''Istanbul'' is a

Euro-style board game A Eurogame, also called a German-style board game, German game, or Euro-style game, (generally just referred to as board games in Europe) is a class of tabletop games that generally has indirect player interaction and abstract physical componen ...

designed by Rüdiger Dorn and illustrated by Andreas Resch and Hans-Georg Schneider, published in 2014 by Pegasus Spiele. ''Istanbul'' won the Kennerspiel des Jahres award in 2014. An

expansion Expansion may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media * ''L'Expansion'', a French monthly business magazine * ''Expansion'' (album), by American jazz pianist Dave Burrell, released in 2004 * ''Expansions'' (McCoy Tyner album), 1970 * ''Expansio ...

, ''Istanbul: Mocha & Baksheesh'', which includes coffee, guild halls and taverns, was released in 2015. The expansion ''Istanbul: Letters & Seals'', which has players delivering letters and may be integrated with the other expansion, was released in 2016.

Gameplay

The players move a merchant and his four assistants through the bazaar in Istanbul. At various locations, you can leave assistants to handle specific tasks and you need to pick them up again, once finished. Hence careful planning of the allocation of your assistants is needed. During the game, the merchant pushes a wheelbarrow of increasable size and acquires special abilities, but most importantly buys and sells goods in order to be the first one to acquire five rubies.

Reception

The game has received predominantly positive reviews and sits in the top 150 of all board games according t
BGG
I Slay The Dragon mentioned that the game 'offers some unique ideas and employs an overall game strategy that is sound' where as Board Games Land mentioned that the game 'stands out as a perfect family board game due to its elegant and smart design'. Paste Magazine has also described ''Istanbul'' as 'fantastic family game'.

Awards and nominations

* 2014 Kennerspiel des Jahres winner *2014 Swiss Gamers Award Winner *2014 Gouden Ludo Winner *2014 Golden Geek Board Game of the Year Nominee *2014 Golden Geek Best Strategy Board Game Nominee *2014 Golden Geek Best Family Board Game Nominee *2014 Meeples' Choice Nominee

References

External links

*
''Istanbul''
on Pegasus Spiele's website {{s-end Board games German board games Spiel des Jahres winners Kennerspiel des Jahres winners Deutscher Spiele Preis winners Board games introduced in 2014