Manual — Istanbul: Big Box

2–5 players Ages 14 and up Playing Time: 40-80 minutes
ISTANBUL: BASE GAME
Hustle and bustle in the bazaar district of Istanbul! Merchants and their assistants are hurrying through the narrow alleys attempting to be more successful than their competitors. Good organization is key: wheelbarrows have to be filled with goods at the warehouses and then swiftly transported to the various destinations by the assistants. The goal of the merchants is to be the first to collect a certain number of rubies.
ISTANBUL: MOCHA & BAKSHEESH
Selling precious fabrics, the finest of spices, and the freshest of fruits in Istanbul was very good for business. But now, 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 this new challenge, 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 that you need.
ISTANBUL: LETTERS & SEALS
You, the merchants of Istanbul, have come up with a new and quite lucrative way of earning extra cash: delivering messages to the shopkeepers of the bazaar! While doing so, you can catch some useful information here and there to sell to the secret society in exchange 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 at least he does not require any assistants.
TM

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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Before Your First Game . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Components . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
BASE GAME
Game Idea / General Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
Setup . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
Flow of Play / Your Turn . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
End of the Game . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
MOCHA & BAKSHEESH
Additional Components / Setup . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .10
Your Turn / End of the Game . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .12
LETTERS & SEALS
Additional Components . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .13
Setup . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .14
Your Turn / End of the Game . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .16
VARIANTS
“Neutral Assistant” / “The Great Bazaar” / “Caravan Leader” / and others . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .17
PLACES, TILES, AND ACTIONS
Places (Base Game) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .18
Places (Mocha & Baksheesh) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .20
Places (Letters & Seals) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .21
Mosque Tiles / Tavern Tiles / Kiosk Tiles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .22
Guild Cards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
Bonus Cards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .24
CREDITS
The publisher and the designer would like to thank all playtesters and proofreaders for their valuable feedback.
Designer: Rüdiger Dorn
Illustrations: Andreas Resch
Graphic Design: Andreas Resch, Jens Wiese,
Hans-Georg Schneider
Realization: Ralph Bruhn
Translation: Martin Zeeb, Grzegorz Kobiela AEG Project Lead: Nicolas Bongiu
AEG Development: John Goodenough
AEG Proofing: Mark O’Connor
AEG Production: David Lepore
© 2018 Pegasus Spiele GmbH, Germany
www.pegasus.de
All rights reserved. Reprinting or publishing of the rule
book, game components, or illustrations is prohibited
without prior permission. Printed in China.
Warning: Choking Hazard!
Alderac Entertainment Group Inc.
555 N El Camino Real #A393
San Clemente, CA 92672 USA
www.alderac.com/Istanbul
Questions? Email CustomerService@alderac.com

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3
BEFORE YOUR FIRST GAME
Before explaining the rules, we would like to offer some important advice regarding the game components and setup:
Preparation of Game Components

Carefully remove the game components from the punchboard.
Attach stickers to the top and bottom of the wooden tokens as follows:
• Attach the round Merchant stickers to the thick wooden discs of the corresponding player colors.
• Attach the square Companion stickers to the wooden tokens of the corresponding player colors.
• Attach the 4 remaining round stickers to the wooden tokens of the corresponding colors.
For New Players
We suggest that you play the Base Game several times before adding an expansion. Doing so will allow you to learn the main rules and interactions before adding additional complexity.
If you start with just the Base Game, you will have fewer rules and components to worry about initially. The options are more diverse and challenging when you add in the expansions.
General Note Regarding this Rulebook
For clarity, sections concerning a specific expansion are marked with a special symbol and background color:
Mocha & Baksheesh
Letters & Seals
You can skip the respective sections if you are not using that expansion.
Tips for Storing the Game Components in the Game Box
Sorting the components into the 4 compartments as described below helps minimize the time required to find and set up all necessary game components:
1. Places from the Base Game (1-16), Overviews, Wheelbarrows
2. Further components from the Base Game: Wheelbarrow extensions, Bonus cards (with no expansion symbol), Mosque tiles, Demand tiles, Starting player marker, Coins, Rubies, Mail indicators, Dice, wooden Player tokens (cubes, discs, 1 cylinder), Smuggler, Governor
3. Components from the “Mocha & Baksheesh” expansion: Places (17-20), Bags of Coffee, Guild cards, Bonus cards (marked with a coffee bean in the corners), Tavern tiles, Baksheesh tiles, Barrier and corresponding tile, Coffee trader
4. Components from the “Letters & Seals” expansion: Places (21-25), Bonus cards (marked with a seal in the corner), Kiosk tiles, Letter tiles, Courier

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4
COMPONENTS: BASE GAME
Places 1-16
Wheelbarrows (player boards)
Wheelbarrow extensions
Stickers for the Governor, Smuggler, and Merchants (attach them before your first game)
Rubies
Dice
Mail indicators
Coins (Lira)
Values: 1 (36x), 5 (24x) and 10 (12x)
Bonus cards
Overviews
Governor (purple) and Smuggler (black)
Starting player marker
Mosque tiles
Demand tiles
16x
26x
5x
1x
2x
16x
12x
18x
2x
42x
2x
6x
4x
Per player …
1 thicker
Merchant disc (+ sticker)
5 Assistants
1 Family member
4 Goods indicators

