Bitewing Games Azure

In the realm, four Auspicious Beasts hold sway over land and sky -  the Azure Dragon, the Vermillion Bird, the White Tiger, and the Black Tortoise. Command their favour, and wisdom will follow.

Azure is a two-player abstract strategy game set in a mythological Chinese landscape. On your turn you pay qi cards to place a stone onto the board, gathering boons from the space you cover and competing for control of the four Auspicious Beasts. Each Beast rewards the player who holds its favour - draw extra cards, discount future placements, displace your opponent's stones -  and losing favour can hand those advantages straight to your rival. The first player to reach 25 wisdom points wins, or you win immediately if your opponent cannot place a stone on their turn.

Every decision pulls in multiple directions at once. Placing a stone must ideally serve two or three purposes simultaneously: advancing your wisdom track, contesting a Beast, and managing your hand for future turns. The board is nearly perfect information, so the tension builds from reading the position, not from hidden draws.

Four double-sided boards connect, flip, and rotate in any arrangement, giving Azure over 10,000 possible layouts. An included Gifted module adds a one-time-use variable ability for experienced players looking for an extra wrinkle.

At a glance:

• Players: 2
• Age: 14+
• Play time: 20–40 minutes
• Publisher: Bitewing Games
• Designers: Trevor Benjamin & Brett J. Gilbert