Game Components

• 1 double-sided game board
• 14 market tiles
• 25 fresco tiles with values from 3 to 11
• 60 coins (Thalers)
• 78 paint pieces
• 4 natural-colored apprentices
• 20 apprentices, 5 each in 4 colors
• 12 master painters, 3 each in 4 colors
• 1 bishop
• 4 small screens
• 4 large screens
• 4 action sheets
• 4 cards showing tables of blending paints
• 1 linen bag
• 1 rules leaflet

Object of the Game

The players find themselves in the roles of fresco painters and by order of the bishop have to restore the large painting at the cathedral's ceiling.

The painters need to carefully plan for their workday. More often than not they have to get up very early in the morning, buying and mixing paints for their work in the cathedral in order to restore the fresco to its immaculate condition.

In case their income is not sufficient the players have to meet orders in their own studio. This may lead to a bad mood of their apprentices which can be cured only by attending the evening show at the theater.

Only slick planning will help you to gain the most victory points and to become the most glorious fresco painter.

Setup

1. The double-sided game board

   Placed in the middle of the table within easy reach for all players. The side for 4 players is face up (starting spaces S1 - S4).

   For 3 players turn the board over and use the side showing starting spaces S1 - S3.

2. The starting spaces (S1-S4)

   The Put 1 master painter of each player into the linen bag. Then draw one after the other from the bag and place them on the starting spaces S1 to S4 in the order as they were drawn.

3. The hostel

   Each player places one of their master painters on a space above the hostel.

   The hostel displays: Left column - get up time in the morning, Middle column - change of mood, Right column - market prices.

4. The market with four booths 1-4

   Put all 14 market tiles into the linen bag and shuffle well. The tiles show the paints which can be bought at the market. Draw the appropriate number of tiles for each booth and place them there face up. 1 tile will be left over in the bag.

5. The cathedral with fresco and altar

   Take one of the 25 fresco tiles valued 11 and place it face up in the center space of the fresco. Shuffle the remaining tiles and randomly deal them out face up onto the segments of the fresco.

6. The studio

   Place all coins on the three free spaces of the studio, sorted by denomination. This is the common supply.

7. The workshop

   All paint pieces are placed on the 6 spaces of the workshop, sorted by color. This is the common supply.

8. The theater

   Each player places one of their master painters on the corresponding space of the mood display. One natural-colored apprentice is placed on the space above each column.

9. The bishop

   The bishop takes his place in the center of the fresco.

Game Play

Fresco lasts for several rounds; each round is split into 2 phases:

1. Choosing get up time and adjusting mood
2. Planning and performing actions

I. Choosing get up time and adjusting mood

The player holding last position on the victory point track goes first.

They take their master painter from his space above the hostel and place the figure on a get up space of their choice (left column). The other players do likewise in order from second last position to first position, placing their master painter on any free get up space. Only one painter may occupy any single get up space. The get up time has the following effects for each player:

• It may change the player's own mood.
• It affects their market price.
• It determines the player order for the actions in phase 2.

Change of mood

Any change of mood is displayed in the middle column of the hostel. Immediately after choosing their get up time the player adjusts their mood by moving their painter up or down his column on the mood display. A figure may never be moved beyond the top or bottom space of a column.

The emotional state affects the following:

• "+1" Spaces

  

  If a player's master painter is occupying any of the two "+1" spaces they take the natural-colored apprentice from the space above their column.

  They may use this apprentice for 1 additional action (thus having a total of 6 actions) on their action sheet. A player keeps their extra apprentice until they are leaving the "+1" spaces.

  When leaving these spaces they return the apprentice to his space above the column.

• "-1" Spaces

  

  If a player's master painter is occupying any of the two "-1" spaces they have to dispense 1 of their own apprentices, placing him in front of their screen (thus having a total of only 4 actions during phase 2). When leaving these spaces they take their apprentice back and can use him again.

Market prices

Depending on the get up time they choose, the column to the right shows the price a player has to pay at the market for 1 market tile.

Player order

After all players choose their get up time the player order for this round is fixed. The player having chosen the earliest get up time will be first player during phase 2, followed by the other players in ascending order of their chosen get up time.

II. Planning and performing actions

Planning actions

Now all the players begin planning their forthcoming actions simultaneously behind their small screen. They can perform actions at the 5 different locations on the game board. The players deploy their available apprentices to the 15 spaces of their action sheet. Only 1 apprentice may be placed on any single action space, thus activating this action.

Performing actions

After all players have chosen where to send their apprentices they remove their small screens and go visiting the 5 locations one after the other. At each location the attending players perform their actions in order of their previously chosen get up time. The active player performs all their actions at a certain location before the next player will perform their actions at this location.

