Board Game Arena

Hey everyone,

I’ve started playing Azul recently, several weeks ago. Had this game today, where the opponent was accusing me of being rude and not considerate because of my play style.

I asked them to elaborate and explain, maybe there were some unwritten rules I wasn’t aware of, being new to the game.

They refused and continued accusing me. No explanation.

Could someone please help me understand? I won the game at the end, but I really want to learn and understand what happened.

Thanks!

Just a guess…

Some people don’t like when you take tiles they need instead of tiles that you need for your own board. They seem to think it’s actually two people playing solitaire together

Alright, that was my guess as well, but I wanted to make sure that I was not breaking some code of honor or unwritten rules. Thanks!

yermak wrote: ↑03 January 2026, 23:43 but I wanted to make sure that I was not breaking some ... unwritten rules.

You are breaking unwritten rules. Unwritten rules completely fabricated by people who don't understand what something being a zero sum game means.

The goal is to win, and the rules are clear—so just play and don’t waste energy on people who can’t stand to lose. Imagine playing chess with an “unwritten” rule that you can’t take your opponent’s pieces. That wouldn’t make sense at all

MacDuc wrote: ↑04 January 2026, 11:03 Imagine playing chess with an “unwritten” rule that you can’t take your opponent’s pieces.

I actually love this thread. Recently an opponent said, "so that's how it is" after I made a strategic play and similarly seemed to imply that I wasn't playing fairly. lol.

MacDuc wrote: ↑04 January 2026, 11:03 The goal is to win, and the rules are clear—so just play and don’t waste energy on people who can’t stand to lose. Imagine playing chess with an “unwritten” rule that you can’t take your opponent’s pieces. That wouldn’t make sense at all

That's my exact same thought being a chess player. Some people are really out of touch lmao.

I found that this complaining stopped happening at ELO over about 350...

The same just happened to me. My opponent asked me what the 'goal of it all' was. When I said 'to win' he said it was bad sportmanship to play like I did (e.g. taking pieces he needed). Glad to read some people agree with me