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Azul Pattern Line Rules
Understand row sizes, matching colours, overflow and wall restrictions.
Understand row sizes, matching colours, overflow and wall restrictions.
Azul’s pattern lines are the five rows on the left side of your player board. They hold 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 tiles respectively.
One color per pattern line
A pattern line can contain tiles of only one color during a round. If a row already contains blue tiles, you cannot add red tiles to that row.
Take all tiles of the chosen color
When you choose a color from a Factory display or the center, you must take all available tiles of that chosen color from that location.
Can you split one take between pattern lines?
No. All tiles taken in that action must be assigned to one pattern line. Any tiles that do not fit go to the floor line.
Wall restriction
You cannot place a color into a pattern line if that row’s corresponding wall row already contains a tile of that color.
What happens when a pattern line is complete?
It stays complete until the Wall-Tiling phase. Then exactly one tile from that completed pattern line moves to the matching color space on the wall. The remaining tiles from that line are discarded to the box lid.
What happens to incomplete lines?
Incomplete pattern lines remain on your board between rounds. You continue filling them in a later round.
Can you choose a line that is too small?
Yes, but every excess tile goes to your floor line and creates potential penalties.
Example: three blue tiles and a two-space row
You take three blue tiles from one Factory display. If you choose an empty two-space pattern line and its matching wall row does not already contain blue, place two blue tiles in that line. The third goes to the floor line. You cannot move that extra tile into a second pattern line during the same pick. If the matching wall row already contains a blue tile, that two-space line was not a legal destination in the first place.
At the Wall-Tiling phase, the completed line contributes exactly one blue tile to its matching wall space and the other tile from that line goes to the box lid. An incomplete pattern line stays in place for the next round.
Three checks before placing a batch
- Does the row already hold a different color?
- Does the corresponding wall row already contain the chosen color?
- How many tiles fit, and how many will fall to the floor?
These checks apply to the original colored-wall side of Azul. See the publisher rulebook for the gray-wall variant and the printed floor penalties.
Related Azul guides
Official source
Rules checked September 2026.