COMPONENTS: MOCHA & BAKSHEESH
Places 17-20
Barrier and corresponding tile
Bags of Coffee, short “coffee”
Tavern tiles
Bonus cards
Coffee trader (attach the brown sticker to it)
Guild cards
4x
1x
1x
30x
8x
18x
1x
20x
Baksheesh tile

Places 21-25
Kiosk tiles
Bonus cards
5x
1x
5x
24x
28x
36x
Letter tiles
Companions (attach stickers)
Courier (attach sticker)
1x
Caravan tile (see page 17, “Variants”)

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GAME IDEA
You are leading a Merchant and four Assistants through the 16 Places of the bazaar. At each Place, you can carry out a specific action.
The challenge is that to carry out an action at any of those Places your Merchant needs the help of an Assistant and must leave him behind. To use that Assistant again later, your Merchant must return to that Place and pick him up. So plan ahead carefully to avoid being left with no Assistants and thus unable to do anything.
GENERAL NOTES
SYMBOLS
We use the following symbols on Place tiles, Mosque tiles, and Bonus cards:
Move a token or resource (Merchant, Assistant, etc.)
Pay what is shown on the left side and take what is shown on the right side
As a consequence …
“and”
“or”
Displays a connection between a Place and Bonus cards or Mosque tiles
1 good of your choice
Roll 2 dice
Perform an action or play a card
The regular movement of the Merchant is replaced by something else
Rubies (to be acquired as a reward when you meet a certain condition.)
Name of the Place
Available action
PLACES
Place symbol (at some Places): A number of Bonus cards and Mosque tiles refer to these symbols.
WHEELBARROWS
The Goods indicators on your Wheelbarrows indicate how many goods you have. A Goods indicator on the leftmost space (the gray space) indicates that you don’t have any of that good. If you receive goods, move the Goods indicator to the right. If you pay goods, move it to the left. In the example to the right, you have 1 blue and 2 green goods.
The Rubies you collect are kept on these spaces.
TM

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6
SETUP
Green text: Special rules for
different numbers of players
2
3
4
10
6
6
1
Lay out the 16 Place tiles in a 4x4 grid. This is considered the game board.
When playing for the first time, we recommend using the “Short paths” layout, in
which you lay out the Places as shown below. For further games, you can try the “Long
paths” layout or lay out the Places according to their number (1-16).
For even more variety, you can lay out the Places randomly, as described in the “Variants”
section on page 17.
15
4
8
13
5
12
6
10
2
7
11
1
14
3
9
16
16
15
3
10
2
7
5
9
8
6
12
14
11
4
1
13
Layout
“Short paths”
Layout
“Long paths”
10
Place your Family members on the Police
Station
12.
12
Randomly determine a Start player. They get 2 Lira and the Starting player marker. In clock
wise
order, each other player gets 1 more Lira than the player to their right.
Then each player draws a
Bonus card from the top
of the stack.
13
In a 2–player game: Place the Merchant discs of
the unused colors on
the Mosques
14 15
and the Gemstone Dealer
16.
11
Stack your 4 Assistant discs and place your Merchant disc on
top of this stack. Then place these
stacks on the Fountain
7.
Place the 5th
Assistant of each
player easily accessible next to the game board.

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7
2
3
3
5
7
7
8
9
11
11
12
5
4
Place the Mail indicators in the top row of the Post Office.
5.
Shuffle the dark Demand tiles and place them face-up in a stack on the Large Market.
10.
Repeat this procedure for the Small Market using the light Demand tiles.
6
Determine the starting Places of the Governor and the Smuggler. For each of them, roll both dice and place the token on the Place tile with the appropriate number.
7
Shuffle the Bonus cards and place them face-down in a stack next to the game board. Place the coins and dice near the game board as well.
8
Each player chooses a color and takes the wooden components in that color. Also, take a Wheelbarrow and an Overview and place them in front of you.
9
3
Per player, place 1 Ruby and 3 Wheelbarrow extensions on the Wainwright.
Place Rubies on the Gemstone Dealer and the Sultan’s Palace beginning with the top space on the right. Continue to the space for the appropriate number of players. Place 1 Ruby on each space and leave the remaining spaces empty.
2
Sort the Mosque tiles by color into 4 stacks. Arrange each stack by the number of goods symbols on the tiles in ascending order (the tile on top of each stack has 2 goods symbols). Place them on the two Mosques.
Place 1 Ruby per player on each of the Mosques.
5 players: Only place 4 Rubies on each of the Mosques.
3 players: Remove the tiles with 5 symbols from the game.
2 players: Remove the tiles with 3 and 5 symbols from the game.
Place your 4 Goods indicators on the gray spaces of your Wheelbarrow.

