#29/52. A Game Set Somewhere You've Always Wanted to Visit - Istanbul (Turkey)

Mark and I went to a Board Game Meet-Up at Denny's in Citrus Heights last Tuesday (01/19/2016) and got to play a game that I've had my eye on for some time, but had never yet played, called Istanbul. Our friend, Richard Bright, brought it. Istanbul is the 2014 winner of the Kennerspiel des Jaris Award - one of the most prestigious board game awards - and after playing it, I can see why.

The board is made up of tiles that represent the City of Istanbul. They include a small market, police station, tea house, large market, gem dealer, and other places you would find in an ancient Middle Eastern city. Each player is a merchant with 4 assistants. You send your assistants out and about the city to acquire goods to sell or to sell your goods and buy gems. The object of the game is to be the first one to purchase a specific number of gems. I believe the number is based on the number of people playing the game.

On first impression I recognized what a beautifully rendered game this was. The board tiles are beautifully drawn and render the theme of the game very well. The gems are, of course, plastic, but they look very sparkly and can almost convince you that they are indeed gems. The merchant and assistant pieces are good solid wooden discs and are easy to handle and move around the board.

Game play was quickly explained and easy to learn. We got into playing and moved along at a decent pace. Very quickly Mark and I realized that this is a game that we are planning to add to our collection. Especially when we learned it can be played by two players. I think that Mark and I got distracted by the game play while Richard kept his eye on the goal of the game. He ended up winning.  Still, we had a good time with this game and I'm looking forward to playing it again very soon.