Welcome back to the Istanbul Bazaar! Once again, players take on the role of shrewd merchants whose goal is to gather goods and lira, then trade them for the precious rubies needed to win. In Istanbul: Choose and Write, instead of a common set of locations in the middle of the table, each player has a bazaar in front of them as a game plan, a personal tracking sheet where players will mark their choices as they play.

On their turn, players must choose to play either a Location card or a Guild card. Location cards will allow all merchants to perform the action of the specified location, or the action of an adjacent space on their sheet. If a player would rather prevent others from taking this follow action, they can instead play a Guild card, which is expensive but triggers powerful effects.

Fans of the Istanbul game series will recognize familiar locations in Istanbul: Choose and Write, such as the Large Market and the Gemstone Dealer. However, thanks to the innovative choose-and-write mechanism, this visit to the bazaar will challenge players in a completely new way.