In Canvas you are a painter and you participate in an art competition. Players collect art cards and match 3 of them to create their own unique painting. Each card contains a piece of art and a set of icons used during scoring. Icons are revealed or hidden based on how players choose to play the cards. Paintings are scored based on a set of scorecards that are different each game. Once players have created and scored 3 paintings, the game ends.
On your turn, you may take an art card or create a painting. Art cards are chosen from a row of cards in the center of the deck. Each of these cards has a cost associated with their position. After you select an art card, you must pay its cost by placing an inspiration token on each of the cards to its left. If you don't have enough inspiration tokens, you may not select that card. All tokens on the card you selected are saved for future turns. The far left card does not cost any inspiration tokens to take.
If you have three or more art cards, you can choose to create a painting. Select 3 of your art cards, arrange them in any order, and then score them by comparing the visible icons on your painting against the conditions.
Once all players have created 3 paintings, the game ends. The player with the most points wins!
The Games Friends: Canvas is more than a gimmick and beautiful artwork, it is also a lot of fun to play. The rules are simple, but there is still plenty of challenge for the expert player. As far as we are concerned, a real hit!