Antiques Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Overview
• Components
• General Setup
  • Player setup
• Player Turn
• Acquire Art Pieces at Auction
  • Select an auction lot
  • Store art pieces in a warehouse
  • Anatomy of an individual board
  • Activate a warehouse bonus
• Assemble New Art Collections
  • Move art pieces to the assembly area
  • Place collections into exhibition rooms
  • Store remaining art pieces in the vault
• Exhibit Collections in Museums
  • Send collections to a temporary exhibition
  • Collect a museum bonus token
  • Exhibit in an international gallery
• Game End
• Final Scoring
• Tie Breakers
• Asymmetric Variant
• Solo Mode
  • Automa setup
  • Automa turn
  • Game end (solo)
• Appendix
  • Goal cards
  • Auction bonuses
  • Curator abilities (asymmetric variant)
  • Quick reference

Overview

In Antiques, you take on the role of a museum curator competing to become the most prestigious art gallery owner. Through strategic auction bidding and careful collection assembly, you will create temporary exhibitions in renowned museums and international galleries to showcase exquisite pieces.

Antiques is played over sequential turns around the table until a player completes their required number of temporary museum exhibitions, which is based on the player count. After final scoring, the curator with the most victory points is the winner.

Components

• 4 individual boards (double sided)
• 1 auction board
• 1 collection board
• 1 museum board
• 21 museum cards
• 24 museum bonus tokens
• 70 art pieces (paintings, bones, ceramics, artifacts, jewelry, relic box)
• 1 bag
• 1 scorepad (double sided). In case the scorepad runs out, you may download a digital version from the Pythagoras website.
• 20 auction cards
• 40 collection cards
• 30 goal cards
• 24 thief cards (only used in the solo mode)
• 1 starting player card

General Setup

1. Place the auction board in the center of the table.
2. Mix the art pieces in the bag and randomly draw them one by one, placing an art piece into each of the 16 spaces of the auction board, following the order (left to right and top to bottom). Keep the bag with the remaining art pieces near the auction board.
3. Shuffle the auction cards and create a face-up deck below the auction board. Then flip the top card from this deck and place it face-down to the right of the deck.
4. Place the collection board to the left of the auction board.
5. Shuffle the collection cards and create a face-down deck in the designated space on the bottom of the collection board. Draw and reveal from the top of this deck a collection card to place into each of the 8 spaces of the collection board.
6. Place the museum board above the other 2 boards already on the table.
7. Shuffle the museum cards and create a face-down deck in the designated space on the left of the museum board. Draw and reveal from the top of this deck a museum card to place into each of the 6 spaces of the museum board.
8. Separate the museum bonus tokens by value and create 2 different piles accordingly. Place each pile into its designated space in the top right corner of the museum board.
9. Shuffle the goal cards and create a face-down deck within reach of all players. Draw and reveal 3 goal cards from the top of this deck to create a display nearby.

Player setup

• A. Give each player an individual board (side A face up) and 2 goal cards, without looking at them.
• B. Simultaneously, each player looks at their 2 received goal cards and selects one to keep as a private goal, hidden from the other players, and discards the other face-down to the bottom of the corresponding deck (see appendix "Goal cards").
• C. Assign the starting player card to the player who most recently visited a museum.
• D. If there is a 3rd player, they randomly draw one art piece from the bag to place into their leftmost warehouse. If the drawn piece depicts a relic box, take another random piece from the bag as a replacement and return the relic box to the bag.
• E. If there is a 4th player, they randomly draw 2 art pieces from the bag, one by one, placing 1 piece into each of their 2 leftmost warehouses, left to right. If any of the drawn pieces depict a relic box, take that many random pieces from the bag as replacements, returning the relic boxes to the bag.