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FLOW OF PLAY
Beginning with the Start player, you take turns in clockwise order. Play continues as normal until a player has
collected 5 Rubies (in a 2–player game and when playing with an expansion: 6 Rubies) on the appropriate
spaces of their Wheelbarrow. At that point, players complete the current round. After this round, the game ends.
YOUR TURN Explanations of Mosque tiles are presented in blue italics
A turn consists of 4 phases, but most of the time, only 2 phases, Movement and Action, are actually played. The other phases, the “Encounters” (blue background below), only take place when your Merchant is on the same Place as other tokens.
On your turn, you may use any number of Bonus cards and the special abilities of your Mosque tiles. Place any
used or discarded Bonus card on the face-up discard stack on the Caravansary
6.
The following phases always occur in the given order regardless of whether you play all of them or not!
1. Movement
Move your Merchant and the stack of Assistants under him (if any) 1 or 2 Places. You may not move diagonally, and you must end up on a different Place than you started at.
You then have the following three options at the Merchant’s Target Place:
a) Pick up an Assistant
If one of your Assistants was already present at the Target Place, put
your stack on top of that Assistant (see fig. on the right). He will leave
that Place as part of the stack during the next Movement phase.
b) Leave an Assistant behind
If none of your Assistants was present at the Target Place, remove the
bottommost Assistant from your stack and place him next to it (see
fig. on the right). He will be left behind at that Place during the next
Movement phase.
c) If you cannot or do not want to pick up an Assistant or leave one behind, your turn ends immediately
(exception: Fountain
7, see page 18).
Note: If you have the yellow Mosque tile, you may pay 2 Lira to take an Assistant back from another
Place and add him to your Merchant stack.
2. Encounters with other Merchants (if any)
If there are any other Merchants at the Target Place, you must pay each of them 2 Lira. Your turn ends immediately if you cannot or do not want to pay.
Exception: You don’t have to pay other Merchants at the Fountain
7.
Special case in a 2–player game:
If you encounter a neutral Merchant (i.e., of an unused color), pay the
2 Lira into the general supply. Then roll both dice to determine a new
position for this neutral Merchant and place him there.
Example: You must pay 2 Lira each
to the yellow and the green player;
otherwise, your turn ends immediately.

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You can find detailed descriptions of the Places on pages 18/19, explanations of the Mosque tiles on page 22, and explanations of the Bonus cards on page 24.
3. Action
You may carry out the action the Target Place provides (pages 18/19), regardless of whether you left or picked up an Assistant (as long as you did one of the two). If you cannot or do not want to carry it out, you may proceed with phase 4 (Encounters).
4. Encounters (if any) in any order with …
• Other Family members
If there are other players’ Family members at the Target Place, you must catch them and send them all to the Police Station 12 (unless they are there already). As a reward for catching them, you may take 1 Bonus card or 3 Lira from the general supply for each such Family member. If you catch more than 1 Family member, you may take a different or the same reward for each of them (you do not get any reward in the Police Station).
• The Governor
You may draw 1 Bonus card from the face-down stack and put it into your hand. If you do, either pay 2 Lira or discard 1 Bonus card from your hand.
• The Smuggler
You may gain 1 good of your choice.
If you do, either pay 2 Lira or 1 good. If you used the ability of the Governor or Smuggler, roll both dice and place the respective token on the Place indicated by the result of the dice roll (according to the large brown number). Roll separately if you used them both.
Note: You may discard the Bonus card or pay the good you received from the Governor or Smuggler to pay for their respective abilities.
END OF THE GAME
The first player to collect 5 Rubies (in a 2–player game and when playing with an expansion: 6 Rubies) triggers the end of the game. When this happens, complete the current round. Then, each player may use their leftover Bonus cards that provide goods or money. This may matter for the tie-breaker.
The player with the most Rubies wins.
Ties are broken in the following order:
Most leftover Lira
Most leftover goods on the Wheelbarrow
Most leftover Bonus cards
If these have not resolved the tie, there are multiple winners.
Example: You have collected your 5th Ruby.
The game ends after the current round is completed.

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Rüdiger Dorn
Istanbul
Mocha & Bahsheesh
Expansion

6

17 ROASTING PLANT
2
1x
2
1x
1x
18 GUILD HALL
3
7 FOUNTAIN
19 TAVERN
?
4
20 COFFEE HOUSE
5
3 SPICE WAREHOUSE
2
10

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ADDITIONAL COMPONENTS
Coffee: You can collect as much coffee as you like; the supply is not limited. Coffee is not considered a “good” if an effect says “any good” (e.g., when paying any good at the Sultan’s Palace 13).
Guild cards: You can play them on your turn instead of moving and using the Merchant or the Assistants (see page 12, “Your Turn” item 1).
The Tavern tiles: Like the Mosque tiles, they provide ongoing benefits (see page 20, “Tavern”).
Coffee trader: Like the Governor or Smuggler, you can encounter him after your action. He can trade you 1 coffee for 2 Lira or any 1 good (see page 12, “Your Turn” item 2).

