Art Society

Did you happen to sit on the sofa and admire your shelves full of board games?

That’s what Art Society is about. It’s a game about collecting things and admiring them at your home table.

In Art Society we take on the role of art patrons. Our job is to buy paintings at auction and place them in our gallery. In each round we bid on one painting from several available. When bidding, we have to pay attention to the size, shape and its type. After all, we don’t want to commit a faux pas and place two of the same type of painting next to each other.

The most awesome thing about Art Society is the bidding. Each player will receive bidding lollipops with values from 1 to 20. Everything works on the simple principle, whoever gives more is the first to choose. There is no countdown anymore.

The most interesting thing about this auction is that in each round one person will choose the available paintings for everyone. Of course, in most cases we will set this up for ourselves so that we collect something that interests us. The number of paintings available will be the number of players we have plus 1. The last piece that no one has chosen will be placed in the museum. The best thing about all this is that this artwork will raise the prestige of other paintings of the same type. The higher the prestige the more points will be provided at the end of the game.

We even have the opportunity to do a little mischief by choosing the biggest paintings to bid on. This definitely ‘helps’ our friends. Especially when they have almost the whole board filled up.

During the bidding process, we can do some cool tricks. Because we can specifically lose it to decide what goes into the discarded paintings. This will allow us to strategically boost the prestige of a colour. Then, as a colour shoots forward, we can start buying it up with our most valuable lollipops. Kojak approves this move.

Placing paintings in our gallery is such a standard of abstract games. If you’ve played Calico, Cascadia, or Verdant then you know what it’s about. Place something next to something and collect the benefits. In Art Society if the frame of a painting you have just added matches another lying next to it then you get a sculpture, which provides extra points. If we manage to fill the whole gallery then we get extra points into the final score.

There are 2 important rules to remember during the game.

The first is that if we place a painting of the same type next to others we make a faux pas. This causes us not to score for them at the end of the game.

The second rule is quite optional but I recommend using it. You can take an artwork and see if it fits on our board. It’s really not a bad thing. Everyone does it. Just keep in mind you cant undone your move.

Graphically, Art Society is simply stunning. The paintings are atmospheric and depict various works throughout the ages. By the way, the author of the graphics must be a fan of cats. Because most of the art depicts various furry creatures. I strongly approve of this. The cover itself is also a unique piece of art. It has such cut-outs and one wants to say that it creates such a 3D effect. Insert efficiently segregates the paintings according to their value. It also provides us with the kind of mini-game where we fight over who can get their tiles in order faster at the end of the game. A game within a game is something I like.

Summary

Art Society fits perfectly into the framework of the kind of games we are supposed to feel good about. It’s a joyful placing of paintings side by side so that they form their own and beautiful art gallery. Although, for me, the best feature of this game is choosing works of art and trying to anticipate what’s left in order to strategically boost the prestige points. Additionally, the game has fantastic visuals and makes me crave for another round of bidding game.

Final verdict: Art Society is a work of art

[Game provided by Lucky Duck Games]