Player Turn

Antiques is played over an undefined number of sequential turns, starting with the player holding the starting player card and proceeding in a clockwise direction. On your turn, you must choose a single action to perform from the 3 available:

• Auction: acquire art pieces to store in your warehouses.
• Collection: assemble stored pieces into valuable collections.
• Museum/Gallery: exhibit temporary collections in renowned museums/galleries.

Acquire Art Pieces at Auction

Select an auction lot

When you choose to acquire art pieces at auction, you must take all art pieces from either one row or one column of the auction board. However, if that row or column contains multiple relic boxes, you may only take one relic piece and leave the remaining boxes in place on the auction board. Relic boxes are considered wild/joker pieces that can represent any other art piece type.

Alternatively, you may choose to refill all empty spaces on the auction board with art pieces before you acquire any. If you do this, you must then take any 2 art pieces from anywhere on the board, but only 1 of them can be a relic box.

If the bag becomes empty while replenishing the auction board, take all discarded art pieces near the auction board, mix them in the bag, and continue filling any remaining empty spaces.

After you select your auction lot, do not refill any empty spaces on the auction board so it remains unchanged. Nevertheless, if at any point during your turn the auction board becomes completely empty, replenish all its spaces with art pieces as during the general setup.

Store art pieces in a warehouse

All art pieces you acquire must be stored in your three warehouses. After selecting an auction lot, you must choose one warehouse to store all art pieces acquired at the same time.

• Warehouse 1: has a maximum capacity of 6 pieces and no immediate bonus associated.
• Warehouse 2: holds up to 7 pieces and grants you access to 2 warehouse bonuses to choose from: you either acquire one additional art piece (from the bag/discard area) OR you retrieve one stored art piece (from the vault).
• Warehouse 3: being your largest warehouse, accommodates up to 8 pieces and allows you to select one auction bonus from the 3 depicted in the face-up auction card.

After you store your art pieces from the turn in a single warehouse, if that warehouse overflows beyond its storage capacity, select enough art pieces to meet the warehouse limits and move any excess pieces to your vault. Once you activate any earned warehouse bonus, your turn ends and play continues with the next player clockwise.

Anatomy of an individual board

Warehouse 1, Warehouse 2, Warehouse 3; warehouse storage capacity; warehouse bonus options; vault; assembly area; exhibition rooms; temporary exhibitions; reserved area; private goals limit; end game trigger (varies by player count); private goals.

Activate a warehouse bonus

Acquire one additional art piece: When activating this warehouse bonus, take from the discard area near the bag an art piece matching the one depicted on the face-down auction card below the auction board. If the discard area contains no more art pieces of the required type, take it from the bag. Store this new art piece into any of your warehouses following the usual rules. However, do not activate any warehouse bonus from storing this newly acquired art piece. Then, draw the top card from the auction deck and place it face-down to the right of the deck, on top of any previous cards. This refreshes the 2 available cards in the display. If the deck runs out, shuffle its cards to create a new face-up deck and continue drawing as normal.

Retrieve one stored art piece: When activating this warehouse bonus, take any art piece from your vault and store it into any of your warehouses following the usual rules. However, do not activate any warehouse bonus from storing that newly retrieved art piece.

Select one auction bonus: When activating this warehouse bonus, choose one of the three auction bonuses shown on the face-up auction card and activate it (see appendix "Auction bonuses"). Then, draw the top card from the auction deck and place it face-down to the right of the deck, on top of any previous cards. This refreshes the 2 available cards in the display. If the deck runs out, shuffle its cards to create a new face-up deck and continue drawing as normal.

Example - Acquire art pieces at auction: Judite chooses to acquire art pieces at auction. She starts her turn by taking all art pieces from the 4th column of the auction board and storing them in Warehouse 3. By activating the corresponding warehouse bonus, Judite selects the middle bonus of the auction card to get a new private goal. To end her turn, Judite refreshes the 2 available auction cards.

Assemble New Art Collections

Move art pieces to the assembly area

When you choose to assemble new art collections, you must select one of your warehouses to use its stored pieces for creating collections displayed on the collection board.

