Istanbul Big Box
WELCOME TO THE BAZAAR OF ISTANBUL!
The Istanbul Big Box contains the Base Game, Mocha & Backsheesh, and Letters & Seals, AND the Caravan promo tile!
Hustle and bustle in the bazaar district of Istanbul: merchants and their assistants are hurrying through the narrow alleys attempting to be more successful than their competitors. Good organization is key: wheelbarrows have to be filled with goods at the warehouses and then swiftly transported by the assistants to the various destinations. The goal of the merchants is to be the first to collect a certain amount of rubies.
You are leading a merchant and four assistants through the 16 Places of the bazaar. At each Place, you can carry out a specific action. The challenge is that, to carry out an action at any of those Places, your merchant needs the help of an assistant and has to leave him behind. To use that assistant again later, your merchant has to come back to that Place and pick him up. So plan ahead carefully to avoid being left with no assistants and thus unable to do anything …
In Istanbul you assemble a marketplace using tiles that represent the various areas, shops, and facilities of the Grand Bazaar. You can assemble different markets by laying out the tiles in various configurations.
During the game each player represents a merchant house that is trying to get rich by buying, selling, trading, and interfering with other merchants.
In 2014 Istanbul won the Kennerspiel award at the Essenspiel convention in Germany, being recognized as the best “gamer’s game” of the year!
Game Info
2-5 players
Ages 10+
40-60 minutes playtime
Contents
- 16 places
- 6 wheelbarrows
- 18 wheelbarrow extensions
- 2 sticker sheets
- 6 merchant disk
- 30 assistant disks
- 6 family member token
- 24 goods (cubes)
- 26 bonus cards
- 16 mosque tiles
- 12 demand tiles
- 72 coins (lira)
- 4 mail indicators
- 5 overview sheets
- 1 starting player marker
- 1 governor
- 1 smuggler
- 42 rubies
- 2 dice
- 4 expansion places
- 8 tavern tiles
- 18 expansion bonus cards
- 20 guild cards
- 30 bags of coffee
- 1 baksheesh tile
- 1 barrier
- 1 coffee trader
- 5 expansion places
- 24 kiosk tiles
- 28 expansion bonus cards
- 36 letter tiles
- 5 companions
- 1 courier
- 1 caravan tile