Istanbul: Big Box AEG

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.

Istanbul: Big Box is the all-in-one package for Istanbul, including the base game as well as both expansions, Mocha & Baksheesh and Letters & Seals.

This combination also gives players the option to play on a big 5 x 5 tiles bazaar.

AWARDS & HONORS
2015 Nederlandse Spellenprijs Best Expert Game Nominee
2014 Swiss Gamers Award Winner
2014 Meeples’ Choice Nominee
2014 Kennerspiel des Jahres Winner
2014 Kennerspiel des Jahres Nominee
2014 International Gamers Award – General Strategy: Multi-player Nominee
2014 Hra roku Nominee
2014 Gouden Ludo Winner
2014 Gouden Ludo Nominee
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

Mocha & Baksheesh expansion:

Selling precious fabrics, the finest of spices, and the freshest of fruits in Istanbul was very good for business. But now the customers at the bazaar have discovered a new delicacy: coffee! As the cunning merchant you are, you sense the fortune you can make by selling the tasty bean.

To overcome these new challenges, you will need more help than just that of your assistants. Luckily, for a baksheesh, the guests at the tavern are willing to take a little side job. Also, at the guild hall, you can find the valuable help you need.

The first expansion for Istanbul, the 2014 Kennerspiel des Jahres, Istanbul: Mocha & Baksheesh brings four new places, more interaction between the players, and new ways to gain the coveted rubies. The Bazaar favorite of all gaming enthusiasts just got a little more attractive.

Letters & Seals expansion:

You, the merchants of Istanbul, have come up with a new and quite lucrative way of earning extra money: delivering messages to the shopkeepers of the bazaar! While doing so, you can catch some useful information here and there that you can sell to the secret society for rubies. In order to keep your regular business running, you have hired a companion who is actively supporting you. True, he is a little slower than you would like but in return he does not require any assistants.

Istanbul: Letters & Seals is an expansion for Istanbul.