Take all art pieces from your selected warehouse and move them rightward one step at a time, placing exactly 1 art piece into each warehouse you pass before reaching the assembly area. You may only select a warehouse if at least 1 art piece will reach the assembly area, as these pieces will be available for your turn.

• Warehouse 1: Being your rightmost warehouse, all stored art pieces move directly into the assembly area.
• Warehouse 2: You place 1 art piece into Warehouse 1 before reaching the assembly area.
• Warehouse 3: You place 1 art piece into both Warehouses 1 and 2 before reaching the assembly area.

All art pieces that reach your assembly area become immediately available for creating one or more collections.

Anatomy of a collection card: 1 victory points; 2 required art pieces.

Place collections into exhibition rooms

For each collection you want to assemble, take the corresponding collection card from the collection board and return the matching art pieces from your assembly area to a discard area near the bag.

You start with an empty space to the right of your individual board that fits 9 collection cards during the game. These are your exhibition rooms. You may only assemble a collection if you have an empty exhibition room available. When you create a new collection, move its collection card to one of your empty exhibition rooms.

Store remaining art pieces in the vault

Any art pieces left in your assembly area after creating collections must be moved to your vault. The vault has unlimited capacity, unlike the warehouses, but each art piece remaining there at the end of the game will score you 2 negative victory points.

To end your turn, refill any empty spaces on the collection board with new collection cards from the top of the corresponding deck. Even when you assemble multiple collections during your turn, only replenish the collection board once at the end of your turn. If the deck runs out, shuffle its cards to create a new face-down deck and continue drawing as normal.

Example - Assemble new art collections: Ana chooses to assemble new art collections. She starts her turn by selecting Warehouse 2 and moving its stored pieces to the assembly area, placing one art piece into Warehouse 1 along the way. Ana takes the topmost collection card from the 1st column of the collection board by returning all required art pieces to the discard area. Similarly, she takes the topmost collection card from the 2nd column, using a relic box instead of jewelry since none remain in her assembly area. After placing both new collections in exhibition rooms, Ana ends her turn by refilling the collection board.

Exhibit Collections in Museums

Send collections to a temporary exhibition

When you choose to exhibit collections in museums, you must select any of your exhibition rooms and group their collections to send them to temporary exhibitions in museums displayed on the museum board.

For each temporary exhibition you want to exhibit in a museum, take the corresponding museum card from the museum board and return the matching collection card group (with all required art pieces) from your exhibition rooms to a discard pile near the collection board.

Any extra art pieces in your collection card group are sent to that museum as well. You must never divide the art pieces from a collection into multiple museum exhibitions.

You start with an empty space to the left of your individual board that may hold any number of museum cards. As you create each new temporary exhibition, move its museum card there.

Anatomy of a museum card: 1 victory points; 2 museum nationality; 3 museum location; 4 required collection pieces.

Collect a museum bonus token

When you send collections to either of the 2 rightmost museums on the museum board (the most influential ones of the current season), you collect a museum bonus token from above the corresponding empty spaces on the museum board. These bonus tokens are worth either 1 or 2 victory points.

After collecting any earned museum bonus token, if the rightmost museum card was not completed during your turn, remove it to a discard pile near the museum board.

To end your turn, slide all remaining museum cards on the museum board to the rightmost positions and refill any empty spaces on the left with new museum cards from the top of the corresponding deck. Even when you create multiple temporary exhibitions during your turn, only replenish the museum board once at the end of your turn. If the deck runs out, shuffle its cards to create a new face-down deck and continue drawing as normal.

Example - Exhibit collections in museums: Bruno chooses to exhibit collections in museums. He starts his turn by grouping 2 collections containing a single painting with another collection containing 2 artifacts to create a temporary exhibition in Madrid. Next, Bruno creates another temporary exhibition in Athens by combining 2 ceramic collections with a third ceramic with an extra artifact and bones. After collecting his museum bonus token from the second exhibition, he relocates his remaining collection to the nearest exhibition room. Bruno ends his turn by discarding the rightmost museum card that was not completed along with the used collection cards, then sliding the remaining cards to the right and refilling the museum board.