SETUP
The following rules are added to the Base Game rules, so you will also need the Base Game components.
Lay out the 20 numbered Places (1-20) in a 5x4 grid.
For your first game with this expansion, we recommend the setup shown to the right. For future plays, we recommend using the “Random Layout” variant (see page 17).
1. Add the additional Bonus cards to the cards from the Base Game.
2. Roll the dice to determine the starting position of the Coffee trader, as you do with the Governor and Smuggler.
3. Guild Hall 18: Shuffle the Guild cards and place them in a face-down stack on the Guild Hall. Guild cards that you play or discard are placed in a face-up discard stack next to the game board.
4. Tavern 19: Put the Barrier and the corresponding Barrier Control tile next to the game board. Sort the Tavern tiles into 2 stacks. Arrange each stack by the number of coffee symbols on the tiles in ascending order (the tile on top of each stack has 1 coffee symbol). Put both stacks next to the game board. Place the Baksheesh tile (3 yellow goods facing up) on the designated space.
5. Coffee House 20: Beginning with the space showing a Ruby symbol, place 1 Ruby on each space of the Coffee House (except for the space showing “6”).
6. Place the coffee next to the game board.

11
8
2
20
15
1
19
11
18
7
6
5
3
17
12
14
10
4
9
13

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YOUR TURN
You play your turn as in the Base Game with the following 2 additions:
1. You now have an alternative to using your Merchant:
Instead of completing the normal 4 steps of your turn, you can play a Guild card. Resolve the effect of the
Guild card and then place it on the discard stack next to the game board.
Important:
Playing a Guild card replaces your entire turn, so you do not move your
Merchant and you do not have any encounters,
unless the effect of the Guild card says otherwise.
You can play any other Bonus cards.
When you play a Guild card, you cannot use any Bonus cards or
Mosque tiles that require you to be at a particular Place.
You must carry out all instructions on the Guild card. If you cannot,
you may not play it.
2.
In phase 4 of your turn (Encounters), you can now encounter another
token, the Coffee trader. He is used in the same way as the Governor and Smuggler. His effect: You can take 1 coffee if you pay 2 Lira or any 1 good.
END OF THE GAME
The end of the game is triggered once any player has 6 Rubies, regardless of the number of players. Apart from that, the Base Game rules apply.
The explanations of the additional Places can be found on page 20, the Tavern tiles on page 22, the Guild cards on page 23, and the Bonus cards on page 24.
Example (Guild card #16): After paying 15 Lira, you receive an additional 3 coffee and a Ruby.
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13
Note: If a card or token shows 1 or more coffee beans, ignore the coffee bean symbol. These symbols are only
relevant in “The Great Bazaar” variant (see page 17).
ADDITIONAL COMPONENTS
Letters: Letters provide an additional way of acquiring Rubies and can be used for
double moves. The front side of each Letter shows 1 Seal and a Place number, while
the back side shows 2 Seals. Whenever you receive a Letter, you must place it face-
up in front of you. After you deliver a Letter (see page 16, “Your Turn” item 2), you
must turn it to the back side.
The Seals visible on your Letters can be exchanged for Rubies (see page 21, “Secret
Society”
24) or used for double moves (see page 16, “Your Turn” item 4).
Companion: The Companion is a new token waiting in the general supply. The first time you
use the action at the Fountain 7 you can move him to your personal supply. Once there, at the
start of your turn, you can place him on the same Place as your Merchant. Doing so does not cost anything, even if there are other Merchants at that Place. Once your Companion is on the game board, you must choose whether you move him or your
Merchant to take actions (see page 16, “Your Turn” item 1). Each time you take the Fountain action, you can additionally move your Companion back to your supply. From there, you can place him again, as described above.

K They show rewards for using the Kiosk 22 (see page 21).
Courier: This is a new token you can encounter after your actions (like the Governor and Smuggler). He provides 1 Letter if you pay him 2 Lira or discard 1 Letter (see page 16, “Your Turn” item 3).
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Also available:
ISTANBUL – THE DICE GAME
The dice-y reimplementation of the Kennerspiel des Jahres 2014!
Easier accessibility, quicker gameplay, the same addictive nature –
a highly entertaining dice game in the world of ISTANBUL!
TM
2
6
5
4
3

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15
SETUP
The following rules are added to the Base Game rules, so you will also need the Base Game components.
Place the 20 numbered Places (1-16 and 21-24) in a 5x4 pattern.
For your first game with this expansion, we recommend the setup shown to the right.
For future plays, we recommend using the “Random Layout” variant (see page 17).

