Modern Art
Modern Art Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Components
- 1 Game Board
- 70 Painting cards, divided among five artists:
- 12 Cards — Manuel Carvalho
- 15 Cards — Ramon Martins
- 14 Cards — Daniel Melim
- 16 Cards — Rafael Silveira
- 13 Cards — Sigrid Thaler
- 132 Money Tokens
- 5 Museum Screens
- 12 Artist Value Tiles
- 1 Hammer Token (Auctioneer Marker)
Goal of the Game
In the game, players take on the role of a Museum that is trying to buy and sell paintings at the best price.
The game is played over four rounds. Each round, paintings are auctioned by the players. At the end of a round, the paintings are sold.
The more that one artist's work is purchased, the more valuable it becomes.
The winner is the player who has the most money at the end of the four rounds.
Game Setup
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Shuffle the 70 painting cards. Deal the cards as follows:
- 3 players: 10 cards each
- 4 players: 9 cards each
- 5 players: 8 cards each
These cards are the paintings that will be auctioned in that first round. For now, players will just be auctioning off the paintings. Their Museums do not own them yet. The remaining cards won't be used until the following rounds.
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Choose one player to be the Banker. The Banker gives $100 (100 thousand dollars) to each player.
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Each player chooses one Museum screen behind which they will hide their money from the others. No one should know how much money the other players have until the end of the game.
The youngest player receives the Hammer token and begins the first auction.
Gameplay
Modern Art is played over four rounds. During each round, the players will auction the paintings they have in their hands. As soon as one of the artists' fifth painting is played on the table, the round ends and all the paintings that have been purchased in that round are sold to the bank.
The value of a painting depends on the popularity of its artist for the round. During the following rounds, the popularity may change, causing the value of an artist's painting to increase, decrease, or become worthless.
To add to the game's atmosphere, try to say a few words about the auctioned painting's quality to motivate other players to put money on it. You must also give all players a warning that the auction is about to end: "Going once. Going twice. Sold!"
Running Auctions
The youngest player will have the first opportunity to hold an auction. They choose any one of the painting cards in their hand and show it to the other players. They place the painting faceup in the center of the table, so everyone can see it. The painting is now up for auction. The player who played the card will act as the Auctioneer. Each painting has a symbol beside its name that shows which type of auction must be held when the card is played.
There are five types of auctions, each with a unique symbol: Open, One Offer, Hidden, Fixed Price, and Double.
When an auction ends, the player who made the highest bid pays the Auctioneer the amount of the bid. If the Auctioneer made the highest bid, then the money is paid from the Auctioneer to the bank instead. The winner of the auction takes the painting and places it face up in front of their museum screen. Their Museum now owns this painting and will sell it at the end of the round. After one painting has been bought, the player to the left of the last Auctioneer receives the Hammer token and offers a painting card from their hand for a new auction. Play continues clockwise until the end of the round.
General Rules for Auctions
- All bids must be in units of $1 (i.e., 1000 dollars, at least one money token).
- You cannot bid less than or equal to another player.
- You cannot bid more money than you actually have behind your screen.
- If no players make any bids, then the Auctioneer gets the painting for free. (Exception: for the Fixed Price auction, they must pay the price they declared.)
The Five Types of Auctions
A. Open Auction
If the Auctioneer plays an Open Auction card, then all players (including the Auctioneer) can bid in any order. To make a bid, simply state your bid out loud. The Auctioneer is responsible for keeping track of the bids. The auction ends when no player wants to make a higher bid. If no players make any bids, then the Auctioneer gets the painting for free.
B. One Offer Auction
Starting with the player to the left of the Auctioneer, and moving clockwise around the table once, each player may choose to bid on the painting, stating an amount higher than any previous bids, or pass, thus not making a bid at all. The Auctioneer has the last chance to bid.
After the Auctioneer bids or passes, the auction ends. If no players make any bids, then the Auctioneer gets the painting for free.