Exhibit in an international gallery

Besides exhibiting temporary exhibitions in influential museums, you may also present them in international galleries. These galleries are represented on the reverse side of the museum cards and require 2 matching art pieces of any type plus 1 art piece of a different type to be completed.

For each temporary exhibition you want to present in an international gallery, take a card from the top of the museum deck and place it into your temporary exhibitions area to the left of your individual board with its reverse side up showing the gallery. As with museum exhibitions, return the matching collection card group (with all required art pieces) from your exhibition rooms to a discard pile near the collection board.

Anatomy of an international gallery: 1 victory points; 2 required collection pieces by type.

Every 2 international galleries on the left of your individual board count as 1 museum card for end game trigger purposes.

Game End

The end of the game is triggered when a player completes a certain number of temporary museum exhibitions to the left of their individual board. As shown on your individual board below warehouse 3, the required number depends on player count:

• 5 temporary museum exhibitions in a 2-player game.
• 4 temporary museum exhibitions in a 3-player game.
• 3 temporary museum exhibitions in a 4-player game.

Temporary exhibitions in international galleries count toward the end game trigger, with 2 international galleries counting as 1 museum.

Regardless of player count, after the end of the game is triggered, all players perform their current turn until just before the turn of the player holding the starting player card. Then, each player takes one final turn before proceeding to final scoring.

Final Scoring

To calculate the final score, record each player's victory points (VP) on the scorepad as follows:

1. Add the VP values from all temporary exhibitions to the left of your individual board. Include the VP values both in museums and galleries.
2. Add any VP values from your museum bonus tokens.
3. Add any VP values from all collections to the right of your individual board.
4. Subtract 2 VP for each art piece in your vault. Art pieces in warehouses do not score any VP (positive or negative).
5. Score VP based on the requirements of each of the public goal cards. For majority requirements, all tied players score in case of a tie.
6. Score VP based on the requirements of each of your private goal cards. For majority requirements, only the player holding the private goal card scores in case of a tie.

The player with the most victory points is the winner.

Example - Final scoring: Elio calculates his final score: 15 VP from temporary exhibitions; 2 VP from a museum bonus token; 0 VP from collections (none remaining); 0 VP from vault pieces (none present); 5 VP for tying for majority in the middle public goal; 5 VP for tying for majority in his private goal. Therefore, Elio ends the game with a total of 27 VP.

Tie Breakers

In case of a tie, follow these criteria in order until the tie is broken. The winner is the tied player with:

1. The most temporary museum exhibitions.
2. The most victory points from public goals.
3. Fewer art pieces stored in the vault.
4. Fewer art pieces stored in the warehouses.

If there is still a tie, the tied players share the victory!

Asymmetric Variant

The asymmetric variant of Antiques is recommended if you want to experience the game with each player becoming a curator with specialized skills and distinct advantages. Set up the game following the standard rules, with one exception: all individual boards should have their side B face-up, showing the curators' portraits and their special abilities (see appendix "Curator abilities").

Solo Mode

Breaking news! A wave of sophisticated art thefts is sweeping across the world's most prestigious museums and galleries. These professional criminals have been methodically targeting priceless collections, disrupting the established art world. Unlike legitimate collectors and curators who operate within proper channels, these thieves work completely outside the normal rules of the art market, becoming a serious concern for the international art community.