1. S
following additional steps. Decide whether you want to solely use the new Bonus cards or shuffle them together with the Base Game cards. If you do the latter, a symbol in the corners of the cards will help you to separate them after the game.
2. Roll the dice to determine the starting position of the Courier (as you do with the Governor and Smuggler).
3. Kiosk 22
Shuffle the Kiosk tiles and place them in 2 face-down stacks on the Kiosk. Used Kiosk tiles are placed in a discard stack next to the game board. If you run out of Kiosk tiles during the game, shuffle the discard stack to form new draw stacks.
4. Secret Society 24
Place the depicted amounts of Lira below the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd rank.
5. Turn the Letters to the back side (showing 2 Seals) and shuffle them. Place them next to the game board, forming one or more draw stacks. Used Letters are placed in a discard stack. If you run out of Letters, shuffle the discard stack to form new draw stacks.
6. Place the Companions and the remaining Rubies next to the game board.

9 15 13 10 1 6 24 2 4 7 12 23 21 11 14 5 3 22 8 16

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16
YOUR TURN
You play your turn as in the Base Game, but with the following 2 additions:
1. There is a new movement option:
If your Companion is in play (i.e., standing on a Place tile), you can
move him instead of your Merchant. The Companion follows the
same rules as the Merchant with the following exceptions:
a) The Companion can only move 1 Place (i.e., to an
orthogonally adjacent Place).
b) He works alone. He does not have or require any
Assistants.
c) Bonus cards and tiles showing the Merchant do
not apply to the Companion unless explicitly stated otherwise.
Note: If a Merchant or Companion moves to a Place with other players’ Merchants or Companions, you must pay 2
Lira for each of those tokens before you can take the Place’s action!
2. When a token (Merchant, Family Member, or Companion) is at a Place specified by one or more of your Letters, you must turn these Letters to the back side. They are considered “delivered”. It does not matter whether or not the token was moved or whether you turned the Letter before or after the token moves.
3. I way as the Governor and Smuggler. His effect: You can take 1 Letter if you pay 2 Lira or discard 1 Letter.
4. End of your turn: Once per round, you
can discard Letters showing a total of 3 Seals to immediately take an additional turn (a “double move”). Overpaid Seals are
forfeit.
END OF THE GAME
The end of the game is triggered once any player has 6 Rubies, regardless of the number of players. Other than that, the Base Game rules apply.
Example: Your Companion is already in play. You can use him on your next turn.
The explanations of the additional Places can be found on page 20, the Tavern tiles on page 22, the Guild cards on page 23, and the Bonus cards on page 24.

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17
VARIANTS
The following variants can be played separately or can be combined at will, as you prefer.
Random Layout
Shuffle the Place tiles and lay them out.
The Fountain 7 has to be one of the inner Places. If necessary, exchange it with another Place.
The Black Market 8 and the Tea House 9 must have a distance of at least 3 Places from each other and
must not be placed in the same column or row. If necessary, exchange them with other Places.
Neutral Assistants
If you have already played Istanbul a few times, we recommend trying
this more tactical variant:
During setup, replace the bottommost Assistant of your stack with an
Assistant of a neutral color (we recommend using white as the neutral
color, see fig. to the right).
If your Merchant ends his movement on a Place with a neutral
Assistant, he may pick him up as if he was one of your Assistants.
If there are both a neutral Assistant and one of your Assistants on the Place, you may decide which Assistant to pick up in order to carry out the action.
You are allowed to have more than one neutral Assistant in your stack.
At the Fountain
7, you can only get your own Assistants back.
The Great Bazaar
We recommend this variant to all players who are sufficiently experienced in the Base Game and its expansions. In this variant, the Base Game is combined with both the “Mocha & Baksheesh”
and the “Letters & Seals” expansions.
Arrange the Places numbered 1-25 randomly in a 5x5 pattern.
Place the Fountain
7 in the center of the game board. Make sure the Black Market 8 and Tea House 9
minimum distance restriction is met.
Use all Bonus cards.
Apart from that, the normal Base Game and expansion rules apply.
Note: The Tavern tile regarding the Governor, Smuggler, and Coffee trader also applies to the Courier.
The Caravan Leader
This box introduces a new tile, the Caravan tile, along with a new game variant.
At the start of the game, put the Caravan tile on the Caravansary
6.
If you carry out the action of the Caravansary, take the Caravan tile at the end
of your turn.
The player who holds the Caravan tile is the Caravan Leader.
If you are already the Caravan Leader when you carry out the action on the Caravansary, your action is modified:
You keep both cards drawn, so you don’t have to discard a card.
A player remains the Caravan Leader until another player performs the action on the Caravansary.

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18
1
Wainwright
Pay 7 Lira into the general supply to take a Wheelbarrow extension from the Wainwright and place it in your Wheelbarrow.
As soon as you complete your Wheelbarrow, i.e., once you have extended it for the 3rd time, immediately and only once take 1 Ruby off the Wainwright and place it on your Wheelbarrow.

2-4
Fabric/Spice/Fruit Warehouse
Move the Goods indicator of the respective good as far to the right as possible.
If you have the green Mosque tile, you may pay 2 Lira to gain 1 additional good of any type.

5
Post Office
You receive the resources that are depicted on the 4 uncovered spaces. Then move the leftmost Mail indicator of the top row down to the bottom row. If all Mail indicators are already in the bottom row, move them all back to the top row.
Example: You receive 3 Lira, 1 yellow, and 1 red good. Then you move the Mail indicator off the blue good onto the yellow one.

