How to Play Istanbul | Rules & Setup Guide

Get Ready

Setup the game with these step-by-step instructions before diving into your turn.

Lay out place tiles

Arrange 16 Place tiles in a 4x4 grid using recommended layouts from the rule book

[MB] Expand the grid

Lay out 20 tiles including 4 additional places, replacing Wainwright [1] and Caravansary [6]

[MB] Position key tiles

Fountain [7] must be in middle 6 spaces; Black Market [8] and Tea House [9] must be 3 places apart and not in the same row or column

Prepare Mosque tiles

Sort by color then by number of goods (top tile shows 2 goods), place on Mosques [14] and [15]

Stock the Wainwright

Put 1 ruby and 3 wheelbarrow extensions per player on the Wainwright [1]

Place rubies on purchase locations

Put rubies on Gemstone Dealer [16] and 1 on each space of Sultan's Palace [13] beginning with top right space, continuing to space for number of players

Set up Post Office

Put mail indicators in top row of Post Office [5]

Prepare Market tiles

Sort Demand tiles by color, shuffle and place dark tiles face-up in Large Market [10], light tiles face-up in Small Market [11]

Position neutral characters

Roll both dice and put Governor and Smuggler on space indicated; [MB] also place Coffee Trader

[MB] Prepare expansion components

Shuffle Guild cards and place face-down on Guild Hall [18]; sort Tavern tiles by type then by number of coffee symbols (1 coffee on top), place in 2 piles; put Baksheesh tile yellow side up on Tavern [19]; put 1 ruby on each space of Coffee House [20] except "6"

Prepare common supply

Shuffle Bonus cards and place face-down along with coins and dice by game board; [MB] add expansion cards

Distribute player components

Each player takes discs, family member, goods cubes of chosen color, wheelbarrow, and overview card

Set up wheelbarrow

Put goods cubes on leftmost grey spaces of wheelbarrow

Place Family Member

Put Family Member on Police Station [12]

Create Merchant stack

Stack 4 Assistant discs and place Merchant disc on top, place stack on Fountain [7]

Distribute starting money

Starting player gets £2 and Starting Player marker; clockwise, each other player gets 1 more £ than player on right

Draw starting Bonus card

Each player draws a Bonus card from the top of the stack

2-player setup

Put Merchant discs of unused colors on [14], [15], and [16]

On Your Turn

What you can do during your turn.

Use Bonus cards freely

Play any number of Bonus cards (no hand limit) and Mosque tile special abilities at any time during your turn

Discard used Bonus cards

Place used Bonus cards face-up on Caravansary [6]; shuffle discard pile if draw pile runs out

Move your Merchant

Move your Merchant and stack of assistants 1 or 2 places (not diagonally), must end on different space than start

Pick up your Assistant

If one of your Assistants was present already, put your stack on top of it

Leave an Assistant behind

If no Assistants present, remove bottom disc and place stack next to it (leave this Assistant behind on next move)

End turn early

If you do not pick up or leave an Assistant, your turn ends immediately

[Yellow Mosque ability]

Pay £2 to take an Assistant from another place instead

Pay other Merchants

If any other Merchants at end space (except Fountain), pay each £2; your turn ends immediately if you do not pay

2-player neutral Merchant

Pay £2 to general supply for neutral Merchant, then roll dice to move him

[1] Wainwright

Pay £7 for extension, place in wheelbarrow; if 3rd time, also take 1 ruby

[2-4] Fabric/Spice/Fruit Warehouse

Move your goods indicator all the way to right; with Green Mosque tile, pay £2 to gain 1 good of any type

[5] Post Office

Get uncovered resources, then move leftmost Mail indicator to bottom, or move all back to top

[6] Caravansary

Take 2 Bonus cards from draw pile or discard pile plus 1 coffee, then discard 1 card

[7] Fountain

Return any number of Assistants to Merchant stack; no Assistant needed to go there; do not pay other present players

[8] Black Market

Gain 1 red/yellow/green good, then roll dice: 7-8 gives 1 blue, 9-10 gives 2 blue, 11-12 gives 3 blue

[9] Tea House

Call a number between 3-12, then roll dice; if roll equals or exceeds called number, take called number in £; otherwise take £2

[10/11] Small/Large Market

Sell 1-5 goods shown on Demand tile, take £ shown, put tile on bottom of stack

[12] Police Station

If Family Member is there, send them to another spot and take that action with no encounters

[13] Sultan's Palace

Take next ruby by paying all goods not covered by a ruby

[14/15] Small/Great Mosque

Take 1 Mosque tile if you have goods shown on tile, pay 1 good; can only have 1 of each tile; when you acquire both tiles of 1 Mosque, take 1 ruby from that Mosque

[16] Gemstone Dealer

Pay £ equal to largest uncovered number, get next ruby from track

[17] Roasting Plant

Do each once to get coffee: pay £2 for 2 coffee, pay 1 good for 2 coffee, discard Bonus/Guild card for 2 coffee

[18] Guild Hall

Take 1 coffee and 2 face-down Guild cards (no looking at discards), then discard 1 Guild card face-up

[19] Tavern

Choose 1 of 3 options: (1) pay 2 coffee, place Barrier, take action of 1 adjacent space (only you can pass barrier); (2) take top Tavern tile and pay coffee shown for ongoing effect; (3) pay 4 coffee and goods on Baksheesh tile, take ruby from [13], [16], or [20], flip Baksheesh tile

[20] Coffee House

Pay coffee equal to largest uncovered number, get next ruby from track

[MB] Play Guild card

Instead of location actions [1-4], play a Guild card, follow instructions, then discard

Encounter other Family Members

If other players' Family Members are on end space, send them to Police Station [12] and take 1 Bonus card or £3 for each

Encounter Governor

Draw 1 Bonus card from deck and pay £2, or discard 1 Bonus card; then roll dice and move Governor

Encounter Smuggler

Gain 1 good of choice and pay £2, or discard 1 good; then roll dice and move Smuggler

[MB] Encounter Coffee Trader

Pay £1 or any 1 good to take 1 coffee