Istanbul: The Dice Game – Review

Thanks to our friends at Alderac Entertainment Group, we had the excellent opportunity to play Istanbul: The Dice Game, a simplified version of the original game title Istanbul, which removes the worker placement elements and instead uses dice rolls to determine potential actions.

While I’ve always been a fan of worker placement games – and Istanbul is an excellent title that can take some time to complete – it’s nice to add games to my collection that take less than an hour, is easy to setup and teach, and still holds plenty of strategy elements and charm. This is Istanbul: The Dice Game.

If you haven’t read out How to Play article for Istanbul: The Dice Game, we suggest you do that before reading this review as this review will reference some of the games many mechanics.

Istanbul: The Dice Game has quickly become one of my go-to games to bring to the table because of how much depth it has, but yet how easy it is to get setup and taught to new players. Regardless of your board game experience, Istanbul is an easy-to-teach, and easy-to-understand experience that is great even for younger kids. My eight year old son had a blast playing this game, and picked up on the various strategic elements fairly quickly.

The components in the game are fantastic, and adds to the overall charm of the experience. While I would have preferred engraved dice over printed dice, I’d assume it will take a long time to actually wear the various symbols off the dice itself.

If you are looking for that shorter experience with some great strategic depth, Istanbul: The Dice Game is a fantastic experience. You are always engaged, turns are quick and snappy, and nothing ever becomes monotonous or boring. We highly recommend Istanbul: The Dice Game – it would make a great addition to your board game collection.