6
Caravansary
Take 2 Bonus cards into your hand and discard 1 Bonus card from your hand.
Note: When taking Bonus cards with this action (and only with this one), you may also take them from the top of the face-up discard stack!
If you are playing with the “Mocha & Baksheesh” expansion included, take 1 coffee from the supply, in addition to the effect from the Base Game.

7
Fountain
Return any number of your Assistants to your Merchant stack.
The Fountain is the only Place where you do not need to have an Assistant there to carry out the action and you do not have to pay other Merchants if they are present.
If you send your Family Member to the Fountain, your Assistants are still returned to your Merchant stack.

8
Black Market
Gain 1 red or 1 yellow or 1 green good. Roll both dice:
If you rolled 7 or 8: Gain 1 blue good. If you rolled 9 or 10: Gain 2 blue goods. If you rolled 11 or 12: Gain 3 blue goods.
You may also roll the dice first and gain the 1 additional good afterwards.
If you have the red Mosque tile, you may turn 1 die to a “4” after the roll or re-roll both dice (1x).
Example: You have rolled a “2” and a “5”. Because you have the red Mosque tile, you may turn the “2” to a “4”. Consequently, you have rolled 9 in total and may gain 2 blue goods and 1 other non-blue good.

PLACES (BASE GAME)
Rubies (at some Places): These spaces hold Rubies that can be acquired as a reward when you meet a certain condition.
Name of the Place
Available action
PLACES
Place symbol (at some Places): A number of Bonus cards and Mosque tiles refer to these symbols.

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Tea House
Announce a number between 3 and 12.
Then roll both dice.
If you roll equal to or greater than the announced
number, take the announced number of Lira from the
general supply. Otherwise, only take 2 Lira.
If you have the red Mosque tile, you may turn one
die to “4” after the roll or re-roll both dice (1x).

Large/Small Market
Sell 1-5 of the goods that are depicted on the Demand tile. Move the Goods
indicators on your Wheelbarrow accordingly. Then take the revenue from the general supply according to the table.
Finally, move the current
Demand tile to the
bottom of the stack.
Example: You sell 1 red, 1
green, and 2 yellow goods
and in exchange receive 14
Lira.

Police Station
If your Family member is in the Police
Station, “free” it and send it to another
Place. Then carry out the action of that Place. Your
Family member does not have any encounters (see
page 9, “Your Turn”)!
While at other Places, your Family member may be
caught by other Merchants and sent back to the
Police Station. As a reward, the catching player will
get 1 Bonus card or 3 Lira.
Example: You send your Family member from the Police
Station to the Spice Warehouse. You fill your Wheelbarrow
with green goods.
You do not have
to pay 2 Lira to
your opponent,
and you may not
use the Governor.

Sultan’s Palace
Deliver all the goods that are not covered by
a Ruby to the Sultan.
As a reward, take the next available Ruby from the
track and place it on your Wheelbarrow.
Consequently, the next Ruby will be more expensive.
Example: You have
to pay 2 blue, 2 red, 1
yellow, 1 green, and 1
good of any type to get
the next Ruby from the
track.

Small/Great Mosque
Take 1 Mosque tile. To do so, your
Wheelbarrow must carry the goods that
are depicted on the Mosque tile in the required
quantities. Then pay 1 of the depicted goods. Each
Mosque tile provides a special ability (see page 22,
“Mosque Tiles” or blue texts ).
You may only have one copy of each tile.
As soon as you acquire both tiles of one Mosque,
immediately and only once take 1 Ruby from that
Mosque and place it on your Wheelbarrow.
Example: In order to get this
Mosque tile, your Wheelbarrow
needs to carry at least 3 blue goods
and you must pay 1 of them.
After you have paid the good, you
receive the tile and then add the
5th Assistant of your color to the
bottom of your Merchant stack.

Gemstone Dealer
Pay a number of Lira into the general supply
equal to the greatest number that is not
covered by a Ruby.
Then take the next available Ruby from the track and
place it on your Wheelbarrow. Consequently, the
next Ruby will be more expensive.
Example: The greatest
number that is not covered
by a Ruby is 15. So you have
to pay 15 Lira to get the next
Ruby from the track.
When you take the last Ruby from the Sultan’s Palace 13, the Gemstone Dealer 16, or the Coffee
House 20, place 1 Ruby from the supply on the Ruby symbol of that Place.