Automa setup

Set up the game for 2 players as usual, then follow these steps to set up the Automa:

1. Give them an individual board and place it on the table with the side A face-up. Even in the asymmetric variant, they keep the side A face-up, while you play with the side B.
2. Draw the top 3 goal cards from the deck without looking at them and place them face-down near the Automa's individual board as their private goals.
3. Draw 3 art pieces randomly from the bag and place them into the Automa's warehouse. If any of the drawn pieces depict a relic box, take that many random pieces from the bag as replacements, returning the relic boxes to the bag.
4. Set aside the end game thief card. Shuffle the remaining thief cards to create a face-down deck nearby. Place the end game thief card at the bottom of this deck.

Automa turn

You are always the starting player and will alternate turns with the Automa, performing your turns as usual.

On the Automa's turn, reveal the top card from their deck and check the actions in order from top to bottom. The thieves perform the first action they are able to complete and then skip all remaining actions on that card.

"Acquire" art pieces at auction: When the thieves "acquire" art pieces at auction, take all art pieces shown on the card from the auction board following the order (left to right and top to bottom) and store them in the Automa's warehouse. However, the thieves must never take relic boxes, which remain on the auction board.

The Automa never activates warehouse bonuses. Unlike you, they do not have 3 separate warehouses with maximum capacities of 6, 7, and 8. Instead, they have a single warehouse that may hold 21 pieces (the sum of all 3 standard limits).

When storing art pieces in the Automa's warehouse, if it would overflow beyond its storage capacity, leave any excess pieces on the auction board.

If there are no art pieces at auction in any of the spaces shown on the card, the thieves cannot perform that action. Instead, randomly draw the same number of art pieces from the bag and store them in their warehouse. If any drawn art pieces are relic boxes, place them in the discard area near the bag and continue drawing until the thieves have the correct number of new art pieces shown on their card. To end their turn, refill all empty spaces on the auction board.

Assemble new art collections: When the thieves assemble new art collections, they may use any art pieces in their warehouse to complete collections. Since all their pieces are in one single warehouse, the thieves access them immediately without moving them to an assembly area first.

Following the order (left to right and top to bottom) on the collection board, take the first collection card they can complete. Return the matching pieces from their warehouse to the discard area near the bag. Additionally, take any horizontally adjacent collection cards marked with a + symbol on the thief card, even if the thieves cannot fully complete them. For these collections, return any matching art pieces from their warehouse while ignoring any they do not have.

(A collection card is considered horizontally adjacent to a card taken by the thieves when it is positioned directly to its left or right on the collection board.)

Like you, the thieves have 9 exhibition rooms. When they assemble new collections, place each card in an empty exhibition room. If they exceed their maximum capacity of 9 cards, return any extras to the corresponding discard pile. To end their turn, refill all empty spaces on the collection board.

Exhibit collections in museums: When the thieves exhibit collections in museums, check which temporary exhibitions they can complete using collections from their exhibition rooms. Following the order on the museum board, take the first museum card they can complete. Check the thieves' collection cards (from left to right and top to bottom) and return to the discard pile the necessary collection cards - those that, in order, contain the art pieces shown on the museum card. The Automa may only complete 1 temporary exhibition per turn.

Like you, they collect a museum bonus token when completing either of the 2 rightmost museum cards, taking it from above the corresponding empty space on the museum board. When receiving a museum bonus token, they always receive an extra of the same type, as shown on their card. To end their turn, refill all empty spaces on the museum board, following the standard procedure.

Game end (solo)

The end of the game is triggered when either of the following conditions occurs:

• You or the Automa complete 5 temporary museum exhibitions. When this happens, finish the current round and each of you take one final turn.
• The Automa's deck is exhausted. In this case, you take one final turn while the thieves do not.

Then proceed to final scoring. Calculate the final score by recording each player's victory points (VP) on the scorepad as usual.

Appendix

Goal cards

Majority requirements: Public goals: all tied players score in case of a tie. Private goals: only the player holding the private goal card scores in case of a tie.

