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Istanbul - Components
playing the game with Flavia
On display, Nürnberg 2014. Prototype, thus the discs od different size ...
Box top of the Pegasus version.
Istanbul - shot @ Toy Fair Nuremberg 2014
All the game components
Finally - the start player tile.
Prototype at the end of a testgame. It's of course not the final version, but it gives an impression about how the game is going to look like.
Close up after 4 player game.
My storage solution for Istanbul plus two expansions

Istanbul (2014)

Players
2–5
Best: 4
Playing time
40–60 min
Age
10+
7.53
Average rating
33,970
Ratings
2.58/5
Weight
#195
BGG rank
Top 1,000
Alternate names:Стамбул +2 more
Designer:Rüdiger Dorn
Artist:Andreas Resch
Publisher:Pegasus Spiele +14 more
Average rating, ratings count, weight and rank are sourced from BoardGameGeek (BGG).
Game DNA
  • This game: Strategy 10, Luck 6, Interaction 5, Complexity 5.2, Theme 5
Strategy10.0
Luck6.0
Interaction5.0
Complexity5.2
Theme5.0

This game's strategy, luck, interaction, complexity and theme.

EconomicPick-up and DeliverModular BoardDice RollingNetwork and Route BuildingWorker PlacementGrid MovementRaceVariable Set-upMarketContractsMancala

Overview

There's hustle and bustle at Istanbul's grand bazaar as merchants and their assistants rush through the narrow alleys in their attempt to be more successful than their competitors. Everything must be well organized: wheelbarrows must be filled with goods at the warehouses, then swiftly transported by the assistants to various destinations. Your goal? Be the first merchant to collect a certain number of rubies.

In Istanbul, you lead a group of one merchant and four assistants through 16 locations in the bazaar. At each such location, you can carry out a specific action. The challenge, though, is that to take an action, you must move your merchant and an assistant there, then leave the assistant behind (to handle all the details while you focus on larger matters). If you want to use that assistant again later, your merchant must return to that location to pick him up. Thus, you must plan ahead carefully to avoid being left with no assistants and thus unable to do anything...

In more detail, on a turn you move your merchant and his retinue of assistants one or two steps through the bazaar, either leave an assistant at that location or collect an assistant left earlier, then perform the action. If you meet other merchants or certain individuals at the location, you might be able to take a small extra action. Possible actions include:

Paying to increase your wheelbarrow capacity, which starts the game with a capacity of only two for each good. Filling your wheelbarrow with a specified good to its limit. Acquiring a special ability, and the earlier you come, the easier they are to collect. Buying rubies or trading goods for rubies. Selling special combinations of goods to make the money you need to do everything else.

When a merchant has collected five rubies in his wheelbarrow, players complete that round, then the game ends. If this player is the only one who's reached this goal, he wins immediately; otherwise ties are broken by money in hand.

Expansions

Istanbul: Kebab Shop Mini Expansion
Istanbul: Mocha & Baksheesh
Istanbul: Letters & Seals
Brettspiel Adventskalender 2016
Istanbul: Caravan Leader Mini Expansion
Istanbul: Pegasus Depot Mini Expansion
Camel Up: The Referee Camel & Istanbul – Caravan Leader Mini Expansion
Super Power
Istanbul: Pegasus Depot & Kebab Shop Mini Expansions
Not available yet

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