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20
PLACES (MOCHA & BAKSHEESH)
17
Roasting Plant
Choose 1-3 of the following 3 options:
Pay 2 Lira and take 2 coffee.
Pay any 1 good and take 2 coffee.
Discard a Bonus or Guild card and take 2 coffee.
This way you can get up to 6 coffee.
18
Guild Hall
Take 1 coffee from the supply. Take 2 cards from the top of the face-down stack of Guild cards. Then
place a Guild card from your hand (which does not need to be one of the cards you just drew) on the
face-up discard stack next to the game board, without using its effect.
19
Tavern
Choose one of the following 3 options. You may need to pay a “baksheesh” in the form of 1-4 coffee, depending on your choice:
Pay 2 coffee and place the Barrier between 2 Places. Carry out the action of 1 of these Places. You do not have any encounters. Take the Barrier Control tile, which indicates that you are the only player who may pass the Barrier. The other players may not
move through the Barrier – even if they have the Movement tile
(see below).
Take the topmost Tavern tile from one of the stacks and pay the
depicted amount of coffee. You can only have one of each type of
Tavern tile. The Tavern tile provides an ongoing effect that you
can use for the rest of the game:
Movement tile:
Instead of moving your stack 1 or 2 Places, you can move it
any number of Places in a straight line (but you cannot move
through the Barrier, unless you have the Barrier Control tile).
Encounter tile:
Whenever you encounter the Governor, Smuggler, and/or Coffee trader and receive
something from them, you do not need to pay anything for it anymore.
If you play “The Great Bazaar” variant, this rule also applies to the Courier.
Pay 4 coffee and the goods depicted on the Baksheesh tile. Take the next available Ruby from either the Sultan’s Palace
13,
the Gemstone Dealer
16, or the Coffee House 20 *.
Afterwards turn the Baksheesh tile to the other side.
20
Coffee House *
Deliver an amount of coffee to the Coffee House equal to the greatest number that is not covered by a Ruby (6-10). As a reward, take the next available Ruby from the track and place it on your
Wheelbarrow.
Example: You pay 2 Lira and
discard a Bonus card to receive
4 coffee from the supply.
Example: You pay 2 coffee and take the Barrier Control tile. You place the Barrier between the Post Office and the Fabric Warehouse, using the action of the latter.

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21 PLACES (LETTERS & SEALS)
21 Embassy
Take 2 Letters from the general supply and place them face-up in front of you (i.e., with the Place number facing up).
22 Kiosk
Take 1 Letter from the general supply and place it face-up in front of you. Then turn over 1 Kiosk tile per player plus 1 (if necessary, shuffle the discarded tiles). Beginning with you and in clockwise order, each player must do the following:
Choose 1 of those Kiosk tiles.
Carry out its action (see page 22, “Kiosk Tiles”) or not.
Turn it face-down. The other players cannot choose it.
Y
23 Auction House
Take 1 good of your choice. Then auction off 2 Bonus cards:
Place a bid of at least 1 Lira. Then each other player in clockwise order may place exactly 1 bid or pass.
Each new bid must be higher than the last. After all other players have had the chance to bid, you may place a final bid or pass.
The winner of the auction draws 2 Bonus cards from the draw stack and takes them into their hand. If you win, pay your bid to the general supply. If another player wins, they must pay their bid to you.
Ex Yellow takes 1 blue good and places an initial bid of 1 Lira. Red passes; Blue bids 5 Lira. Yellow could place a final bid but passes. Blue draws 2 Bonus cards from the draw stack and pays 5 Lira to Yellow.
24 Secret Society
Discard Letters showing a total of 6 Seals. As a reward, take the next Ruby from the Sultan’s Palace 13, the Gemstone Dealer 16, or the Coffee House 20 (only available in “The Great Bazaar” variant) and place it on your Wheelbarrow *. The 1st player to take this action receives 3 Lira, the 2nd player receives 2 Lira, and the 3rd player receives 1 Lira. Any subsequent player only gets the Ruby and no additional Lira.
25 Catacombs
Take 1 good of your choice (or coffee). Then move your Merchant stack or Companion, whoever performs this action, to a Place of your choice. You may not take that Place’s action, and you do not have any encounters there.
When you take the last Ruby from the Sultan’s Palace 13, the Gemstone Dealer 16, or the Coffee House 20, place 1 Ruby from the supply on the Ruby symbol of that Place.
*

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TAVERN TILES
Movement tile
Instead of moving your stack 1 or 2 Places, you can move it any number of Places in a straight line (but you cannot move through the Barrier, unless you have the Barrier Control tile).
Encounter tile
Whenever you encounter the Governor, Smuggler, and/or Coffee trader and receive something from them, you do not need to pay anything for it anymore.

KIOSK TILES
MOSQUE TILES

Red tile
At the Tea House 9 and the Black Market 8, you may turn 1 die to a “4” after the roll or re-roll both dice (1x).
Blue tile
Immediately take the 5th Assistant of your color from the general supply and place him under your Merchant stack.
Green tile
When using one of the three Warehouses 2 3 4, you may pay 2 Lira to gain 1 additional good of any type.
Yellow tile
Once on your turn, you may pay 2 Lira to return 1 of your Assistants to under your Merchant stack.

Take 1 yellow good and 1 Lira.
Take 1 green good and 1 Lira.
Take 1 red good and 1 Lira.
Take 2 yellow goods.
Take 2 green goods.
Take 2 red goods.

Take 1 yellow good.
Take 1 green good.
Take 1 red good.
Take 1 blue good.
Take 1 Bonus card.
Take 2 Lira.

