Description

The Concept

The game was originally conceived with standard playing cards in my book 52+ New Card Games. I designed 20 cards with famous artwork and added some bad art and a set of forgery cards. Money cards are also included for players to make bids.

The Game

Players begin by getting three Forgery Cards and then choosing one each. The chosen Forgery Cards are set aside until the end of the game. Each Forgery Card matches each of the Art Cards.

Eight Art Cards are then chosen randomly and players look at all of them before the game begins so that a strategy can be considered. The eight Art Cards are then shuffled and put into a pile called the Catalog. Each player then gets ten Money Cards.

Play is done in rounds. For each round, the top Art Card from the Catalog is revealed and players make an initial bid. Players can then increase their bids until a winner for the round is determined. Special Cards can also be played during the round. Rounds continue until each Art Card is revealed and bid upon.

The challenge of the game is to win high priced artworks without running out of money or taking in a forgery.

At the end of the game, the Forgery Cards are revealed and their matching Art Cards are eliminated. Players then count up the values of the Art Cards they possess. The player with the highest value of art is the winner.

—description from the designer