Van Gogh
Van Gogh Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Components
- 55 x colorful Minigoghs*
- 5 x white Minigogs
- *1 Minigogh of each color, which must be used as a score token.
- 5 x player color palette
- 1 x score board
- 1 x bag for the Minigoghs (meeples)
- 1 x starting player token
- 6 x character cards
- 15 x painting cards
- 10 x frame envelopes
- 1 rulebook, painting ability token (solo game) and score tokens (not pictured here)
Setup
Shuffle the painting cards to create the Painting Deck. Draw 3 cards from the Painting Deck and place them in the center of the table, face up. These cards are the active paintings.
Place the 6 character cards, face up, next to the active paintings.
Place the score board within reach of everyone, and place 1 Minigogh of each player in the space 0 of the score board. Return the unused Minigoghs of each color to the game box.
Shuffle the 5 player color palettes. Each player randomly picks one of them or, if they prefer, each player chooses their color. The color represents the personality of the Minigoghs, each with its specific ability (indicated in the lower right corner of the color palette).
Take 3 Minigoghs of YOUR color and place them in spaces 1, 2 and 3 of the inactive Minigogh area of your color palette, in the indicated orientation.
Place the white Minigoghs separated from the others, within reach of all players.
Put all other Minigoghs in the bag and shake it. Take 5 Minigoghs from the bag, roll them and place them next to the character cards. They become the inactive Minigoghs. This way, there is always a collection of inactive Minigoghs accessible to all players.
Whenever the collection has less than 5 Minigoghs, IMMEDIATELY take and roll a number of Minigoghs from the bag until there are 5 in the collection.
Take 2 Minigoghs from the bag, roll them and place them in any empty space of the active Minigogh area of your color palette.
The Starting Player is the player with the reddest hair. If it is not possible to decide, it is chosen at random. The Starting Player token, Van Gogh's Hat, is only given in the second round.
Setup summary (as printed in the Rules Summary): Place 3 paintings in the center of the table. Place the 6 characters next to the paintings. Set the score board and place the players' Minigoghs on space 0. Give the color palettes to the players. Place 3 Minigoghs of your color on the inactive spaces of your color palette. Leave all white Minigoghs on the table. Place all the other Minigoghs inside the bag. Take 2 Minigoghs from the bag, roll them and place them in empty spaces of the active area of your color palette. Take 5 Minigoghs from the bag and roll them to create the inactive area of the table. Choose the Starting Player.
Playing the Game
On your turn: choose a character and perform the primary action.
On your opponents' turns: perform the secondary action of the character chosen by the opponent.
The Round
The round is composed of the player's turns, one for each player.
Starting with the starting player, on their turn, the player chooses one of the available characters to talk to and places them in front of them. Then, they perform this character's primary action and the other players, in clockwise order, perform this character's secondary action.
The round ends after all players have chosen a character to talk to. In a game with 2 players, each player chooses 2 characters in the round.
Before returning the characters to their original position, take a Minigogh from the bag and roll it for each character that was not used this round (maximum 2 Minigoghs per character). Place the rolled Minigogh on the character card. If a player chooses a character that has a Minigogh on it, in addition to performing the primary action, the player also gains the Minigogh or Minigoghs and must immediately place them in an empty space in the active Minigogh area of your color palette. If there is no empty space on your color palette, return the Minigogh or Minigoghs gained to the bag (choose which one to return if you gain 2 Minigoghs for just one empty space).
Return the character cards to their original position. Now they will be available again for the next round.
Characters
The six characters inspire the artist to create his paintings. Each character has a specific ability, which promotes important interactions for players. Therefore, they are responsible for the entire creation process carried out by the Minigoghs.
Van Gogh: Paint.
- Primary: Allocate up to 2 Minigoghs in Paintings (it can be in the same or in different paintings).
- Secondary: Allocate 1 Minigogh in one painting.
Dr. Gachet: Reorient. Vincent's doctor understands the human mind and manages to organize the Minigoghs in the best way possible.
- Primary: Change any orientation of 2 Minigoghs of the active area of your color palette.
- Secondary: Change the orientation of 1 Minigogh of the active area of your color palette.
Madame Ginoux: Inspire.
- Primary: Take 3 Minigoghs from the bag, choose 2, roll them and place them in empty spaces in the active area of your color palette. Excess Minigoghs are returned to the bag (of your choice).
- Secondary: Take 1 Minigogh from the bag, roll it and place it in an empty space on the active area of your color palette. If the player has no empty space, they do not perform this action.
Vincent's Mother (portrait labelled Anna Van Gogh): Caress.
- Primary: Paint. Allocate 1 Minigogh in 1 painting. Take the Starting Player token. The player CAN activate their special ability in this round.
- Secondary: does not apply. The other players do not perform any action.
- IMPORTANT: The player with the Starting Player token cannot choose this character.
Postman (portrait labelled Joseph Roulin).
- Primary: Perform UP TO 2 different actions of the player color palette.
- Secondary: Perform 1 action of the player color palette.
Eugene: Work.
- Primary: Take 2 Minigoghs from the Inactive Minigoghs area of the table and place them in empty spaces in the active area of your color palette. Excess Minigoghs are returned to the bag (of your choice).
