Designer: Mike Wokasch (Starving Artists)

Artist: Vaughn Reynolds (Hunting Party, Starving Artists)

Publisher: Zafty Games (Pixel Glory, Starving Artists)

Genre/Mechanisms: card selection, resource management, set collection

Funding Status: At the time of this posting, Starving Artists – Second Printing is already fully-funded.  In fact, pledges currently total more than 4.5x the initial funding goal.

Player Count: 1-4

Solo Mode: yes

Complexity: light

Risk: medium-low

What It’s About: This light game has players placing cubes on pieces of public domain art to finish painting them and score points.

How It Works: Players start with 5 Nutrition, and lose one at the beginning of every round except for the first round. If a player’s Nutrition ever reaches 1, they’re out of the game. Each day, or round, players take two actions, one at a time, in player order. Players can Work, drawing 3 cubes from the bag and placing them in their Studio; Buy a New Canvas by paying its cost in cubes based on its position in the Canvas Market; or Paint Canvases, adding up to 4 cubes from their Studio to any combination of their Canvases. Additionally, players can take one Free Action each day at any time during one of their turns, either before or after their Main Actions. Free Actions include Trading paint cubes from their Studio for paint cubes from the Paint Market in any of the following ratios: 2 cubes from their Studio for 1 from the Paint Market, 5 for 2, or 9 for 3 (players can also reset the Paint Market for 2 cubes); Selling a Completed Painting, raising their Nutrition level by the Food Value on the painting, and taking four paint cubes for every Food Value after the Nutrition level hits 5; and Getting Paid, where players take turns collecting paint cubes from the Paint Market in a series of collection actions where the player with the highest valued Painting takes 4 cubes each, the player with the second-highest valued Painting takes 2 cubes each, and the other players take 1 cube each, cycling around until the players have taken cubes equal up to the Paint Value of their painting, or until the Paint Market is empty. The game ends when a player completes a certain number of paintings or scores a certain number of points: 7 paintings or 16 points in 2 player, 6 paintings or 14 points in 3 player, or 5 paintings or 12 points in 4 player.

Comparisons: Another light game about painting that has some surprisingly solid choices is Bob Ross: Art of Chill. The Gallerist is another art-themed game, but much, much heavier.

What Should I Pledge?:
$1 Starving Artist Pay What You Want: includes the 5-6 Player Expansion and all unlocked stretch goals.
$15 Cassatt: includes the 5-6 player expansion, the Impressionist Promo Pack, the Renaissance Promo Pack, and all unlocked stretch goals
$20 Munch: everything from the Cassatt pledge level plus a “Canvas Rack” Box that increases box storage capacity.
$29 Van Gogh: includes the Starving Artists base game, the 5-6 player expansion, and all unlocked stretch goals.
$44 Gauguin: includes the Starving Artists base game, the 5-6 player expansion, the Impressionist Promo Pack, the Renaissance Promo Pack, and all unlocked stretch goals.
$49 Gauguin: includes the Starving Artists base game, the 5-6 player expansion, a playmat, and all unlocked stretch goals.
$49 Monet: includes the Starving Artists base game, the 5-6 player expansion, the Impressionist Promo Pack, the Renaissance Promo Pack, the “Canvas Rack” Box, and all unlocked stretch goals.
$64 Leyster: includes the Starving Artists base game, the 5-6 player expansion, the Impressionist Promo Pack, the Renaissance Promo Pack, the playmat, and all unlocked stretch goals.
$69 Sated Artist: includes the Starving Artists base game, the 5-6 player expansion, the Impressionist Promo Pack, the Renaissance Promo Pack, the playmat, the “Canvas Rack” Box, and all unlocked stretch goals.

Add-Ons:
$10 NSFW Pack
$20 Playmat

KS Exclusives:
None.

All-In Total: In the continental U.S., you’re looking at $69 for the Sated Artist pledge level plus $5 in shipping for a total of $74.

Starving Artists – Second Printing completes its Kickstarter on Thursday, June 6th and tentatively ships in October 2019.