Fake Art Inc. Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Components
• Game Objective
• Game Setup
• Game Play
• Preparation
• Auction
• Turn Action
• Game End
• Game Board Explanation

Components

• Portrait Card ×42 (6 types × 7 each)
• Game Board ×2
• Meeple ×10 (5 colors × 2 each)
• Money ×90: $100 ×5 each, $50 ×10 each, $10 ×30 each, $5 ×15 each, $1 ×30 each

Game Objective

The player with the most Money at the end of 3rd round wins.

Game Setup

(Example for 4 players)

1. Prepare Portrait Cards and game pieces according to the number of players as shown below.
   • 3 Players: Portrait Cards ×28 (4 types × 7 each) + Meeple ×6 (3 colors × 2 each)
   • 4 Players: Portrait Cards ×35 (5 types × 7 each) + Meeple ×8 (4 colors × 2 each)
   • 5 Players: Portrait Cards ×42 (all) + Meeple ×10 (all)
2. Place the 1st round Game Board in the center of the table. Sort and organize the Money by type and place it next to the Game Board. This area is called the Supply.
3. Gather and shuffle the Portrait Cards well and lay down 2 cards face up between each player as shown so that everyone can see. Cards laid on the table as such are categorized as Appraisal Cards.
4. Each player takes $30 and 2 Meeples of any color of their choice. Make a pile with the remaining Portrait Cards stacked face down, and place it next to the Supply.
   • The Money is not open information. You can hide this in your hands (keep it secret) or pile it up on the table so that players can only see the topmost Money.
5. Set aside unused Portrait Cards and/or Meeples from the game. Choose a starting player for the 1st round.

Game Play

There are 3 rounds to a game. A round consists of 3 phases: Preparation, Auction, and Turn Action.

Preparation

The starting player puts the current round Game Board on the table and refers to the Game Board to give each player the set number of cards from the Portrait Card pile per round (the number of cards disbursed varies by round). If there are not enough cards to hand out during this time, shuffle the discarded Portrait Card pile to create a new, playable Portrait Card pile.

Auction

The "Auction" phase is where the turn order in this round is determined.

1. The starting player chooses one of the available spaces and places a bid. They cannot choose a number space higher than the number of players (i.e., the 5th space cannot be used in a 4 player game). The minimum bidding price is $1.
2. With the turns proceeding in a clockwise manner, the player to the left of the starting player will have the opportunity to place a bid on a chosen space. On their turn, the player can either place a bid or pass. Players choosing to bid must place a bid at least $1 higher than the previous bid.
   • A player who chose to pass once on that space cannot place another bid on that turn.
3. If only 1 player remains after every other player decided to pass, that player wins the bid and places 1 of their Meeples on that turn space. If the starting player wins the bid, the player who hasn't played their turn yet, clockwise from the starting player, will start the new bid on a chosen available space. If a player other than the starting player wins the bid, then that starting player will start a new bid on a chosen available space.
4. The players that are on the Turn Order space will be out of the Auction phase. The remaining players will continue playing in the Auction phase.
   • Always remember that the starting player starts the bid.
5. The last player who hasn't taken their turn will place their Meeple on the last remaining Turn Order space without paying any fees.
   • There will be vacant Turn Order Space(s) if there are less than 5 players.
6. The Auction phase ends when all players have placed one of their Meeples on a Turn Order space. Each player should place their second Meeple in front of them so that everyone can keep track of which Meeple belongs to whom. Players will now enter the "Turn Action" phase.

Turn Action

In the "Turn Action" phase, each player will take turns according to the order of the Meeples placed in the Turn Order space. In the "Turn Action" phase, you can either trade the Portrait Cards in your hand, or lay it down on a space between players to set up an auction. This is the phase where you can manipulate other players.

On their turn, players perform the following three actions in any order and as many times as they choose. To perform a Turn Action, you must first lay card(s) down face up from your hand. At this time, if you have multiple Portrait Cards of the same color in your hand, they must all be laid down together. If there are multiple cards laid down, you can choose to divide your desired actions for each card.

• Sell: Sell your Portrait Card from your hand to the market and receive Money from the Supply. At this time, the sales price will be affected by your "Authentic" and "Fake" Appraisal Cards. Refer to the Price Table found on the Game Board and collect Money from the Supply accordingly. Those sold Portrait Cards should be piled face up next to the Portrait Card pile found in the Supply. This will be the discard pile.

  • See the "Price Table" in the Game Board Explanation.

• Negotiation: Players can trade Portrait Cards that are placed down with other players. Players can negotiate to sell Portrait Cards to other players and receive Money from them. The player who receives a Portrait Card will place that card in their hand.

  • There are no restrictions on trading, so feel free to negotiate all you want!

• Appraisal: Placing down a Portrait Card in the space between players will replace the current existing card in that space. This replaced card will be disposed of by placing it face up on the discard pile. The new Portrait Card that has been laid down between players can only be changed by performing the Appraisal action.

