Modern Art and the art of auctions

Modern Art is not my favorite auction game. That's probably Ra, as far as games where the primary mechanic is having auctions. For Sale and High Society are also high up there. (In fact, I'd even go so far as to say if you only own one auction game, For Sale is one of your best choices)

But Modern Art wasn't just my introduction to auction games. It was a great introduction because it is a crash course on auctions. It is one of the fundamental games on the subject.

Instead of going over the rules in detail, I'll put in a link to the review I wrote back in 2005: https://boardgamegeek.com/thread/88939/essential-auction-game Okay, let me get back to talking about the game.

Modern Art pulls off being such a fundamental auction game by using four different methods of auction, not counting the double auction. You got the traditional caller auction, the blind auction, the once around auction and the set price auction.

Really, the only auction it doesn't cover per se is the moat common form of auction in games, going around until everyone but one player has dropped out. 

Modern Art also has a really neat economic system going on, with only the three artists earning any money at the end of each season but the values adding up through out the game. Some folks have argued that that keeps it from being a 'pure' auction game. Considering that Knizia basically sawed the auctions off in order to create Modern Art the Card Game, I can see that.

Still, the auctions and the determination of the value of each system are all tightly knit together to form the economy of the game. In particular, the players are auctioning off the paintings to each other and pocketing the profits themselves. Everyone is invested in the economy of the game.

I'll admit that one of reasons Modern Art isn't at the top of my auction list is because people who overbid can not only knock themselves out of the game but literally hand the game over to someone else. Fortunately, you can teach people what the maximum potential value of a painting is but not everyone is good at listening :P

Modern Art is a very engaging game, involving all the players. It really explores auctions and has a tight economy tying everything together.  It's a really fun game that is great for exploring game mechanics. It really has earned a place in my collection. 

http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/118/modern-art

Art and auctions opening up emergent gameplay

Auction games are one of the things that put Reiner Knizia on the map. He has made a lot of auction games that have helped define the genre. Ra, Medici, Amon-Re, and High Society, all great auction games.

However, I want to talk about his first major auction game, not to mention his first big hit. Modern Art.

Modern Art is an auction game's game. It uses no less then four different types of auctions, not counting the double auctions. More than that, the auctions influence every part of the game. When you buy somebody else's painting, your money goes into their pocket. And the number of paintings that each artist sells determines how much they are worth at the end of each season.

Since I've already gone through the rules in a review back in 2005, I'll just include a link to that than go over the rules in detail here: https://boardgamegeek.com/thread/88939/essential-auction-game

Because I don't want to do another review of the game. I want to discuss how Modern Art is an excellent example of emergent gameplay.

Modern Art isn't hard to teach people. Even if you haven't been to a real auction or spent way too much money on eBay, you've still seen auctions on TV or the movies. And each individual type of auction in Modern Art isn't hard to explain or understand. And the idea that popular artists are worth more money is also pretty easy to explain to folks. 

But we are talking about four or five different types of auctions, plus another mechanic determining the ultimate value of every painting sold, which can be zero. That's a whole lot of intersecting systems. Sure, they are all linked and dependent on each other but that's still a lot of interaction.

On top of that, there is the human factor. Sometimes people bid too high because they get caught up in the action or because they're backing an artist who ends up busting. Sometimes people have a personal preference for an artist. Sometimes, people find themselves collaborating at getting a specific artist on top. Sometimes, they push an artist to sabotage someone else's play.

Money is how you win and you get money only through interacting with the other players, one way or another. And people dealing with people always opens up the door for surprises.

Modern Art isn't my favorite auction game by Knizia. (That'd be Ra) But it is a brilliant game that explores auctions and values with the players being the center of it all.

https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/118/modern-art