Hagia Sophia
2025
BGG Average Rating
8.8
community average
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Players
1-5
Weight
2.50/5.00
Playtime
50 min
Age
8+
⚙️ Game Mechanics
How this game works - core systems and player actions
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📖 About This Game
Türkiye, with its rich historical and cultural heritage, attracts millions of tourists annually. While most visitors know only the world-famous Hagia Sophia Grand Mosque in Istanbul, few realize that multiple structures bearing this sacred name exist throughout the country. "Hagia Sophia" - meaning "Holy Wisdom" - isn't unique to Istanbul. Türkiye is home to several lesser-known Hagia Sophia structures, each with its own historical significance and architectural beauty. These hidden gems represent the country's layered history of faith, conquest, and cultural transformation.
Hagia Sophia is a print and play, roll and write game. In Hagia Sophia, you step into the role of an Urban Planner competing to impress the Mayor with your city development skills. Just as many discover there's more to Hagia Sophia than Istanbul's grand monument, players discover there's more to urban planning than simple construction. Will you create a balanced city that fulfills your promises, or will your ambitious plans crumble under practical constraints? Can you outplan your opponents to become the Mayor's favored urban visionary?
Your mission is to transform your district by strategically placing essential facilities while navigating opportunities and constraints. Your blueprint must include plans to build schools with roads, hospitals, fund critical allocations, provide free Wi-Fi, and assign Civil Servants to hospitals and schools. Every building needs civilians, and unemployed civilians will cost you points. Even when construction seems impossible, you must continue developing - building roads that follow the curve dictated by the dice.
Each turn, you'll:
Roll a pool of dice that includes region dice, promise dice, and a road die
Select a region die to claim on your player sheet and draw icons from promise dice onto your city map
Connect your city with strategic road or bridge placements
—description from the designer