The artist and his work

 When the mere mention of a franchise's name causes twelve to fifteen thousand people to open their wallets to support it, I think the world should take notice.

 Canvas by Road to Infamy Games (R2i) is from designers Jeff Chin and Andrew Nerger. And while the game itself has its merits, Luan Huynh's creativity probably deserves more praise. Canvas is one of those games that is so visually stunning that the game itself often takes a back seat.

 But inside that beautiful box is a game. In fact, thanks to three wildly successful Kickstarter campaigns, there are now three games in three great box sets, completing this trilogy franchise. Today we're going to take a look at the basic box that started it all.

VISUAL

 The hook that lures you into playing Canvas is the transparent cards that will eventually form a picture of the players. These five cards are opened in the market, which changes as the cards are received. The cards are stored in a box to avoid accidental glances.

 At the beginning, four cards are chosen as artistic goals for the game. The back of the rulebook has a number of suggested combinations to suit skill levels and thematic presentations, but randomness is always a possibility. Objectives control the selection of cards to collect combinations of symbols in their easels to score points.

 Each player turn consists of visiting the market to get a card or presenting a finished painting. When visiting the market, the first card is free, but skipping cards requires one Imagination Token for each missed card. These collected Imagination Tokens remain on the cards until they are picked up in subsequent turns.

 Three cards are needed to represent the picture. If a player reaches five cards in his hand, he must reveal them on the next turn. The three cards are (hopefully) stacked in such a way as to maximize the scoring potential of the various symbols according to the objectives. Of course, since each painting will be stunning in its own right, as well as having an exciting title, there's a lot of buzz to be made for each entry to be recognized for its creativity and ingenuity. Or not.

 Since each player will present three paintings, the final score is determined by the number of times each of the objectives is achieved during the game. The value of accumulated ribbon tokens determines the winner.

QUALITY OF COMPONENTS

 The cards are made with love. Each of them comes with a protective film. The clarity of the cards is amazing. The title words below add some flair.

 The original Kickstarter product had a simple canvas mat (which is also included in the Ukrainian version of the game) instead of a field for goal and market cards. I prefer the ease of making. Depending on the variant, the tapes are made of wood or cardboard. Even the cardboard components are sturdy and double-sided to keep the tokens attractive.

 Each set of transparencies is presented over a base card in a sleeve and on an easel. The easels are of the Walmart wood variety, but when properly positioned (let the reader understand) they really add to the crafting.

 A game box is designed for a greater purpose than a regular box can provide. Without a single printed word, the box hangs on the wall. I love board games, but I'm not a hole-in-the-wall kind of guy for stuff like that. Because if I look at it honestly, it would need a screw to hold the weight of the contents. Still, I admire this dedication to the thematic content of the experience. I imagine pulling a game off the wall for a night game with friends is a unique experience.

SHADES

 Canvas is weird because I have, in a sense, already figured out the whole point of the game. Explaining the game takes a few minutes. The entire game can be completed in less than half an hour. Yet there's more to this little job than meets the eye, provided you're interested in the design.

 From an aesthetic point of view, I cannot accurately describe the effect of the artistic accompaniment. It is important. I've watched players eschew objectives almost entirely in favor of producing eclectic goodness only to later investigate whether it was worth anything on the scoreboard. I've watched players who are unerringly concerned with scoring points tilt their intent with a tape or two to make the picture more interesting. I've also watched players basically ignore the artwork until it was time to present, and then seem disappointed that they didn't do something more pleasing to the eye. Nowhere in the rulebook is there a sanction for goodness, beauty, or even entertainment, but the unspoken rule is that it doesn't matter. It seems almost an injustice when the tapes are showered with an unworthy exhibit.

IMPRESSION

 Canvas is great. It's essentially an abstract game about collecting and arranging symbols to achieve a set of arbitrary goals. On the outside, though, it's a game that's seductive enough to push itself above its fundamental limits.

 The puzzle here sometimes becomes painful. The economics revolving around managing a limited and negotiable supply of imagination tokens are pretty tight. As you survey the market, your imagination will keep writing checks that your brain can't cash. This is the real challenge of the game: can you manage the market well enough to have what you need, when you need it? And it will still be beautiful?

 Strategically, I find it helpful to work on about one and a half paintings at a time. Managing imagination tokens will often mean taking a suboptimal card in the name of "thinking ahead" while biding your time for a card that completes the masterpiece. Of course, by the third picture I was occasionally thinking so far ahead that I'm obviously playing the next game because the cards I've collected are completely useless. I guess I appreciate mental gymnastics.

 The victory in Canvas is gratifying. Recognizing the utility of the perfect card and taking the appropriate risk of having it at the right time hits a sweet spot in my sense of satisfaction. Similarly, putting together a really charming piece of art that actually has good results is a lot of fun. It's moments like these that keep me coming back to the game again and again.

 In one of my favorite holiday movies of recent years, The Man Who Invented Christmas, the elder Mr. John Dickens repeatedly says, "People will believe anything if you're dressed right." With a cold intellect, it would be awfully easy to see Canvas as little more than an overwrought picture-making exercise. Of course transparent cards should exist to overlap symbols, but 80% of every card is mechanically and practically useless. But anyway, the clothes are just right for people to believe that it's worth it.

 I can't classify Canvas as one of my absolute favorite games, but I liked it because of its unique combination of simple mechanics, new components and aesthetic charm. I dipped into the first expansion, Reflections, but I didn't get into the second, Finishing Touches.

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DESCRIPTION OF BOARD GAME CANVAS The new game "Canvas" in the Ukrainian localization will allow even a completely untalented person to feel like a genius in the body and on perfectly legal grounds to introduce the phrase "I am an artist, I see!" . Don't you believe that you can create a masterpiece? In vain do you doubt yourself. Come on, remember what the creators of the brush and palette usually do there before they sit down for a greasy creation? We tune in to the positive, pick up ..