Samarkand: Isfahan

About this expansion

Samarkand: Isfahan is a small, free expansion for the Arabian commerce game Samarkand, supporting 2–5 players in a 30-minute game.

Released in 1999, this expansion centers on a single major change to how the game’s commodities are handled. In the base game, demand is fixed at one city. With Isfahan added, that demand can travel around the board.

This movement of demand is the expansion’s defining feature. Instead of treating a commodity’s demand as permanently tied to one location, the demand can shift from city to city as it travels around the board.

That makes Isfahan a focused addition to Samarkand rather than a separate game. Its purpose is clear and specific: to alter the location of commodity demand while preserving its connection to the Arabian commerce setting.

The expansion’s compact scope makes its contribution easy to understand. Players familiar with Samarkand can identify its effect immediately: commodity demand is no longer fixed at one city, but can move around the board instead.

Samarkand: Isfahan is therefore defined by flexibility in the position of demand. For a game of 2–5 players lasting about 30 minutes, this small free expansion provides a straightforward way to change how demand travels across the board.