Istanbul

Players are merchants in old Istanbul, buying and selling in the grand bazaar – and making a nice profit. As the top guys in their profession, these merchants have assistants to do the donkeywork. Not to mention the ne'er-do-well brother-in-law (assuming you're prepared to bail him out of gaol).

Visiting the shops of the bazaar (randomly arranged at the start of each game), players buy one good or sell a set of several. Their aim is to make money, which they can either spend to improve their trading or use to buy the rubies that will win the game. Decisions, decisions… Add in to this the need to manage your assistants, plan your route around the bazaar and deal with that pesky brother-in-law and you don't need to have competitors as well!

Istanbul is a clever game that's not too complex, but is certainly not simple. I also have the Mocha and Baksheesh and Letters and Seals expansions, both of which are included with the base game in Istanbul Big Box, and then there's the Istanbul Dice Game.

For 2-5 players, aged 10+, playing time 50 minutes: £30.00 (£25.00 tax free outside the UK)
 

In stock

Istanbul was designed by Rüdiger Dorn and is published by Pegasus Spiele.

Find out more:
    Istanbul on BoardGameGeek

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Mocha and Baksheesh (expansion)

Or maybe " Coffee and Alms" ... The coffee is something else to collect. The box contains extra tiles to give players these opportunities, along with bags of coffee and a new wandering pawn – the coffee trader – that gives bonuses when players meet it.

Guild cards provide an additional option for what players do in their turn. Finally, the Tavern provides a way of using your coffee: to place a barrier on the board to take a tavern tile that provides a continuing bonus to donate some goods – the baksheesh – to gain a ruby.

All in all, the expansion provides some intriguing extra options, refreshing the game and giving players even more decisions. Excellent stuff.

For 2-5 players, aged 10+, playing time 60 minutes: £17.00 (£14.17 tax free outside the UK)
    (Don't forget you'll need the base game to play this)
 

In stock

Istanbul: Mocha and Baksheesh was designed by Rüdiger Dorn and is published by Pegasus Spiele.

Find out more:
    Istanbul: Mocha and Baksheesh on BoardGameGeek

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Letters and Seals (expansion)

The first thing this second expansion for Istanbul adds to the game is some extra tiles, expanding the size of the bazaar. One of the new places is the embassy. Merchants (players) can deliver letters for the embassy, earning seals which can be exchanged for rubies by the secret society.

On top of the expanded bazaar, players have the opportunity to recruit an assistant (pawn) – rather more useful than the assistants of the base game. This lets players take extra actions independent of their main merchant pawn.

This expansion adds alternatives, giving players more options every turn, while maintaining the speed of gameplay.

For 2-5 players, aged 10+, playing time 60 minutes: £17.00 (£14.17 tax free outside the UK)
    (Don't forget you'll need the base game to play this)
 

In stock

Istanbul: Mocha and Baksheesh was designed by Rüdiger Dorn and is published by Pegasus Spiele.

Find out more:
    Istanbul: Mocha and Baksheesh on BoardGameGeek

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Istanbul Big Box

This chunky square box contains the base Istanbul game along with the Mocha and Baksheesh and Letters and Seals expansions. It also provides the option of playing on a larger, 5 x 5 bazaar.

For 2-5 players, aged 10+, playing time 40-90 minutes: £35.00 (£29.17 tax free outside the UK)
 

In stock

Istanbul Big Box was designed by Rüdiger Dorn and is published by Pegasus Spiele.

Find out more:
    Istanbul Big Box on BoardGameGeek

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