C. Hidden Auction
All players (including the Auctioneer) simultaneously make one bid in secret. Choose how much you want to bid and secretly put that much money in your hand. If you don't want to bid for the painting, don't put any money in your hand. Without letting any other player see your bid, hold out a closed hand with your bid hidden inside.
Once all players have held out a closed hand (containing either a bid or nothing), everyone opens their hands at the same time and the highest bidder buys the painting. If two or more players tie for the highest bid, then the player closest to the Auctioneer in clockwise order wins the auction.
If the Auctioneer is one of the players who tied for the highest bid, then they buy the painting.
If no players make any bids, then the Auctioneer gets the painting for free.
D. Fixed Price Auction
The Auctioneer chooses a price for the painting and announces it aloud. Each player, starting with the player to the left of the Auctioneer and then continuing clockwise, can buy the painting at this price. Once someone buys the painting, the auction is over. If no one buys the painting, the Auctioneer MUST buy it for the fixed price.
Notice: The Auctioneer may not declare a price that is more than the amount of money they currently have.
E. Double Auction
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If the Auctioneer plays a Double Auction card, they may choose to offer a second painting card. The second painting must be from the same artist, but it cannot be another Double Auction painting. Then, both paintings are auctioned together according to the type of auction shown on the second painting. The winner of the auction receives both paintings.
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In the rare event that the Auctioneer does not play a second painting card (or cannot play one), then the player to their left now has the opportunity to play a second painting card. Of course, this card must be from the same artist, but cannot be another Double Auction painting. If the player does not wish to play a second painting (or cannot), then each of the other players, in clockwise order around the table, has an opportunity to play one. If no other player places a second painting, then the Auctioneer gets their original painting for free.
But, if another player plays a second painting, then that player becomes the new Auctioneer. They auction the two cards together using the type of auction shown on the second painting (the second card played). The highest bidder buys both paintings and the new Auctioneer receives all the money (the player who played the Double Auction painting doesn't take anything).
After the auction, play continues with the player to the left of the new Auctioneer. Any player between the original Auctioneer and the new one loses their opportunity to auction a painting.
Example – Double Auction: Paul plays a Ramon Martins painting card with the Double Auction symbol. He doesn't want to play a second painting card. On his left, Mark doesn't play a card either. Marie, who is to the left of Mark, takes the opportunity and plays a Ramon Martins painting with the Hidden Auction symbol. All players make a secret bid. When everyone reveals their bid, the highest bidder is Marie, with $25. She pays $25 to the bank and takes the two paintings. If Paul or Mark had been the highest bidder, they would have given $25 to Marie. Now the player to the left of Marie starts a new auction. Mark, who would normally play after Paul, has his turn skipped.
Ending the Auction Round
During the round, you must keep track of how many paintings are sold for each artist. When the fifth painting from any single artist is played, the round ends. The fifth painting is NOT auctioned, and is not owned by any player at the end of the round.
If the fifth painting is the second painting of a Double Auction, then there will be two unsold paintings at the end of the round instead of one. If the fifth painting is the first painting of a Double Auction, then the round ends and no second painting is played.
Players usually have cards left in their hand at the end of the round. They keep these cards, as they may be auctioned off in later rounds.
Selling to the Bank
First, count the number of paintings played for each artist during that round. Be sure to include any paintings that were played to end the round, even though they were never sold.
Determine which artists sold the first, second, and third most paintings this round. These rankings will determine the value of the artists' works. If there were fewer than three artists who sold paintings this round, then only rank the artists whose paintings were auctioned.
If two or more artists have the same number of sold paintings, the artist who is closer to the left side of the game board (the closest to Manuel) is ranked higher.
The artist's ranking determines the value of each of that artist's paintings, according to this chart:
- First: $30
- Second: $20
- Third: $10
- All others: nothing
Place an Artist Value tile on the Game Board beneath the name of the artist. There are four rows of spaces on the board, one for each round. For each of the artists who were ranked in the top three this round, put the appropriate tile ($30, $20 or $10) in their column, in the row corresponding to the round. These tiles remain on the board for the entire game and can increase the value of that artist's paintings in future rounds.