- Secondary: Take 1 Minigogh from the Inactive Minigoghs area of the table and place it in an empty space on the active area of your color palette. If the player has no empty space, they do not perform this action.
- Important: After performing this action, IMMEDIATELY replace the Inactive Minigoghs Area on the table (5 Minigoghs). Take the required number of Minigoghs from the bag and roll them. There must ALWAYS be 5 Minigoghs for the player to choose from.
Color Palette
Each color palette has:
- Active Minigogh spaces above the inks: 7 in total.
- The score sheet in the upper right corner.
- The special ability below the score sheet (lower right corner).
- The inactive Minigogh space at the bottom. When this space is empty, it DOESN'T increase the number of spaces for active Minigoghs of your color palette, not even in the Purple color palette, in which the Minigoghs of these spaces are considered active. When empty, they generate the indicated EP.
Actions that can be performed with the color palette (as used by the Postman character):
- Paint: Allocate 1 Minigogh on one painting.
- Restart: Take any Minigogh from the active area of your color palette and change it to a white Minigogh. Place it in the same orientation.
- Epiphany: Take the leftmost Minigogh from the inactive area of your color palette and place it in an empty space of the active area of your color palette.
Special Abilities
Each color has its own special ability (indicated in the lower right corner of the color palette), which can only be ACTIVATED ONCE in the round in which the player takes the Starting Player token.
- Yellow (happy Minigoghs): Change a yellow Minigogh from your color palette to any orientation.
- Blue (dreamers Minigoghs): Take one Minigogh from the bag and place it in your color palette, IN CHOSEN ORIENTATION. Then, discard one Minigogh of your color palette, placing it in your bag.
- Pink (playful Minigoghs): Change the orientation of one Minigogh of your color palette (of any color), according to the following guideline: Lying down to Upright; Upright to Sideway; Sideway to Upside down.
- Green (impatient Minigoghs): When performing a "Paint" action, ignore the orientation required for the Minigogh allocation. Score 1 EP less. Ex: when painting with a white Minigogh, gain 4 EP (5 EP - 1 EP).
- Purple (melancholy Minigoghs): The 3 Minigoghs in the inactive area of your color palette are considered active, which means that they do not need to be placed in the active area to be used. However, they must be used from left to right. The Purple color palette does not gain points for empty spaces. If the inactive area is empty, the area remains inactive.
Paintings
Each painting has spaces, with no determined color, in which you can allocate Minigoghs. In these spaces you can allocate Minigoghs of ANY color, however, it must be in the exact orientation required by the space. Some spaces generate extra EP when allocating a Minigogh (ex: +1). The FRAME icon indicates how many EP players gain when you finish the painting.
There are 4 orientations in which the Minigoghs can remain after a roll: Lying down, Sideway, Upright, and Upside down.
There must always be 3 paintings opened in the playing area. When all Minigogh allocation spaces are filled, the painting is finished.
When finished, you'll have to check which color has the largest number of spaces occupied in the painting. The player who controls the Minigoghs of that painting gains the highest score of the painting (indicated in the card). The player who controls the color with the second highest number wins the second highest score, and so on.
In case of a tie, add up the scores according to the number of tied players and divide it by this number (rounding down). Example: two players tied for the first place. Add the scores of the first and the second place and divide it by 2.
In the example in the manual (a painting in which the YELLOW Minigoghs occupy 3 spaces, while the BROWN and PINK Minigoghs occupy 1 space each), the YELLOW Minigoghs hold the majority. The player who controls the YELLOW Minigoghs gains 7 EP, while those who control the BROWN and PINK Minigoghs gain 3 EP each ((4+2)÷2=3).
After scoring the painting, the Minigoghs that were allocated to it are returned to the bag and a new card is drawn from the painting deck.
When a painting is finished, it MUST be framed and displayed on an empty part of the table. Finished paintings can NO longer be scored.
Important: Minigoghs which ARE NOT CONTROLLED BY ANY PLAYER also count towards majority criteria.
Score for Paint
- When allocating a Minigogh of its own color in a painting, the player gains 3 EP.
- By allocating a Minigogh of the color of an OPPONENT player, the player gains 4 EP.
- If the player allocates a Minigogh of a color that has no player controlling it, the player scores 2 EP.
- White Minigoghs are Vincent's "insights"! They are neutral Minigoghs and are worth 5 EP when allocated. Note that an Insight also occupies a space in the painting, however it does not count towards majority criteria.
- Before scoring, check if the space has an extra point (+1). If so, add +1 EP to the score gained. Ex: The player allocated a White Minigogh. He scores 6 EP (5 for allocating a White Minigogh + 1 extra EP).
Scoring Points
Move the meeples on the board to score the points you get. Whenever the meeple crosses from space 19 to 0, turn it to the next orientation to represent the score obtained.
Therefore, from 0 to 19, the meeple remains lying down; from 20 to 39, upright; from 40 to 59, sideway; and from 60 to 80, upside down.
You can also use the score sheets provided.
