Modern Art (game)
Encyclopedia
Modern Art is a bidding
game designed by Reiner Knizia
and first published in 1992 by Hans im Glück
in German
. Players represent art dealers, both buying and selling works of art by five different fictional artists. At the end of each round, they sell the paintings they bought back to the "bank". More popular artists' works are worth more, and the value carries over into future rounds.
Although the game is played entirely using cards
, a board
is used for scoring, so the game is sometimes referred to as a board game.
As soon as a fifth work of art by a particular artist is offered for sale, the round ends (the fifth painting is not sold). Players then sell purchased artwork back to the bank -- the more paintings of an artist that were sold in the round, the more that artist's paintings are worth. Only the three most popular artists' paintings are worth money; the others are worthless. Ties are broken by a fixed artist precedence. The game has a board to keep track of the value of a given artist's painting. Each artist occupies a column. The leftmost artist is always preferred in case of ties. The number of paintings in the deck reflects this; with the leftmost artist having the fewest paintings, and the rightmost artist having the most paintings.
The game is played in four rounds. In the second, third, and fourth rounds the value of paintings at the end of a round depends not just on how the artist did in that round, but carry over from previous rounds as well. Players are dealt additional cards in the second and third (but not fourth) rounds.
The player with the most money at the end of the fourth round is the winner.
Auction
An auction is a process of buying and selling goods or services by offering them up for bid, taking bids, and then selling the item to the highest bidder...
game designed by Reiner Knizia
Reiner Knizia
Reiner Knizia is a prolific German-style board game designer. Born in Germany, he developed his first game at the age of eight. He has a PhD in mathematics, and has been a full-time game designer since 1997, when he quit his job from the board of a large international bank...
and first published in 1992 by Hans im Glück
Hans im Glück
Hans im Glück Verlags-GmbH is a German board and card game publisher. Though many of their own games are language-independent they themselves publish only printings for the domestic market which include only German-language rules; English-language printings of their games have been published...
in German
German language
German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
. Players represent art dealers, both buying and selling works of art by five different fictional artists. At the end of each round, they sell the paintings they bought back to the "bank". More popular artists' works are worth more, and the value carries over into future rounds.
Although the game is played entirely using cards
Card game
A card game is any game using playing cards as the primary device with which the game is played, be they traditional or game-specific. Countless card games exist, including families of related games...
, a board
Board game
A board game is a game which involves counters or pieces being moved on a pre-marked surface or "board", according to a set of rules. Games may be based on pure strategy, chance or a mixture of the two, and usually have a goal which a player aims to achieve...
is used for scoring, so the game is sometimes referred to as a board game.
Rules
Each player is dealt a hand of cards, which represent works of art that the player may offer for sale. Players then take turns putting these cards up for auction. There are several auction formats; the one used is determined by the card offered for sale.As soon as a fifth work of art by a particular artist is offered for sale, the round ends (the fifth painting is not sold). Players then sell purchased artwork back to the bank -- the more paintings of an artist that were sold in the round, the more that artist's paintings are worth. Only the three most popular artists' paintings are worth money; the others are worthless. Ties are broken by a fixed artist precedence. The game has a board to keep track of the value of a given artist's painting. Each artist occupies a column. The leftmost artist is always preferred in case of ties. The number of paintings in the deck reflects this; with the leftmost artist having the fewest paintings, and the rightmost artist having the most paintings.
The game is played in four rounds. In the second, third, and fourth rounds the value of paintings at the end of a round depends not just on how the artist did in that round, but carry over from previous rounds as well. Players are dealt additional cards in the second and third (but not fourth) rounds.
The player with the most money at the end of the fourth round is the winner.