Evliya Çelebi
See it, count it, write it down: a spotting game in 12 cities.
How to play
The notebook at the edge of the screen lists the details to find in this city. Explore the city and tap a detail when you find it; the line is crossed out. Some lines are counted ("Red rowing boats 0/3"): find every one. Others ask for the right one among look-alikes: check the colour of the kaftan and what is being carried. Every city also has a Where is Evliya Efendi? line. Tap the wrong spot and ink drips onto the page; five blots and the page is ruined. Several quick wrong taps in a row and the pen runs dry for two seconds. If you get stuck, the spyglass shows the spot: once free in each city, after that with an optional ad. Finish with no blots and no spyglass for 3 stars, with at most two blots for 2 stars. There is no time pressure; finishing quickly only adds bonus points.
How to play Evliya Çelebi - a detailed guide
Evliya Çelebi is a calm observation game set in cities chosen from the journeys of the famous Ottoman traveller. On screen you see a busy city drawn in the style of an Ottoman miniature, and beside it Evliya's notebook. Every line in the notebook names something to find in the city: a tower, three red rowing boats, a rider in a red kaftan. Tap the thing you spot and the line is written down. The game has 12 cities across 4 chapters, and after each city a Book of Travels page opens with short facts and their sources. There is no time pressure, so you can take your time looking.
Goal
In each city you complete every line in the notebook; then the city's page is done and you collect your stars. Depending on the city the notebook has 7 or 8 lines, all open from the start, so you can find them in any order. The last line is always the same: Where is Evliya Efendi? You also have to find the traveller himself in the crowd.
Notebook lines
Each line has a small picture next to it, so you can see what you are looking for without reading. There are three kinds of line:
| Kind | Example | What you do |
|---|---|---|
| Find | Galata Tower, Porter carrying a chest | Find one object and tap it. |
| Count | Red rowing boats 0/3, Seagulls | Find all of them; a counter next to the line goes up. |
| Pick from look-alikes | Rider in a red kaftan, Woman carrying a jug | Among several similar objects, pick the only one that matches the description. |
Controls
| Action | Phone / tablet | Computer |
|---|---|---|
| Find | Tap the object | Click |
| Zoom in / out | Pinch with two fingers | Mouse wheel or the + / − keys |
| Look around the city | Drag | Drag or the arrow keys |
| Break | Menu button | Esc |
The on-screen Zoom in, Zoom out and Whole city buttons work on every device. During a break the clock stops. Tapping something you have already found again does not count as a blot.
Ink blots and the pen
Tap the wrong spot and an ink blot falls on the page; one of the five drops under the notebook fills up. On the fifth blot the page is ruined and the city is lost: The page is all ink! You then have three choices:
- Clean the page: after an optional ad the blots are wiped away, everything you found stays, and you carry on where you left off. Once per attempt.
- Restart: start the city again on a fresh page.
- Map: go back to the travel map.
Tapping everywhere at random does not help either: make three mistakes within 2.5 seconds and the pen runs dry, ignoring taps for 2 seconds.
Spyglass
When a line has you stuck, use the Spyglass. Tap a line in the notebook to select it; the spyglass circles the area of the city where its object is. One spyglass per city is free, after that with an optional ad. A spyglass line is worth fewer points, and you miss out on 3 stars in that city.
Stars and score
- 3 stars: not a single blot and no spyglass.
- 2 stars: at most 2 blots.
- 1 star: you finished the page.
The score works like this: a base of 1000 points, 100 for every line (40 for a line found with the spyglass), minus 80 for every blot, plus a time bonus of up to 500. Each city has a target time based on how many objects you have to find; every second under it is worth 5 points. The leaderboard gets the sum of your best scores across all cities, so replaying a city and doing better raises your total.
Chapters, map and the Book of Travels
The Travel map is where you choose a city. Finish a city and the next one opens; you can replay finished cities at any time.
- Chapter 1: Istanbul Harbour, Istanbul Bazaar, Bursa.
- Chapter 2: Trabzon, Erzurum, Van. More counting lines, bigger crowds.
- Chapter 3: Edirne, Mostar, Vienna. Look-alike lines begin.