Ecstasy Points Track (Score Board)
- 0 to 19: lying down
- 20 to 39: upright
- 40 to 59: sideway
- 60 to 80: upside down
End of the Game
The game ends when a certain number of paintings have been finished:
- 3 paintings for a 2 player game.
- 4 paintings for a 3 player game.
- 5 paintings for a 4 player game.
- 6 paintings for a 5 player game.
Finish the round so that all players have played the same number of turns. It may happen that more paintings are finished before the end of the last round.
Summary as printed: Number of finished paintings: 3 paintings / 2 players. 4 paintings / 3 players. 5 paintings / 4 players. 6 paintings / 5 players.
Scoring at the End of the Game
At the end of the last round, players gain points as follows:
- 1 point for each Minigogh in the active area of your color palette. White Minigoghs are worth 3 points.
- 1/3/5 points for each empty space in the inactive area of your color palette. The Purple color palette does not gain points for empty spaces.
Rules Summary as printed: End of the game: 1 PE for each Mgogh in the active area of your color palette (3 for white); 1/3/5 PE for empty space in the inactive area of your color palette.
Winner
The player with the most Ecstasy Points wins the game. In case of a tie, the player among those tied with the most Minigoghs in the paintings that were not finished wins. If the tie persists, the player with the most Minigoghs in their palette is the winner. If the players still remain tied, they share the victory.
Solo Mode
It can be possible to enjoy this game alone.
Solo Setup
Choose a color palette of your choice, except the Purple one. Place the token with the brush on the special ability of the color palette, covering it. Now the color palette has a special ability which is to paint one more time each round (it can be used in each round).
Return the character Anna Van Gogh (Van Gogh's mother) to the game box. She is not used in solo mode.
The goal of solo mode is to score 100 points or more after 5 rounds. Use a meeple of your color to score points and one of a different color to control the rounds on the score board.
Solo Round
Each round allows Van Gogh to choose 3 characters to talk to and use their abilities (primary and secondary). Other characters not used in the round gain 1 Minigogh taken from the bag and rolled.
Solo Score
The score is different from the competitive mode, which is:
- Paint with your colors: 2 points (color from the chosen color palette).
- Paint with neutral Minigoghs: 4 points (different colors of the chosen color palette).
- Paint with white color: 5 points.
- The area influence score continues to be valid at the end of each finished work.
The game ends after 5 completed rounds, scoring 1 point for each meeple on your color palette and also for activated meeples (1/3/5).
Rules Summary
This summary is printed on the last page of the rulebook and repeats the rules above.
Setup: Place 3 paintings in the center of the table. Place the 6 characters next to the paintings. Set the score board and place the players' Minigoghs on space 0. Give the color palettes to the players. Place 3 Minigoghs of your color on the inactive spaces of your color palette. Leave all white Minigoghs on the table. Place all the other Minigoghs inside the bag. Take 2 Minigoghs from the bag, roll them and place them in empty spaces of the active area of your color palette. Take 5 Minigoghs from the bag and roll them to create the inactive area of the table. Choose the Starting Player.
Playing the game: On your turn: choose a character and perform the primary action. On your opponents' turns: perform the secondary action of the character of the chosen opponent character.
Scoring: Paint: 2 PE color with no player; 3 PE your color; 4 PE opponent color; 5 PE white. End of the game: 1 PE for each Minigogh in the active area of your color palette (3 for white); 1/3/5 PE for empty space in the inactive area of your color palette.
Minigogh orientation: Lying down, Sideway, Upright, Upside down.
Color palette:
- Actions: Paint: Allocate 1 Minigogh on 1 painting. Restart: Take any Minigogh from the active area of your color palette and change it to a white Minigogh (in the same orientation). Epiphany: Place the leftmost Minigogh of the inactive area in the active area of your color palette.
- Special abilities (take place only in the round the Starting Player token is taken): Yellow: Reorient 1 yellow Minigogh of your color palette. Blue: Take 1 Minigogh and place it on your color palette in the chosen orientation. Discard 1 Minigogh of your color palette. Pink: Reorient 1 Minigogh - Lying Down to Upright; Upright to Sideway; Sideway to Upside Down. Green: When Painting, ignore the orientation. -1 EP. Purple: Minigoghs in the inactive area of the color palette are considered active. If empty, the area remains inactive.
Characters:
- Vincent: Paint 2 Minigoghs / paint 1 Minigogh.
- Dr. Gachet: Reorient 2 Minigoghs / Reorient 1 Minigogh.
- Madame Ginoux: Take 3 Minigoghs, choose 2, roll them and place them on your color palette / take 1 Minigogh, roll it and place it on your color palette.
- Anna Van Gogh: Paint 1 Minigogh. Take the Starting Player token. Activate your ability / doesn't apply. Starting player cannot talk to Anna.
- Eugene: Take 2 Minigoghs from the inactive area of the table and place them in the active area of your color palette / take 1 Minigogh from the inactive area of the table and place it in the active area of your color palette. Replace them immediately.
- Joseph Roulin (Postman): 2 actions of the color palette / 1 action of the color palette.
End of the game: Number of finished paintings: 3 paintings / 2 players. 4 paintings / 3 players. 5 paintings / 4 players. 6 paintings / 5 players.