Modern Art

Reiner Knizia's
Modern Art - The Card Game

Players: 2-5
Ages: 8+
Duration: 20-30 minutes

Remeber those unknown, starving, but up-and-coming artists from the early nineties - Lite Metal, Yoko, Christin P. Karl Gitter and Krypto? You first met them in the now-classic Reiner Knizia game Modern Art. Almost 20 years later, they have all found fame and fortune in the art world and their masterpieces are displayed in major galleries around the world. But even with their success, the group's artistic rivalry remains as lively as ever. Whose work sells for the most? Which one has the highest standing in the minds of the art buying public?

In Modern Art: The Card Game, the players are art critics, collectors and gallery owners. All have their own favorite artist in the pantheon of greats - or at least they do until the game begins. As it is in art galleries in the world over, tastes and opinions change constantly in the worldd of Modern Art. Today's treasure is tomorrow's trash, and no one has more influence on the artists' values than the players in this game.

Components

- 5 Artist Cards
- 95 Masterpiece Cards
- 12 Value Tokens (4 each of values 1, 2 and 3)
- 5 Award Tokens(5 Tokens of 2)
Note: Pen and paper are required for scoring, but are not included.

Game Preparation

Display the five Artist cards in the following order in a row across the middle of the playing surface: Lite Metal(17), Yoko(18), Christin P.(19), Karl Gitter(20) and Krypto(21). The numbers indicate how many Masterpiece Cards there are for each artist.

Place all Value and Award tokens to one side. Shuffle the Masterpiece Cards and deal each player a hand of 13 cards. Place the remaining cards in a face-down deck to the right of the Artist Cards. Reveal an "Extra card" from the top of the deck, placing it face-up to the right of the deck.

Overview

The game is played over four rounds. Players take turns displaying one Masterpiece Card from their hand by laying it down on the table in front of them. A round ends when a cumulative (all players combined) total of six(or five ina two-player game) Masterpiece Cards of one artist are displayed. The players then score then displayed Masterpieces - the more Masterpieces there are of a given artist, the hgiher the value of each of these Masterpieces.

Play

One player is chosen to start the first round, and play progresses clockwise. On each player's turn, he selects one Masterpiece Card from his hand and displays it face-up in front of him. Masterpiece Cards should be grouped by individual artist in front of each player. If the card played shows a symbol, follow the directions below. Then play moves to the next player.

- Draw one card - from the deck and add it to your hand. (There is one of these cards for each artist.)

- Play a second card face-up - You may immediately play a second card of the same artist. Ignore the symbol on the second card. (There is one of these cards for each artist.)

- Play a second card face-down - You may immediately play a second card of any artist face-down in front of you. Ignore the symbol on the second card. (There are two of these cards for each artist.)

- Simultaneous play - All players select one card from their hand. Players reveal their cards simultaneously and add them to their displays. Ignore the symbol on these cards. (There is one of these cards for each artist)

- Place one Award Token - Take one of the Award Tokens and place it on any one of the Artist Cards of your chooice. (There is one of these cards for each artist.)

Round Ends

With three to five players, a round ends when the sixth Masterpiece Card of any one artist has been displayed - cumulatively by all of the players - including the "extra card" to the right of the Artist Cards. With two players, a round ends when the fifth masterpiece of any one artist has been displayed. If the card that ends a round shows a symbol, the round ends instantly and the symbol is ignored.

If a player has no more cardds in his hand, he no longer participates in the round. In the rare event that all players have played all their cards, the round is ended.

Scoring

To score the round players reveal the face-down cards they have played during the round and add them to their respective Masterpiece Card groups. They then place a value 3 token next to the Artist Card with the most displayed Masterpieces, a value 2 token next to the Artist Card and the second-most displayed Masterpieces, and a Value 1 Token next to the Artist Card with the third-most displayed Masterpieces. Ties are always broken in favor of the artist with the lowest number (of 17 to 21 that is) shown on the Artist card.

