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Masterpiece

Your favorite Rembrandt is on the block and you are bidding for it against a dazzling array of eccentric art speculators. Baron von Oberlitzer, the German Industrialist, signals a bid of $500,000; V. Elton Whitehall instantly ups it to $750,000.

Should you go even higher? What if it's a worthless forgery? You must decide quickly, but you'll never know for sure unless you outbid the competition. Keen observation, steady nerves and a little luck make the difference in MASTERPIECE, an exciting, suspenseful trip into the elite world of the international art auction.

If you like, you may adopt the role of one of six colorful characters who might attend such an auction. Their pictures and profiles are printed on special cards. So now you're ready to play. The winner is the player who, at the end of the game, has acquired the largest fortune in paintings and cash. Good luck!

Components

Playing board
Playing pieces
24 Paintings
24 Value cards
Play money
Clips
Two dice
6 cards
Rulebook

Setup

Place the board in the center of the play area. Each player selects a playing piece which he places on any space on the circular track. (Instructions on such spaces are not obeyed at the start).

Shuffle and place the value cards in a pile face down on the playing board. Shuffle and place the painting cards face up in a pile next to the value cards. Select one player to be the banker.

He gives each player, including himself, $1,500,000 and places the balance of the cash in a convenient location. Each player, in turn, beginning with the banker, draws one painting and one value card from the piles on the board.

The value card is clipped to the back of the painting so that its value is hidden and only the owner of the painting may look at it. All paintings are displayed face-up in front of their respective owners. 

Game Play

Players roll the dice for high score to determine who goes first. High man then rolls the dice and moves his piece the number of spaces indicated.

Rolling doubles does not permit a second consecutive turn. He then takes whatever steps he chooses within the following rules:

If a player lands on a space which says:

• Bank Auction
  He and each of the other players may, but are not required to, bid on the top painting in the pile on the board. The value of the painting will not be known except to the high bidder who draws the painting and top value card after he pays the bank.
  If a player lands on a space which says:

• Private Auction
  Any of the other players may, but are not required to, bid on one of his paintings. If he has more than one, the painting to be auctioned is selected by the player on his left. The new owner pays the former owner the high bid amount and he then receives the painting with its value card attached.

Auction Rules

The following rules are pertinent to all auctions:

1. If bidding occurs, the opening bid must be no less than $100,000.

2. Bids must be in amounts of at least $50,000.

3. Any player may open the bidding and thereafter bidding is at random without regard to the order of play around the board.

4. If at any time, a player is caught bidding an amount higher than his cash holdings, he must pay $1OO,000 to the bank, or if he has less than $100,000, he loses his next turn.
   A player may not be penalized for bidding above is cash assets if he is not discovered until after the high bidder has paid for his painting. If the high bidder has insufficient cash, he obeys the above rules and the auction is then re-run.
   A high bidder with sufficient cash must pay the high bid for his painting even if another player without sufficient cash was involved in the bidding.

5. In the event two or more players simultaneously bid a like amount and there is no higher bid, the auction is canceled.

6. The player on whose turn an auction occurs is the auctioneer, even though he may be participating himself. He shall endeavor to maintain reasonable order during the auction and shall make final decisions in the event of disputes but he must decide fairly and must see that all rules of the auction are obeyed.

7. Play passes to the next player to the left after a high bidder has paid and received his painting and value card.

8. Borrowing cash and private sales of paintings are not allowed.
   
   If a player lands on a space which says:

• Buy a painting for "x" dollars,
  He may, if he desires, pay the bank the amount specified and he then receives the top painting together with the top value card.
  If he does not wish to buy the painting, the play automatically becomes a Bank Auction in which all players participate according to Bank Auction rules except that the player who refused the painting acts only as auctioneer and may not bid.

• Sell any painting to the bank
  He is given the opportunity but is not required to sell any one of his paintings to the bank. The value is determined by its value card. A player will do well to sell an expensive painting as he might be forced to sell it at a loss at "Private Auction".
  When a painting is cashed in, the value card is displayed for other players to see and then both the painting and the card are placed aside, out of play for the remainder of the game.

• Buy a painting from another player for $400,000
  He is given the opportunity but is not required to purchase any one painting from any other player for $400,000. The player owning the desired painting is obligated to sell if the buyer has the ready cash.

• Inherit a painting
  He receives free and clear the top painting from the pile on the board, along with the top value card which will assign the value to the painting.

• Sell a painting to the bank for $350,000
  He must sell any one of his paintings for which the bank pays $350,000 in cash. He will do well to sell his least valuable painting, particularly a forgery if he has one, but he is required to sell even if his least valuable masterpiece is worth more than $350,000.
  He takes no action on his turn if he has no painting.

End of the Game

The game ends when the last painting and value card are drawn from the board. Players add up their cash and the values of their paintings to determine their total assets.

The player having the greatest total assets is the winner.