John Bandettini
United Kingdom
London
No, no, no, no, no, yes
A new season and all is well in the world
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This review is not a review of the rules.
Instead I am going to concentrate on two aspects of the game. A look at what you actually get in the box. The components of the game, a look at both the quantity and quality.
Secondly, my experiences with the game including what I like about it and anything I don’t like about it.
This time I am looking at Master’s Gallery. This is another game in the Gryphon series of games. Master’s Gallery is really Modern Art without the auctions. And if you have not played it or it’s sister game Modern Art the Card Game, your reaction was probably huh, are you kidding? But it works, it really does.
Note: Master's Gallery and Modern Art the Card Game are identical games, just with different artists and works of art. I just prefer the old classics. 
What do you get in the box? A very slim rule book, a deck of cards and some round cardboard tokens.
The cards of course are the heart of the game (in fact they are most of the game). They are standard playing card size. You get five player aid cards, these show and explain the special symbols that are found on some of the cards. There are five cards that show the artists featured in the game and one of their pieces of art and a number that shows the number of cards they have in the main deck, this number is used in tie breaks.
Most of the cards show works of art by the five artists featured in the game. They have the name of the artist and are colour coded by artist. Some of these cards have special symbols on them that let you do an additional action when you play them. These actions include, play another card by the same artist face up, play another card by any artist face down, draw an extra card, add two bonus points to the artist of your choice, and everyone gets to play an extra card with simultaneous reveal.
The cardboard tokens are small round tokens, either beige with values 1 to 3 or black with value 2. The beige tokens are used at the end of a round. A round ends when six cards by the same artist are visible on the table. When that happens any face down cards are revealed and players work out which three artists have the most cards showing. They are then awarded 3, 2 and 1 point tokens in order of most cards. Players then can play extra cards from hand and then score for the top three artists this round only. As mentioned above the number of cards for each artist in the game is used as a tie break if necessary.
The black tokens all have a value of 2 on them, these are bonus points which are played by the player who plays an artist card with the matching icon on. They don’t have to be played on the matching artist.
My thoughts on the game.
It’s a very subtle game. I have seen quite a few posts on the geek where people have questioned if there is any strategy in this game. I think there is a lot, it’s just not obvious. I have won every game so far where I have introduced it to new players, so I think there is strategy.
The game plays in four rounds, the number of cards you get each round depends on the number of players in the game. Whatever number though, you start the game with at least half of the cards you are likely to get during the game. An important point to bear in mind is that the points accumulate, so the highest scoring cards will be in the third and forth round. It can be worth holding onto cards that will be worth more later on.
How about the cards with the action icons on them? When and how you use the special cards adds a lot to the strategy. If you have multiple copies of the bonus point cards in your hand you can play them on the artist you have most cards in your hand and pretty much sit on them till late in the game, as they can score big for you then..
The more cards you have the more options you have, so the cards that let you draw an extra card are very useful.
The two cards that let you play another card are good. I prefer the one that lets you play the second card face down and for any artists as it allows more interesting play. It’s always fun when the artist showing most cards, actually isn’t the one with the most cards played. The extra card face up and same artist is very good in the last round when you are just trying to score as many as possible for a certain artist. You can also use it to end a round as quickly as possible which can be handy.
The one card I don’t like very much is the card where everyone gets to play an extra card. Sure you get to play an extra card, but so does everyone else.
I think the game plays very differently depending on the number of players. I must admit first time I tried it two player, I was dubious about how it would play, but I was surprised at how well it does play. It has a very different feel to it. With only two players both players have a lot more control of the scoring. I would expect the highest scoring to be in two player games.
I don’t like playing with five very much. Although it supports five, with that many you quite often only get to play one card in a round. It does not matter how well you have grasped the subtle nuances of the game, if you only play one card it’s hard to control anything.
For me though the sweet spot is three or four players. Sure it is a card game so you can just be unlucky, but I feel with this number, you play enough cards during the course of the game to have a significant influence on the scoring.
Things I don’t like? As I said I don’t think it plays very well with five players. There is a randomness to the game with any number, but with less players you do feel you have at least a small measure of control of your own fate. With five it just feels too random. Apart from that my main problem with the game is that my gaming buddies don’t like it as much as I do.
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Jim Sutherland
United Kingdom
(just) West of London
Middlesex
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Oh, go on then.
Bring it to IBG and I will have a game with you.
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John Bandettini
United Kingdom
London
No, no, no, no, no, yes
A new season and all is well in the world
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Jazzuu wrote: Oh, go on then.
Bring it to IBG and I will have a game with you.
Jim
As I will soon be much more of a regular, I will in deed.
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tom moughan
United States
Rochester
New York
ahh....I love the smell of a stack of sketchily placed animals in the morning!
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*whine* still want my bidding/auctions! ; D
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Scott Agius
United Kingdom
Brentford
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JohnBandettini wrote: Apart from that my main problem with the game is that my gaming buddies don’t like it as much as I do.
That's because it's missing the auctions that make Modern Art so much fun, trying to eek out an extra dollar by talking up a painting and then have it be worthless by the end of the round.
I should probably play it again sometime, if nothing else but to see if I can win, i'm pretty sure I won the game we played when you taught it but my memory may be faulty.
JohnBandettini wrote: I have won every game so far where I have introduced it to new players, so I think there is strategy.
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John Bandettini
United Kingdom
London
No, no, no, no, no, yes
A new season and all is well in the world
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agius1520 wrote: JohnBandettini wrote: Apart from that my main problem with the game is that my gaming buddies don’t like it as much as I do.
That's because it's missing the auctions that make Modern Art so much fun, trying to eek out an extra dollar by talking up a painting and then have it be worthless by the end of the round. I should probably play it again sometime, if nothing else but to see if I can win, i'm pretty sure I won the game we played when you taught it but my memory may be faulty. JohnBandettini wrote: I have won every game so far where I have introduced it to new players, so I think there is strategy.
Scott
Your inate gaming ability means you don't count as new at any game. 
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Scott Agius
United Kingdom
Brentford
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JohnBandettini wrote: agius1520 wrote: JohnBandettini wrote: Apart from that my main problem with the game is that my gaming buddies don’t like it as much as I do.
That's because it's missing the auctions that make Modern Art so much fun, trying to eek out an extra dollar by talking up a painting and then have it be worthless by the end of the round. I should probably play it again sometime, if nothing else but to see if I can win, i'm pretty sure I won the game we played when you taught it but my memory may be faulty. JohnBandettini wrote: I have won every game so far where I have introduced it to new players, so I think there is strategy. Scott Your inate gaming ability means you don't count as new at any game.
I can't get away with anything these days
You should bring Duck Dealer along again too, I thought that game was excellent.
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Tim Roberts
United Kingdom
Colwyn Bay
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Great review John - very concise and interesting.
Thanks for posting it.
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