If a player did not deploy at least one of their apprentices at a certain location, they do not perform any actions there. They are simply skipped in the player order.

Players are not forced to perform their chosen actions. A player may forfeit performing any of their chosen actions. In case a player does not possess sufficient money or paint pieces needed for a certain action, they must forfeit this action.

Locations and actions:

Market: Buy paints or close down market booth

First the active player selects one of the available market booths and then decides to perform one of the two following actions:

• Buy paints

  

  Each of the player's apprentices deployed at the "market" column may buy 1 market tile from the selected booth. Each tile can be bought only once. The purchase price depends on the player's previously chosen get up time.

  The player takes the paint pieces shown on the tile they just bought from the common supply and hides them behind their large screen.

  Having finished all their purchases at the selected booth the player returns all tiles of this booth to the linen bag.

• Close down market booth

  If the active player deployed at least 1 of their apprentices at the "market" column they may forfeit buying paints and close down the selected booth instead. All tiles of this booth are returned to the linen bag. This counts as a free action.

Cathedral: Restore the fresco or altar

Each of the player's apprentices deployed at the "cathedral" column may:

• restore one segment of the fresco or
• restore the altar once

Restore a segment of the fresco

The fresco is divided into 25 segments; each segment is covered by 1 tile. In order to restore a segment the player must own the paint pieces shown on the segment's tile.

When restoring a segment the player returns the requested paint pieces to the common supply and gains the victory points shown on the tile plus any bonus points gained by the bishop, if applicable.

The player advances their master painter on the victory point track as many spaces as the number of victory points they just gained (not counting the starting spaces S1 - S 4, the actual victory point track starts with space 1).

If their movement ends on a space already occupied by another player's painter they have to decide whether to stop on the next empty space behind or in front of the occupied space. No space on the victory point track may ever be occupied by more than 1 figure.

After restoring a segment the player removes the fresco tile from the board and places it face down in front of them. Finally they move the bishop to the restored segment.

Moving the bishop

Before restoring any segment of the fresco, the player may move the bishop once only 1 space in any direction (vertically, horizontally or diagonally) by paying 1 Thaler to the community supply.

This movement may end on any segment no matter if restored already or still covered by a tile.

The bishop's bonus points

If the bishop is standing on the segment to be restored the player gains 3 bonus points. If the bishop is standing on a space adjacent (vertically, horizontally or diagonally) to the segment to be restored the player gains 2 bonus points.

Restore the altar

Instead of restoring a segment of the fresco the active player may choose to restore the altar. This can be done in two ways:

• Restore the altar using basic paints

  The player returns 1 each of yellow, red, and blue paint pieces from behind their screen to the common supply. They gain 2 victory points for this restoration. The player may substitute any one or even all of these paints by green, orange or purple paint, each of these wildcard paints being worth 1 additional victory point.

• Restore the altar using 3 different blended paints only:

  The player returns 1 each of orange, green, and purple paint pieces from behind their screen to the common supply. They gain 6 victory points for this restoration.

Studio: Paint portraits

For each of their apprentices deployed at the "studio" column a player is paid 3 Thalers from the common supply.

Workshop: Blend paints

For each of their apprentices deployed at the "workshop" column a player may blend paints up to 2 times. It's the active player's decision which paints they want to blend. They simply return the blended paint pieces to the common supply and take the resulting paint piece instead.

Theater: Improve one's mood

For each of their apprentices deployed at the "theater" column a player may move their master painter 2 spaces upwards on the mood display.

Please note: Any change of mood by visiting the theater will be effective on the next round after selecting the get up time. Only after this any apprentices are returned or retrieved.

After all players have finished all their actions the next round has to be prepared:

• Draw the appropriate number of market tiles for each market booth and place them there face up.
• Each player is paid their income which is 1 Thaler for each of their face down fresco tiles in front of themselves (applicable only after having restored at least one segment of the fresco).
• All players move their master painters back to their sleeping places at the top of the hostel.

The player holding last position on the victory point track starts the next round by selecting their get up time.

End of the Game

If there are 6 or less fresco tiles remaining on the board at the beginning of a round this is the final round of the game. All players flip their action sheet over, now showing side 2.

The game will end after this round, even if the fresco is not restored completely. No income is paid at the end of the final round.

Now all players are awarded victory points for their money. Every 2 Thalers are worth 1 victory point. These final victory points are awarded in player order (get up time) of the final round.

The player with the highest victory point total is the master of all fresco painters and winner of the game.

Continue Reading