• Countries: 2 VP for each of your museum cards matching certain country flags.
• Comparison: 3 VP for each pair of museum cards sharing the same country.
• Differentiation: Increasing VP from different country flags in your museum cards.
• Color: 3 VP from different countries in your museum cards sharing a specific flag color.
• Color collector: 5 VP for having the most flags of a specific color.
• Ex-libris: 4 VP for each complete set of the 5 art types across your collection cards and museum cards.
• Art collector: 5 VP for having the most symbols of a specific type across your art pieces, collection cards, and museum cards.
• Auctioneer: 1 VP for every 2 art pieces stored in your warehouses.
• Stockist: 5 VP for having the most art pieces stored in your warehouses.
• Exhibitor: 1 VP for each collection card displayed in your exhibition rooms.
• Showroom: 5 VP for having the majority of collection cards displayed in your exhibition rooms.
• Gallerist: 5 VP for having the majority of international galleries.

Auction bonuses

• Private goals: Draw 2 private goal cards secretly and keep 1, discarding the other to the bottom of the deck. You may hold up to 3 private goal cards at any time. If you exceed this limit, you must discard down to 3 cards, using either cards from your hand or newly drawn ones.
• Specific art piece: Take any art piece from the auction board (except relic boxes) and store it in one of your warehouses. This action does not trigger any warehouse bonus effects.
• Random art pieces: Draw 3 art pieces from the bag. Place 1 art piece in an available warehouse, add another to the auction board, and discard the 3rd piece. If the auction board is full, discard 2 pieces instead of adding 1 to the board. This action does not trigger any warehouse bonus effects.
• Warehouses: You may reorganize art pieces between your warehouses. Remove all art pieces from your 3 warehouses (but not from the vault) and redistribute them however you want. Respect each warehouse's maximum capacity limit.
• Collections: You may either perform an action to assemble a new collection using your art pieces, or reserve a collection card by placing it below your individual board. You may have up to 3 reserved cards at a time, counting both collection and museum cards. When assembling art collections during your turns, you may satisfy the requirements of either a collection card from the collection board or one of your reserved collection cards.
• Museums: You may either perform an action to exhibit a new temporary collection using your collection cards, or reserve a museum card by placing it below your individual board. You may have up to 3 reserved cards at a time, counting both collection and museum cards. When exhibiting temporary collections during your turns, you may satisfy the requirements of either a museum card from the museum board or one of your reserved museum cards.

Curator abilities (asymmetric variant)

• The Storekeeper is a master of art storage. They may store 2 extra art pieces in each warehouse, avoid negative points for the first 2 art pieces in the vault, and receive only a -1 VP penalty for each remaining art piece stored in the vault.
• The Collector is a master of vault management, able to use one art piece from their vault each turn when assembling a collection that requires multiple art pieces. Additionally, they may distribute art pieces from a single collection card across multiple museums.
• The Curator excels at museum exhibitions, earning an extra 1 VP museum bonus token when exhibiting collections in any of the 4 rightmost museums on the museum board.
• The Researcher specializes in relics, allowing them to acquire all available relic boxes from a single row or column of the auction board. Additionally, when assembling collections, they may substitute any 2 identical art pieces for 1 art piece of a different type.

Quick reference

Player turn: you must choose a single action:

• Acquire art pieces at auction: 1. Select an auction lot. 2. Store art pieces in a warehouse. 3. Activate a warehouse bonus.
• Assemble new art collections: 1. Move art pieces to the assembly area. 2. Place collections into exhibition rooms. 3. Store remaining art pieces in the vault. 4. Fill empty spaces on the collection board.
• Exhibit collections in museums/galleries: 1. Send collections to temporary exhibitions. 2. Collect a museum bonus token. 3. Slide museum cards to the right. 4. Fill empty spaces on the museum board.

Game end: a player completes a number of exhibitions: 5 temporary museum exhibitions (2 players), 4 (3 players), 3 (4 players). Note: 2 galleries count as 1 museum. Players complete current round. Each player takes one final turn. Proceed to final scoring.