Once the values have been marked on the board, players must sell all the paintings they purchased in auctions that round, even if a painting is worth nothing. The tile in that artist's column determines how much money the player earns when they sell the painting at the end of the first round.
Once players have received money for their paintings, all the paintings they bought that round are discarded, even if they are worth nothing. Ownership of paintings is never carried over from one round to the next. Cards in the players' hands are not discarded between rounds.
The Following Auction Rounds
After the paintings are sold and discarded, a new round can begin. First, deal each player new cards from the deck of unused cards. The number of cards is determined by the number of players and which round is about to begin:
Number of cards dealt before a round:
| Number of Players | 1st Round | 2nd Round | 3rd Round | 4th Round |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3 Players | 10 | 6 | 6 | 0 |
| 4 Players | 9 | 4 | 4 | 0 |
| 5 Players | 8 | 3 | 3 | 0 |
The new paintings are added to any cards remaining in the players' hands from previous rounds. After dealing the new cards, another round begins. Play then continues with the player to the left of the Auctioneer who played the last painting in the previous round (the painting that was not auctioned). Auctions are conducted exactly the same way in all rounds.
The value of paintings by a popular artist can increase in later rounds. When an artist is one of the top three in a round, any paintings from that artist are worth the total value of all Artist Value tiles in that artist's column. Paintings by artists who do not rank in the top three are still worthless, even if they have Artist Value tiles from previous rounds.
Running Out of Cards: If a player runs out of cards during a round, they cannot auction any more paintings until they get new cards between rounds. They may still bid on paintings put up for auction by the other players. If all players run out of cards before the end of the fourth round, then that round ends when the final painting card is played. The final painting is not auctioned off and is not owned by anyone. Determine the value of each artist based on the number of paintings that were actually offered (including the final painting) and pay everyone for the paintings they own. Then the game ends.
Example – Value of Rafael Silveira: First round: Rafael Silveira does very well in the first round. His paintings are worth $30 each this round. Each Rafael Silveira painting, bought by a player in this round, is sold to the bank for $30 (thus, a player with two paintings gets $60). Second round: Rafael Silveira does not do so well, but finishes in third place. This round, his value is $10, but since he did so well in the previous round, his paintings are worth $40 ($10 for being in third place this round and $30 for being in first place in the previous round). Third round: This was a bad round for Rafael Silveira! His paintings are worth nothing this round, despite the $30 and $10 Artist Value tiles on the board. Fourth round: Rafael Silveira comes back and finishes in second place in this final round. His paintings are each worth $60 ($20 for this last round, $10 for the second round, and $30 for the first round).
Winning the Game
After all the paintings have been sold at the end of the fourth round, all players reveal their money. The player with the most money is the winner.
Optional — 3 Players Variant: The Mystery Player
In each round, deal out cards as if there were four players, but keep one hand face down and to the side. This hand does not belong to any player, but instead is the "mystery hand."
After you finish a normal auction from your hand, you may flip over a random card from the mystery hand. The choice to reveal a mystery card is always optional.
The mystery painting is not auctioned, and does not belong to any player. But, it does count for the rankings and also for determining the end of the round. So, if the mystery painting is the fifth painting offered for an artist, the round ends. If the mystery painting is a Double Auction card, no second card is played.
After you sell your paintings at the end of the round, any mystery paintings revealed are discarded along with everyone else's.
The Artists
The 70 paintings in the game are the works of five fictional artists, each with their own body of work:
- Manuel Carvalho (12 cards)
- Ramon Martins (15 cards)
- Daniel Melim (14 cards)
- Rafael Silveira (16 cards)
- Sigrid Thaler (13 cards)
Credits
Game design: Reiner Knizia. Graphic Design: Fabio de Castro. Production: Thiago Aranha, Guilherme Goulart, and Renato Sasdelli. Publisher: David Preti. Proofreading: Jared Miller, Jason Koepp, and Colin Young. © Dr. Reiner Knizia. All rights reserved.