Istanbul (board game)
Istanbul is a German-style board game designed by Rüdiger Dorn and illustrated by Andreas Resch and Hans-Georg Schneider, published in 2014 by Pegasus Spiele.
The box cover of Istanbul | |
Designer(s) | Rüdiger Dorn |
---|---|
Publisher(s) | Pegasus Spiele Albi |
Players | 2 to 5 |
Playing time | 50 minutes |
Age range | 10 and up |
In 2014, Istanbul won the Kennerspiel des Jahres award. In 2015, an expansion Istanbul: Mocha & Baksheesh was released, which includes coffee, guild halls and taverns. In 2016, the expansion Istanbul: Letters & Seals was released, which has players delivering letters and may be integrated with the other expansion.
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 100[1] of all board games according to 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'[2]. Paste Magazine has also described Istanbul as 'fantastic family game'.[3]
Awards & Nominations
- 2014 Kennerspiel des Jahres winner[4]
- 2014 Swiss Gamers Award Winner[5]
- 2014 Gouden Ludo Winner[6]
- 2014 Golden Geek Board Game of the Year Nominee[7]
- 2014 Golden Geek Best Strategy Board Game Nominee[8]
- 2014 Golden Geek Best Family Board Game Nominee[9]
- 2014 Meeples' Choice Nominee[10]
References
- "Browse Board Games | BoardGameGeek". boardgamegeek.com. Retrieved 2019-01-31.
- "Best Family Board Games (Reviewed Jan. 19) - Top 10 Revealed". Board Games Land. 2018-10-22. Retrieved 2019-01-31.
- "Istanbul Boardgame: Family Strategy". pastemagazine.com. Retrieved 2019-01-31.
- "Spiel des Jahres official site: 2014 winner". (in German)
- "Ergebnisse 2014 | Swiss Gamers Award" (in French). Retrieved 2019-01-31.
- "2014 | Gouden Ludo". goudenludo.be. Retrieved 2019-01-31.
- "2014 Golden Geek Board Game of the Year Nominee | Board Game Honor | BoardGameGeek". boardgamegeek.com. Retrieved 2019-01-31.
- "2014 Golden Geek Best Strategy Board Game Nominee | Board Game Honor | BoardGameGeek". boardgamegeek.com. Retrieved 2019-01-31.
- "2014 Golden Geek Best Family Board Game Nominee | Board Game Honor | BoardGameGeek". boardgamegeek.com. Retrieved 2019-01-31.
- huzonfirst (2015-06-19). "Results of 2014 Meeples Choice Awards". The Opinionated Gamers. Retrieved 2019-01-31.
External links
- Istanbul at BoardGameGeek
- Istanbul on Pegasus Spiele's website
Preceded by Legends of Andor |
Kennerspiel des Jahres 2014 |
Succeeded by Broom Service |