- Chapter 4: Bakhchysarai, Candia, Cairo. The journey ends in Cairo.
At the end of each city the Book of Travels page button opens a few short facts about it. The facts come with sources; things Evliya tells but that cannot be verified are marked According to Evliya. The pages you have read are collected under the Book of Travels button on the map. The story is told by Evliya Çelebi and his scribe, Scribe Yusuf; you can skip its short scenes if you like.
Tips
- Find the big, single things first: a tower, a bridge, a palace. You learn the city's layout and the small things get easier to find.
- On counting lines, look over the whole city once, then zoom in and search area by area. The counter tells you how many are left.
- You can spot Evliya Efendi by his green kaftan: he wears a white turban and carries a book.
- When picking from look-alikes, check the colour and what is being carried. If you are not sure, zoom in first, then tap.
- Do not tap where you are unsure: three quick mistakes dry the pen, five blots ruin the page.
- Save the spyglass for the line that gives you the most trouble. If you want 3 stars, try to finish the city without it.
Evliya Çelebi and the Book of Travels
Evliya Çelebi was born in Istanbul in 1611, the son of the palace's chief goldsmith. He wrote down more than forty years of travel in the ten volumes of his Book of Travels (Seyahatname). The first volume is entirely about Istanbul; his first journey outside the city was to Bursa in 1640. In 1665 he went to Vienna with an Ottoman embassy, and he spent his last years in Egypt. His accounts are vivid and detailed, and he is also known for his exaggerated numbers. UNESCO declared 2011 a year of commemoration in his honour.
The notebook entries in the game are not quotations from the Book of Travels, and Scribe Yusuf is a fictional character.
- Born
- 25 March 1611, Istanbul (Unkapanı)
- Father
- Derviş Mehmed Zıllî, chief palace goldsmith
- Work
- Seyahatname (Book of Travels), 10 volumes
- Travels
- More than forty years; the first to Bursa in 1640
- Death
- Uncertain; in the 1680s, most likely in Egypt
- UNESCO
- 2011, 400th anniversary of his birth among its commemorated anniversaries
Who was Evliya Çelebi?
Evliya Çelebi was born on 25 March 1611 in Istanbul, in the Unkapanı district. His father, Derviş Mehmed Zıllî, was chief goldsmith to the palace. Evliya travelled for more than forty years, inside and beyond the Ottoman lands; his first journey outside Istanbul was to Bursa in 1640. When and where he died is not known for certain; he is thought to have died in the 1680s, most likely in Egypt.
A world in ten volumes
He wrote down what he saw in his ten-volume Seyahatname, the Book of Travels. The first volume is entirely about Istanbul, including the great guild procession of 1638. Later volumes take in Trabzon and the Caucasus, Erzurum, Van, the Balkans and Mostar, Vienna, which he visited with an embassy in 1665, Crimea, the last days of the siege of Candia and, in the final volume, Egypt. Evliya describes the buildings, trades and people of each city at length, and he also wrote down sample words from the languages of the places he visited. That makes the Book of Travels a rich window on the 17th-century world.
Exaggeration or truth?
Evliya is a fine storyteller, and he is also known for his wildly exaggerated numbers. For a time his writing was treated with suspicion; recent research, however, has partly restored its reliability. A document in the Austrian archives, for example, shows that he was part of the embassy that went to Vienna. Some sayings have an uncertain origin: the line about Erzurum's winter, "a cat jumping from roof to roof freezes in mid-air", is often credited to Evliya, but it could not be verified in the Book of Travels. UNESCO included 2011, the 400th anniversary of his birth, among the anniversaries it commemorates.
In the game
The 12 cities in the game were chosen from Evliya's journeys. The notebook lines are the game's own notes, not quotations from the Book of Travels. The Book of Travels page at the end of each city only contains facts whose sources are given; things Evliya tells but that cannot be verified, such as the huge number of donkeys in Cairo, are marked According to Evliya. Scribe Yusuf in the story is a fictional character. The counting lines are a small nod to Evliya's habit of counting everything.
How Evliya Çelebi was made
The game started from a single sentence: look through Evliya Çelebi's eyes, take in the city, find the detail in his notebook. So there is only one action in the game: look, find, tap. Managing roads, supplies or caravans was deliberately left out, so that all the attention stays on the city and the notebook. Counting lines grew out of Evliya's habit of counting everything, and picking the right one among look-alikes arrived mid-game to give the eye a little more work.