The value of each Masterpiece Card of each of the 3 leading artists of this round is derived by adding up all the value and award tokens on and next to their Artist Cards. The remaining two artists do not score in this round, even if they have Award and/or Value Tokens on their Artist Card from previous rounds.

Starting with the player who finished the round and progressing clockwise, each player now calculates the value of his displayed cards. The result is recorded on a notepad. For each different artist with Masterpiece Cards displayed in front of the player, he may play one additional card from his hand, add it to his Masterpiece Cards, and score it.

Example -

Lite Metal with 2 award and 2 token on it. Yoko with nothing on it, Christin P with 3 token on it, Karl Gitter with 1 on it, Krypto with 0 on it.

Player a - 2 Christin P. cards, 2 Lite Metal cards

Player b - 2 Christin P. cards, 1 Lite Metal card, 2 Karl Gitter cards.
Round 1 scoring with two players: Christin P.(5 cards played - including the 'extra card') scores 3 points per card. Lite Metal (3 cards played) received an Award Token and scores 2+2=4 points per card. Karl Gitter (2 cards played) scores 1 point per card. Yoko and Krypto do not score. Player A scores 2x3=6 points from Christin P. and 2x4=8 points for Lite Metal, making a total of 14 points. Player B scres 2x3=6 points for Christin P., 1x4=4 points for Lite Metal and 2x1=2 points for Karl Gitter, making a total of 12 points.

After scoring, the three Value Tokens are placed onto the Artist Cards and all displayed Masterpiece Cards are discarded from the game. Before the start of the next round, a new 'extra card' from the deck is displayed face-up to the right of the deck. This 'exxtra' Masterpiece Card counts toward the cumulative total of six (or five for two palyers) which ends the round.

Each player is dealt additional Masterpiece Cards from the face-down deck to refresh their hands as follows:

Players 2 - Cards in round 1 -13, round 2 -6, round 3 -6, round 4 -3

Players 3 - Cards in round 1 -13, round 2 -6, round 3 -6, round 4 -0

Players 4 - Cards in round 1 -13, round 2 -4, round 3 -4, round 4 -0

Players 5 - Cards in round 1 -13, round 2 -2, round 3 -2, round 4 -0

The player to the left of the one who finished the round starts the new round. When scoring later rounds, the Value and Award Tokens on the Artist Cards from previous rounds count towards the value of each displayed card - provided the artist makes it to the 'top three' of the particular round. The two artists with the fewest displayed masterpieces in the round do not score - even if they ave Award and/or Value Tokens on their Artist Card from previous rounds.

Example -



Lite Metal with 2 award and 2 token on it. Yoko with 3 on it, Christin P with 3 and 2 token on it, Karl Gitter with 1 and 1 on it, Krypto with 0 on it.

player a - 3 Yoko cards, 1 Karl Gitter, 1 Christin P.

player b - 1 Yoko cards, 2 Karl Gltter, 2 Christin P.


Round 2 scoring with two players: Yoko(5 cards played) scores 3 points, Christin P. (3 cards played) scores 2+3=5 points. note that the Artist Card of Christin P. is number 19 and thus breaks the tie with Karl Gitter's number 20. Karl Gitter (3 cards played) scores 1+1=2 points. Lite Metal and Krypto ddo not score. Player A scores 3x3=0 points Yoko, 1x2=2 points for Karl Gitter and 1x5=5 points for Christin P., making a total 16 points. Player B scores 1x3=3 points for Yoko, 2x2=4 points for Karl Gitter and 2x5=10 points for Christin P., making a total of 5 points.

Game End-

The game ends after the fourth round has been scored. The player with the highest point total is the winner.

Credits -

Gryphon Games
Reiner Kniza thanks Dieter Hornung for his significant contributions to the development of the Modern Art game system. Many thanks to all playtesters, in particular Iain Adams, Sebastian Bleasdale, Thomas Fruth, Ross Inglis, Kevin Jacklin and Simon Kane.

Copyright 2008 Dr. Reiner Kniza
All Rights Reserved