Going going gone

For Xmas Alice Mansfield gave me an art board game called Going Going Gone in which you have to build up an art collection.

This is chiefly done by acquiring in auction art works from various periods namely renaissance, baroque, impressionism, modernism, surrealism, pop, installation, contemporary and graffiti.

Depending on which space you land on the board, you can buy at auction, trade artworks at fairs, try to acquire other players’ art and there is also a nasty square called “Fortune” on which you pick a card that leads either to a fine or some financial mishap.

There is an element of skill but it’s a combination of luck (where you land) and strategy (as regards what you buy).

It’s fun too as each player has to play the role of auctioneer.

We played it for the first time last night with my godson and his mother.

It was instructive too, as the rule book was also a catalogue so you learn about the artist.

Although the artists were all well-known, their pictures were slightly doctored.

I decided to buy up as much as possible as, if one acquires 3 – or better 4 – from each period, they increase in value.

My Godson’s mother forced up the bidding which denuded the player of cash.

The game is over once all the art works have gone and the winner is determined by worth – cash plus the value of his/her collection.

Most of all it was fun and 3 hours were happily passed.