Museum: The Black Market

About this expansion

Museum: The Black Market is a 2018 expansion for 2–5 players, with games lasting about 60 minutes. It introduces a separate market board where players can purchase Objects and Notoriety cards to complete collections, gain advantages, and interfere with their adversaries.

Welcome to the hidden underworld behind the archaeological wonders of Museum. The Black Market brings a more aggressive emphasis to player interaction, offering powerful opportunities for those willing to pay the price. Newly appearing cards cost more at first, but their prices decrease the longer they remain available.

This changing market creates a difficult choice: spend immediately to claim a valuable card, or wait for a lower price while risking that another player takes it first. The market is filled with 60 new Contraband cards, including Objects and Notoriety cards, alongside new characters, events, and Notoriety cards.

• Contraband Objects: 30 object cards from civilisations not represented in the base game.
• Single-attribute Objects: Each new Object features only one attribute, such as Navigation on the Viking Longship or Chinese on the Terracotta Army.
• Aggressive Notoriety: Effects can steal Objects, create counterfeits, or take Prestige from opponents.
• Dynamic pricing: Cards become cheaper as they remain on the market.

The new Notoriety cards are purchased like Object cards and follow the standard rules for Notoriety, but their effects are considerably more confrontational. Use them to disrupt carefully planned collections and seize opportunities from under your opponents’ noses.

For players who want Museum to feature sharper interaction and more decisive tactical choices, The Black Market adds a volatile new marketplace where timing, opportunity, and the willingness to take risks can shape every purchase.