Der Prestel Kunstmarkt
Der Prestel Kunstmarkt Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Components
- 48 picture tiles
- 28 customer cards
- 5 price cards
- Money
Preparing to Play
The 48 picture tiles are shuffled. Each player is dealt a hand of 3 picture tiles (which he or she keeps hidden from the other players).
The picture tiles show all information about the paintings necessary for the game. In addition to the name of the artist, his nationality and his name recognition (as a percentage) are given; also provided are the year of the picture, the category – Biblical, portrait, nude (Akt), genre scene (scene of everyday life), landscape, modern – and the size of the picture in square meters.
In the middle of the table place the 5 price cards side by side in order. 5 of the remaining picture tiles are drawn and randomly placed face-up next to the 5 price cards so that each price card has an assigned picture. The other picture tiles are placed in a face-down stack next to the 15,000 price card.
The 28 customer cards are shuffled. Each player is dealt a hand of 2 customer cards. The remaining customer cards are placed in a face-down stack next to the 2,000 price card.
Each player gets 25,000 starting capital. The rest of the money is placed on the table where it will be handy as a bank. Whoever can paint most beautifully begins the game.
How to Play: Overview
Game Turns
The game is played in turns. The player whose turn it is has a choice of one of three actions:
- A. they can draw a new customer card, or
- B. they can buy a picture, or
- C. they can play a customer card from their hand ("allow a customer to shop").
One must choose one of these actions. It is not allowed to do nothing.
Ultimately, it is just a matter of buying pictures for a very good price and reselling them very expensively. At the end of the game the richest player is the winner.
If a player reaches a total of 125,000, the game ends immediately and he or she has won; otherwise the game ends as soon as the last picture tile or the last customer card comes into play.
At the end only money counts: unsold pictures are worthless.
A. Draw a Customer Card
This is the simplest action: one takes a new customer card into one's hand from the draw pile.
The only rule that one must follow when taking this action is the limit of three customer cards in hand.
If one already holds three customer cards, one may not draw another; it is not allowed to discard customer cards. In this case one would have to instead play a customer ("allow to shop") to be able to draw a new customer card in a later round.
B. Buy a Picture
A player choosing this action takes one of the 5 pictures displayed on the table and pays the assigned price (between 2,000 and 15,000) to the bank.
However, here there is also a limit, namely 4 picture tiles. However, it is allowed to discard picture tiles. A player who already has 4 picture tiles can buy a new picture if before this he or she places one from his or her hand on the discard pile.
After a picture has been bought, all the more expensive pictures are moved to the next lower price card (i.e., they become one step cheaper). A new picture is drawn from the stock and placed on the most expensive place (15,000). If the most expensive picture was bought, all that happens is that a new picture is placed there.
C. Play a Customer Card ("Allow a Customer to Shop")
With this action one plays a customer card openly on the table. Now this customer walks by the galleries of all the players to buy a picture. He does not necessarily purchase from the player who played the card!
All customers have certain ideas of what they are looking for. This is shown on each customer card.
The information in grey indicates that the customer wants only pictures matching that criterion. If a card says "porträt," then one can only offer that customer portrait tiles (which also say "porträt" on them). However, one can offer any picture to customers with no grey criteria.
The information in black (which always says "möglichst," or "as possible") means that the customer selects from multiple suitable pictures the one which fulfils this criterion best of all (e.g. "möglichst alt" is "as old as possible").
The amount of money shown is what the customer pays: between 12,000 and 25,000.
Now, beginning with the left-hand neighbor of the current player and continuing clockwise, each player may offer the customer a picture from their hand – they place it face-up on the table. The player whose turn it is does this last.
Once a picture has been offered, following players must offer a picture which better matches the wishes of the customer. If a customer card says, for example, "Deutschland – möglichst bekannt" ("Germany – as famous as possible") and the Corinth (name recognition of 82%) has already been offered, then one could trump this offer, for instance with Dürer (98%). (Duplicate values do not occur!)
After the player whose turn it is has had the option to offer a picture, the player who made the best offer sells his or her picture. The picture tile and customer card are placed on the discard piles. The successful sales clerk takes the amount shown on the customer card from the bank.
If no player offers a picture, the customer card is discarded, and it is the next player's turn.
Game End
The game ends immediately if a player has at least 125,000 in cash. This player shows his or her money and wins.
Otherwise the game ends when a player draws the last customer card from the deck or if the last picture is placed on the table.
In this case all players count their money; the richest trader has won. In case of a tie, whoever has the most pictures in hand wins; if necessary the best-known single painter decides a further tie.
Customer and Painting Reference
[This is not in the original rules.]
Grey Customer Requirements
| Requirement | # Customers | # Paintings |
|---|---|---|
| Deutschland | 4 | 20 |
| Niederlande | 2 | 9 |
| Niederlande oder Russland | 1 | 11 |
| Frankreich, Italien, oder Spanien | 1 | 17 |
| Porträt | 2 | 10 |
| Biblisch | 2 | 10 |
| Modern | 2 | 10 |
| Akt | 2 | 7 |
| Landschaft |
Note: Some paintings belong to 2 categories.
Black Customer Requirements
| Möglichst… | # Customers | Best Value | 2nd-Best Value |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bekannt | 7 | 99% | 98% |
| Gross | 6 | 3.90 m² | 3.32 m² |
| Klein | 6 | 0.07 m² | 0.05 m² |
| Alt | 4 | 1450 | 1460 |
| Neu | 5 | 2003 | 2002 |