The Gallerist

To set up The Gallerist, first place the main game board. Shuffle and place the stacks of art pieces face-up on their designated spots. Distribute the investor, collector, and VIP meeples into the black bag. Place the reward tiles on the corresponding spaces on the influence track, adjusting the number of columns used based on player count (for solo play, use the 2-player setup). Place the artist tiles in their respective stacks, revealing the first blue artist tile and placing a transparent cube on its starting fame track. Randomly draw and place one artist tile of each type (abstract, painting, photography, sculpture) face-down on the designated artist spaces, then place a white meeple on each of these. Each player receives a player board, 10 money, and their starting assistant meeples (2 active, 10 in reserve). Randomly draw two personal goal cards for each player, keeping them secret. Finally, place the bonus art piece on the small easel and draw initial visitor meeples from the bag to populate the central plaza.

The objective in The Gallerist is to become the most renowned and wealthy gallerist. Players achieve this by discovering talented artists, promoting their work to increase their fame, and strategically selling their art pieces to collectors for profit. Success is measured by accumulating the most victory points, which are earned through various actions such as selling art, fulfilling personal objectives, and contributing to the overall fame of the artists you represent.

On a player's turn, they move their gallerist meeple to an unoccupied action space on the main board. They then perform the main action associated with that space, which could involve discovering new artists, promoting existing ones, or selling art. After the main action, the player may perform a 'kick-out' action if another player's meeple is present in the same location, allowing them to gain a bonus or move the other player's meeple. This creates a dynamic interaction where players can benefit from or disrupt each other's plans.

Scoring in The Gallerist occurs throughout the game and at the end. Players earn victory points primarily by selling art pieces, with the value of the art influenced by the artist's current fame. Additional points are gained by completing personal goal cards, which often involve collecting specific types of art or achieving certain artist fame levels. At the end of the game, players also score points for remaining money, unsold art pieces in their gallery, and the overall reputation of their artists.

The game concludes when one of two conditions is met: either a certain number of artists have reached maximum fame (indicated by a star on their fame track), or a specified number of artworks have been sold from the market. Once either of these triggers occurs, players complete the current round, and then play continues for one final round. After this, final scoring takes place, and the player with the highest total victory points is declared the winner.