Overview

Art Society is an auction and tile-placement game where players are art connoisseurs building gallery walls. Each round, an auctioneer selects paintings for auction, players bid simultaneously, then arrange acquired paintings on their personal gallery wall. Paintings not purchased go to the museum, changing the worth of painting types. The player whose collection scores the most points wins.

Components

• 116 painting tiles (various sizes)
• 108 decor tiles
• 1 museum board with score track
• 4 player boards (gallery walls)
• 20 bid cards per player (80 total)
• 4 starting bid cards
• 4 prestige markers (1 per painting type)
• 7 painting value tokens (numbered 3-9)
• 4 complete wall bonus tokens
• 2 score markers per player
• 1 auctioneer gavel
• 4 player aids

Setup

1. Place museum board centrally with prestige markers beside it.
2. Sort painting tiles by size.
3. Place decor tiles in a shared pile.
4. Each player takes a player board, 2 score markers, and 20 bid cards.
5. Place value tokens in a pile in the auction area.
6. Shuffle starting paintings (2x3 gold-backed tiles), deal 1 per player. Place on gallery wall covering one/both center spaces.
7. Shuffle 4 starting bid cards, deal 1 face up per player. Lowest value player takes gavel (first Auctioneer). Cards start bidding stacks.

Turn Structure

Each round has phases:

1. Preparing the Auction: Auctioneer selects paintings equal to player count +1, looking only at tile backs. Places matching value tokens, then flips paintings face up.
2. Placing Bids & Acquiring Paintings: All players simultaneously select a bid card from hand and place face down. Reveal simultaneously. Highest unique bid gets first pick; process continues down. Unpicked paintings go to the museum.
3. Placing Paintings: Each player places acquired painting(s) on their gallery wall following placement rules.
4. Pass Gavel: Auctioneer gavel passes to next player clockwise.

Actions

Bidding: Select 1 bid card from your hand, place face down. All reveal simultaneously. Higher unique bids choose paintings first.

Placing Paintings on Wall:

• Newly placed tiles must touch existing tiles on the wall.
• When painting frames match adjacent frames, gain wall decor tiles (bonus decorations).
• Avoid placing paintings of the same type adjacent to each other (Faux Pas penalty).

Assistant: Can hold 1 painting or wall decor to place later.

Cannot Fit a Painting: Either exchange it at the museum (affects prestige values) OR keep as excess painting and gain 1 wall decor.

Scoring / Victory Conditions

Game End Triggers (end of the round when any occurs):

• A player completely fills their gallery wall
• Players run out of bidding cards
• A player places a 2nd excess painting

Final Scoring:

• Points for each painting type based on its prestige value at the museum
• Points for decor tiles on your wall
• Complete wall bonus if applicable
• Penalties for faux pas (same-type paintings adjacent)
• Excess painting penalties

Highest score wins.

Special Rules & Edge Cases

• Bid cards once used go to your bidding stack and are not reused.
• Paintings exchanged at the museum adjust the prestige markers, changing how much each painting type is worth for all players.
• The Auctioneer only sees the backs of paintings when selecting (revealing size but not type).
• The museum display affects end-game scoring for all players.
• Matching frames between adjacent paintings earn decor tiles, which are worth points.

Player Reference

Phase	Action
1. Prepare	Auctioneer picks tiles equal to players+1
2. Bid	Simultaneous hidden bids
3. Place	Put paintings on wall, gain decor for frame matches
4. Pass	Gavel moves clockwise

Game End Trigger	Condition
Full wall	Any player fills their gallery
No cards	Bidding cards exhausted
Excess paintings	Any player has 2+ excess