Take 1 coffee or 2 Lira.
Take 1 coffee or 3 Lira.
Move your Companion to your personal supply.
Roll 1 die and take 1 Lira per pip rolled.
Pay 10 Lira for a Wheelbarrow extension.
Pay 1 blue, yellow, green, and red good for a Wheelbarrow extension.

Move your Merchant stack to the Fountain 7 without collecting any Assistants.

Choose one: Pay 1 good (or coffee) and take 1 Letter, or discard 1 Letter and take 1 good (or coffee).
Choose one: Discard 1 Bonus card and take 1 Letter, or discard 1 Letter and take 1 Bonus card.
Choose one: Pay 2 Lira and take 1 Letter, or discard 1 Letter and take 3 Lira.
Choose one: Pay 2 Lira and take 1 good of your choice (or coffee), or pay 1 good of your choice (or coffee) and take 3 Lira.
Choose one: Pay 2 Lira and take 1 Bonus card, or discard 1 Bonus card and take 3 Lira.

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23
GUILD CARDS
Notes on the Guild Cards:
It does not matter where your Merchant is located when playing a Guild card.
Cards #8 and #9: You may not use the red Mosque tile.
Example for card #9: You say “7”, but you roll 5 in total. You receive 4 Lira instead of the usual 2 Lira.
Card #12: You do not receive any reward for sending your Family member to the Police Station. You can use
this card even if your Family member is already at the Police Station.
Example for card #14: You take the red Mosque tile and pay 1 red good.
Example for card #19: You take a Tavern tile costing 2 coffee. Also, you move the Barrier and carry out the
action of an adjacent Place. Instead of a total of 4 coffee, you only pay 3 coffee.

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24
BONUS CARDS
On your turn, you may play any number of Bonus cards.
Place every used or discarded Bonus card on the face-up discard stack on the Caravansary 6.
When taking a Bonus card, draw it from the face-down draw stack (exception: Caravansary 6, see page 18).
Shuffle the discard stack to form a new face-down draw stack as soon as the draw stack runs out.
You may keep any number of Bonus cards in your hand.

Gain 1 good of your choice.
May only be played before or after an action, but not while carrying one out.

Take 5 Lira from the general supply. If you carry out the action at the Sultan’s Palace 13, after completing the action, carry it out one more time. The number of goods to deliver to the Sultan increases after each action.

If you carry out the action at the Post Office 5, after completing the action, carry it out one more time. Move a Mail indicator after each action as usual.

If you carry out the action at the Gemstone Dealer 16, after completing the action, carry it out one more time. The amount of Lira to pay for the Ruby increases after each action.

Place your Family member on the Police Station 12 and collect the reward. Not playable if your Family member is already at the Police Station 12.

If you carry out the action at the Small Market 11, you must sell the required number of goods but you may use other types of goods than those required.

In the 1st phase of your turn, do not move your Merchant. Your Merchant stays at his current Place, but you must use an Assistant again.

In the 1st phase of your turn, move your Merchant stack by 3 or 4 Places (instead of 1 or 2).

In the 1st phase of your turn, return 1 of your Assistants to your Merchant stack.

Take 2 coffee from the supply. Pay 2 coffee and take 1 Guild card from the face-down pile. Pay 1 coffee and take 8 Lira. Exchange up to 3 goods (or coffee) for the same number of other goods (or coffee). Ex.: You exchange 3 yellow goods for 2 blue goods and 1 coffee.

Roll 2 dice and take the corresponding rewards. After you roll the dice (except for when you move a neutral token), you can turn one die to a “6”. Instead of moving your Merchant by 1 or 2 Places, move him to a corner Place.

If you are at the Wainwright 1, you can immediately carry out the action one more time.

If you are at the Coffee House 20, you can immediately carry out the action one more time.

Take 1 Letter. Roll 2 dice and take the corresponding rewards. Pay 1 good (or coffee) to receive 7 Lira.

Take the depicted good and 3 Lira.

Carry out the action of the topmost Bonus card on the discard stack. During the Movement phase, move your Family member to an orthogonally adjacent Place and take that Place’s action without having any encounters. This replaces your regular turn, i.e., you do not move your Merchant or Companion. For this, your Family member may neither be at the Police Station 12 nor move there.

During the Movement phase, choose another player’s Merchant and move your Merchant stack to that Place. This replaces your regular movement by 1 or 2 Places. You do not have to pay that specific Merchant, but you do have encounters with other tokens, if present.

During the Movement phase, you can move your Companion by 2 Places instead of just 1.

Use the Governor, Smuggler, Courier, or Coffee trader (in “The Great Bazaar” variant) and pay the cost. Then roll the dice to determine the new position of that token.

If you are at one of the Mosques 14, 15, you can immediately take its action one more time.

If you are at the Secret Society 24, you can immediately take its action one more time.

During the Movement phase, you can pay 3 Lira to move your Merchant stack to any Place. This replaces your regular movement by 1 or 2 Places.

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