In an intense round, five players duke it out as they desperately try to nab a priceless piece from Abdulmari Imao’s “Sarimanok” series. By nabbing this final artwork, the round ends, and it’s a gamble to see who managed to profit from their acquired collection after various auctions went down. Even with the game’s suggested bidding ceiling of ₱30 million, the highest bid went as far as ₱50 million. And by the end of the intense plotting, trading, and intrigue that unfolded at the table, it was an underdog collection of varied works by Juvenal Sanso and Federico Aguilar Alcuaz that swept us off.

This intense trade-off is just a sample of how much fun the Modern Art: Philippine Edition board game is. Modern Art is no stranger to the board game community. Created back in 1992 by Reiner Knizia, Modern Art has players playing as art dealers buying and selling works of art by five different artists. For the Philippine edition brought to life by Gaming Library and Fundación Sansó, you’re playing as different local museums, all vying for pieces by Larry Alcala, Federico Aguilar Alcuaz, Abdulmari Imao, Raul Lebajo, and Juvenal Sansó. Unique auction scenarios make trading off art pieces an exciting ordeal. The values of the paintings are determined by the end of each round, depending on how many paintings of a certain artist have been put on display by the museums.

Behind the local edition’s design are graphic artist Tanya Mallillin and Gaming Library’s Hans Kenner Fernandez and Duane Galang. This trio did a wonderful job at making sure every artist’s work featured is given the spotlight it deserves. Each card’s printing quality is pristine, and the images are clear. Game pieces include a little wooden hammer for auctions, a small easel to display the artworks being sold, printouts of the museums involved, and money chips representing paper currency, ala Monopoly. Select releases will also contain a limited-edition archival print of Juvenal’s “Fat Cat.”