Some rules are there to protect the way the game is played. In hidden-object games the easiest trick is tapping everywhere at random; to stop that, a wrong tap drips ink on the page, and quick mistakes in a row make the pen run dry for a moment. There is no time pressure, because the pleasure lies in looking without hurry; time only adds a small bonus to the score. Notebook lines were kept short, each with a small picture beside it, so they can be searched without reading and fit the same space in seven languages.
The cities are drawn in code in the style of a miniature: bird's-eye view, flat colours. For every city the game checks that each target is visible enough, big enough to tap on a phone when zoomed in, that only one object matches a look-alike line and that nobody in the crowd resembles Evliya Efendi. In every version a bot finishes all twelve cities with three stars.
History and fiction are kept apart. The facts at the end of each city come with their sources; things Evliya tells but that cannot be verified are marked "According to Evliya". Scribe Yusuf is fictional and teases Evliya gently about his big numbers. There is no religious content; the only reason for the journey is curiosity.
The original music is in the Hicaz makam, the sound effects are generated inside the game and every image is drawn in code. Ads are only ever the player's choice: the spyglass and cleaning the page. The game is playable in seven languages.
Frequently asked questions
What is an ink blot, and how many make you lose?
Each time you tap the wrong spot in the city, a blot falls on the page. On the fifth blot the page is ruined and the city is lost. If you like, you can clean the page once with an ad and carry on without losing what you found.
Why did the pen run dry?
If you make three wrong taps within 2.5 seconds, the pen runs dry and taps are ignored for 2 seconds. It is there to stop random tapping; slow down a little and tap what you have actually spotted.
How does the spyglass work?
Tap a line in the notebook to select it, then press the spyglass: the area where that object is gets marked with a circle in the city. One spyglass per city is free, after that it is an optional ad. A spyglass line is worth 40 points instead of 100.
What do I need for 3 stars?
Finish the city without a single blot and without using the spyglass. Finish with at most 2 blots for 2 stars, or with more for 1 star. Time does not affect the stars.
How is the score calculated?
A base of 1000 points, plus 100 for each line (40 with the spyglass), minus 80 for each blot. Every second under the target time adds 5 points, up to 500. The leaderboard gets the sum of your best scores across all cities.
How do I find Evliya Efendi in the crowd?
Look for his green kaftan: he wears a white turban and carries a book. Nobody else in the city looks like him. Look over the whole city first, then zoom in on the busy areas.
What does "According to Evliya" mean on a Book of Travels page?
The facts on the pages come with sources. Things Evliya tells but that cannot be confirmed by another source, such as the huge number of donkeys in Cairo, are marked "According to Evliya".
Is Scribe Yusuf a real person?
No. Scribe Yusuf is a fictional character created for the game; he writes down what Evliya sees and now and then teases him about his big numbers. Evliya Çelebi, on the other hand, is a real historical figure.
Is the "cat freezing in mid-air in Erzurum" in the Book of Travels?
The saying is often credited to Evliya, but it could not be verified in the Book of Travels. The game's Book of Travels page says exactly that. His visit itself is documented: in 1646 he went to Erzurum in the governor's service.
Are the notebook lines taken from the Book of Travels?
No. The notebook lines are the game's own notes, not quotations from the Book of Travels. The cities were chosen from Evliya's journeys, and the facts about each city are given with their sources on the page at the end.
Is Evliya Çelebi free?
Yes. No download or account needed; it plays right in your browser. Watching an ad for a hint is always your choice.
Will I lose my progress?
Your progress is saved automatically on this device. Sign in and it moves to your account, so you can continue on any device.
Can I play on my phone?
Yes. The game opens full screen on phones; tap the X in the corner to exit. On iPhone use "Add to Home Screen" to play it like an app.
Can I play Evliya Çelebi offline?
Yes. A game you have opened once is stored on your phone or computer and opens without internet. Leaderboards and cloud saves need a connection.
Which languages are available?
Turkish, English, Spanish, Portuguese, German, French and Russian.
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