  The player who owns the card that has become "Authentic" from the Appraisal action must pay an Authenticity fee to the player who is currently playing their turn (refer to the Price Table for Authenticity fee estimates). It is possible for a player to perform an Appraisal action on themselves to raise the selling price in the market. There will be no Authenticity fee to be paid when the player performs the Appraisal action on themselves.

Example 1. The game is currently in the 2nd round. To the right of Ivan are 2 Schiele cards, to the left are Van Gogh and Monet cards. Those cards represent Ivan's Appraisal Cards. If Ivan sells 3 Schiele cards, he will earn $15 for each because he has 2 Schiele authentic Appraisal Cards. Van Gogh and Monet Fake Appraisal Cards don't affect the selling price in this case. Ivan sells 3 Schiele cards from his hands and receives $45 from the Supply.

Example 2. Ivan's turn has now ended and it is now Sam's turn. If he sells Van Gogh cards, he will earn a total of $6 since he has 1 of each Van Gogh (an authentic and fake). Sam sells 2 Van Gogh cards from his hands and receives $6 from the Supply. Although Sam has 1 Kandinsky card in his hands, he will not receive any money if he sells this card at this time.

Example 3. In "Example 2", Sam decided to negotiate an existing Kandinsky card with another player. After revealing 1 Kandinsky card from his hand, Natalie offers to buy the card for $4, while Isaac offers to buy the card for $5. Sam accepts Isaac's offer and sells the card to him for $5. Isaac receives the Kandinsky card and adds it to his hand cards.

Example 4. Natalie lays down 3 Kandinsky cards from her hand. Continuing from the process shown in "Example 3", Natalie is aware that Isaac took a Kandinsky card. Therefore, she will challenge Isaac by performing an Appraisal action on two of his Kandinsky cards that are laid down to the left of him. This action resulted in Isaac's Kandinsky cards becoming "Fake", but for Ivan, these cards have become "Authentic". Ivan now has to pay Natalie an Authenticity fee of $6. Now, Natalie may negotiate with Ivan in order for Natalie to sell the remaining 1 Kandinsky card to him.

1. A player can hold up to a maximum of 2 cards in their hand when finishing their turn. Even if a player has 3 or more cards left in their hand and have no further actions they wish to take, they must still perform an action until they have 2 or less cards to complete their turn.
2. When players complete their turn, their Meeple located on the Turn Order space must be laid down to indicate that their turn has ended.
3. After the last player completes their turn, the round ends and a new round will begin. This player becomes the starting player for this new round, which will start again from the Preparation phase. When the last player in the 3rd round completes their turn, the players will then proceed to the "Game End" phase of the game.
   • Inspect the Portrait Cards laid down between the players. Every player will treat Portrait Cards on their right as "Authentic" and cards on their left as "Fake". The player's hand cards are determined to be either "Authentic" or "Fake" depending on what Appraisal Cards are laid down to their left and right side.
   • Players can make the most Money by selling authentic Portrait Cards. Laying down Portrait Cards to the left side of other players will turn their cards into fake ones.

Game End

Follow the below steps after the 3rd round of the game.

1. Final Sale: At the end of the game, all hand cards must be sold off (players can only perform the "Sell" action at this time).
2. Players will compare Money with one another.
3. The player who has the most Money wins the game! If 2 or more players tie, win the game together!

Game Board Explanation

• A — Round Order: The number of playable cards, Authenticity fee, etc. can all be determined at the start of the round along with the order in which the rounds are carried out.
• B — Round Marker: The backside of the 1st round Game Board is the 3rd round Game Board.
• C — Price Table: Portrait Cards laid down on the right side are treated as "Authentic" and cards laid on the left side are treated as "Fake". The number of each on each side will determine whether the cards in a player's hand are "Authentic" or "Fake", along with price. Please refer to the Game Board for pricing.
• D — Best Price condition: When there are 2 authentic cards and no fake cards.
• E — Average Price condition: When there are at least 1 authentic card more than fake cards.
• F — Bad Price condition: When there are a same number of authentic cards as there are fake cards.
• G — Absolutely Worst condition: When there are more fake cards than there are authentic cards.
• Turn Order Space: The five numbered spaces (1st to 5th) along the bottom of the board where Meeples are placed to set the turn order.

Board values as printed on the faces of the Round 1 and Round 2 Game Boards. Area A shows the number of Portrait Cards drawn in Preparation (5 on both boards) and the Authenticity fee for the Turn Action (the board's label is "appraisal cost"): $2 in Round 1 and $5 in Round 2.

Round 1 board:

Condition	Authentic cards	Fake cards	Price
D — Best Price	2	0	$10
E — Average Price	at least 1 more than fake		$5
F — Bad Price	equal	equal	$2
G — Absolutely Worst	fewer than fake		$0

Round 2 board:

Condition	Authentic cards	Fake cards	Price
D — Best Price	2	0	$15
E — Average Price	at least 1 more than fake		$8
F — Bad Price	equal	equal	$3
G — Absolutely Worst	fewer than fake		$0

The Round 3 board is the reverse side of the Round 1 board. The rulebook prints only the front faces of the Round 1 and Round 2 boards, so the Round 3 values are not reproduced here.