Hello, it’s your playDNA host, Sarah. I’ll be upfront and honest, I’ve never actually been to Istanbul. I’ve always wanted to go, truly, but the real fact of the matter is that you don’t actually have to travel to Istanbul to love the game, Istanbul. I’m not the only one who loves this worker placement game for 2-5 players. Until recently, it had been in Board Game Geek’s (BGG) top 100 since it was published back in 2014.

You guessed it, today’s blog post will center around one of my all-time favorite games, Istanbul. It’s one of only four games I’ve rated on Board Game Geek a 10/10 stars. You can check out my BGG profile with my handle scordo13. I’ll explain why I think it deserves this rating later, but for now let’s get into a little bit of the history behind Istanbul.

A Little History

In 2014 when this game was first published through Pegasus Spiele games, it won the Kennerspiel des Jahres or “Expert Game of the Year.” This award is one of the most prestigious in the board game community and implies that the game is for an “experienced” audience. I’ll be honest, there is not a bundle of information on Rudiger Dorn, the game designer. Although people love his designs, and he’s been nominated for Spiel des Jahres several times, there is not a ton of information on how he designed Istanbul. One thing’s for sure, though, I’m glad he did, as it has become one the most played games in my collection.

Why This Worker Placement Game Is Different

For those of you saying in your head, “Another worker placement game . . . ” I totally get it. I’m not the biggest fan of worker placement games myself, but the mechanic for worker placement in Istanbul is quite a bit different, here’s how . . . Instead of placing one worker, assistants are placed under your player piece in a stack of discs. After each action you take you leave an assistant behind. This makes for relatively fast and fun gameplay. Most people can play this game in an hour or less which is quite a bit different than other worker placement games (which is a huge reason I like the game). With only being able to play one action per turn, which also means that you can plan ahead easily and not slow down the game.

Why I Like Istanbul So Much

Istanbul meets all my requirements for a superb board game. Let me just say that it was hard for me to pick the specifics of why I like this game. I like different games for different reasons, but these are the reasons I love Istanbul so much:

It takes less than an hour to play (really only 90 minutes if somebody is learning it for the first time). So, it gives you all the fun in half the time of other Eurogames.

There’s lots of player interaction in Istanbul. Based on what other people do, they can drastically affect your next move.

It has high replay-ability because you can mix up the board each time you play.

It’s got hints of chance throughout the game with the Black Market and Tea House.

The worker placement is unique in that when you drop off workers, you can pick them up again later.

There are gems in the game, more specifically, rubies. You have to get rubies to win the game. As a girl, even fake gems are appealing to me.

The game’s unique design and the way you get the Rubies is well-balanced with multiple strategies to win the game (this makes for unique gameplay each time).

The artwork in the game is colorful and beautiful. It creates a pleasant mood.

The icons in Istanbul are clear and logical.

It brings me back to those feelings of being a kid again.

Each time I play Istanbul I have fun and want to play it again. This means I got my money’s worth out of the game. It’s for all of these reasons that I gave it a 10/10 on BGG.

Final Thoughts

Have you played Istanbul? If not, I would highly recommend this versatile worker placement game. Check out this game because it’s different than any other worker placement game on the market. Please comment below if you’ve played the game and what you liked or disliked about Istanbul. As always, I thank you for reading today’s article and hope to have you as a reader next time. Please email us with any suggestions you’d like to see discussed in this blog or on the podcast.