Masterpiece

About this board game

Masterpiece is an art-auction board game for 3–6 players, with games lasting about 60 minutes. Originally released in 1970, it places each player in the role of a collector competing to build the most valuable combination of cash and paintings.

Paintings by famous artists such as Van Gogh, Rembrandt, and Renoir are represented by full-color postcard cards. Each painting is paired with a face-down value card, worth anywhere from a forgery valued at zero to $1,000,000. Everyone can see the artwork, but only its owner can see its value, creating room for uncertainty, bluffing, and careful bidding.

Players begin with an equal amount of money and one painting. They then move around the board by rolling the die and resolve the space where they land. Depending on the space, a player may collect money from the bank, draw a painting, sell a painting to the bank, or put artwork up for auction.

• Bid on the top painting from the stack.
• Auction one of your own paintings to the highest bidding opponent.
• Sell a painting for its hidden value or for a specified amount.
• Manage cash while judging whether an artwork could be valuable—or a forgery.

The game ends when the painting stack is exhausted. Players then reveal and add the values of their paintings to their remaining cash. In Masterpiece, the collector with the largest final total wins.