Open a studio
Create a game, share the six-character code and seat up to four artists. Everyone starts with paint, five nutrition and zero fame.
The five-minute guide
Paint famous art. Sell it. Try not to starve.
Starving Artists is a strategy game for one to four players. Every turn asks the same useful question: is this paint worth more on a canvas, in the market or saved for later?
Take two actions
Each day has Morning and Afternoon. In turn order, buy a canvas, paint up to four cubes or pass in each phase.
Trade once
Make one market trade at any time during Morning or Afternoon. Trading is free. It never uses your action for that phase.
Sell finished art
After both action phases, declare any completed canvases for sale. Sold paintings earn fame, food and first choice of market paint.
Stay fed
At the start of a new day, every artist loses one nutrition. If an artist reaches zero, the final day begins.
Pay for position.
The three market slots cost one, two or three paint cubes. A purchased canvas moves to your studio. Refill the empty market slot from the deck.
Place up to four cubes.
Match cube colors to open paint spaces across one or more canvases. A clear wild cube can fill any color, but each canvas can hold only one wild.
One free trade each day.
Trade two cubes for one, five for two or nine for three. Take paint from the shared market and return your offered cubes. Your Morning or Afternoon action remains available.
Turn art into survival.
Completed canvases can be sold after Afternoon. Rewards resolve together. Fame moves you toward victory. Food restores nutrition. Paint value helps decide collection order.
Ending the game
Fame wins. Hunger sets the clock.
A final day begins when an artist starves or a player reaches the fame or sold-canvas target for the group size. Finish that day. Highest fame wins. Ties go to most canvases sold, then nutrition.