your table has difficulty with colour distinction.

At our table We played Stained Glass of Sintra for the first time on a sunny afternoon and someone held a completed panel up to the window. It looked genuinely stunning. The tiles had caught the light perfectly. We then argued for ten minutes about scoring and completely forgot about how beautiful it looked.

Expansions and Other Versions

There are no standalone expansions for Stained Glass of Sintra. The main Azul series includes the original Azul, Summer Pavilion, and Queens Garden, each of which is a standalone game rather than an expansion.

Next Move Games released a Mini version of this title as part of a travel range, which is worth knowing about if shelf space or portability matters to you.

Digital Versions

Stained Glass of Sintra is included in the official Azul digital game on Steam (developed by Digidiced), alongside the original Azul and Summer Pavilion. It handles well in digital format, and the online multiplayer is solid.

It is not currently available on Board Game Arena as a standalone option.

How It Compares to the Original Azul

The original Azul is more immediately accessible. The fixed grid and consistent scoring mean new players can engage strategically from the first game.

Stained Glass of Sintra asks you to think further ahead from the start. The moving glazier and cascading scoring create a puzzle that takes a game or two to fully grasp. It is more complex without being heavy, which is a balance not many games hit.

If someone asked me which to buy first, I would say the original. But if you already own and love Azul, Stained Glass of Sintra is the most natural next step.

If You Like Stained Glass of Sintra, Try These

• Azul (original): If you came here first, go back to where it started. The original is slightly lighter and works brilliantly as a gateway game.
• Azul: Summer Pavilion: The most forgiving of the three main Azul games. Introduces wildcards and tile storage. Great if you want more flexibility.
• Sagrada: Also about filling a stained-glass window, using dice instead of tiles. Slightly more luck-dependent but similarly beautiful.
• Patchwork: Two-player only, but shares the spatial puzzle satisfaction of Sintra at a comparable complexity level.
• Isle of Cats: Pattern placement with more moving parts and a charming theme. A step up in weight but a natural progression.

Final Thoughts

Azul: Stained Glass of Sintra is a more demanding game than the original and a more rewarding one for players who enjoy planning ahead. The cascading scoring creates genuine decisions that the original does not quite replicate.

Its weakness is in the early game for new players, where the implications of the glazier movement are not yet intuitive. The first game often ends with someone feeling like they barely understood what they were doing. By the second or third game, that feeling usually goes away.

If you like the original Azul and want something that challenges you slightly more, this is exactly that. If you are looking for a first Azul, start with the original.

Stained Glass of Sintra is the game that rewards players who already love Azul and want to think a bit harder.

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