In Curio Collectors (はんか通骨董市), players try to scoop up antiques and bring them to market — but they don't know exactly where the merchant is who will want to buy what they have. All they've heard is rumors from someone who turned out to be a dumb-ass know-it-all, so they need to find the right places to sell without collecting so many goods that the market for them collapses.
User summary:
The cards show a variety of collectible curios with each type having a value and a cost. The value is a number which is its worth in victory points at the end of the game. The cost is shown in icons which shows how many you may collect of that type. Once you have too many of a type, the cards are only worth one point each. You can get a card that damages an item, so bringing that curio back under the threshold. High value cards have few icons (a low threshold), low value cards have more icons (the lowest having no icons and so no threshold).
In a round, a line of cards is dealt face-up to the table. The start player splits the line in two by choosing a dividing point. The sides are marked above with a card for the left or right side, and players hold two cards showing the same left or right mark. Each player chooses one side they want, holding their left or right card face down and then revealing together. If only one player chose a side, they get all the curios to their own tableau and are out of the round.
But any time more than one player chooses a side, that side is contested down repeatedly in the same way until those players have either collected curios and are out, or until the set cannot be divided any more. Cards not won go to a treasure chest. This contest delays the resolution of the other side, which might then go under the same contest.
The player choosing every split moves clockwise around the table amongst the players still in the round.
The start player also adds in a special card to the line up at the start. The player that wins this card will collect all the cards that go to the treasure chest. Because of the number of cards that might end up in the chest, it can be a poisoned chalice, busting sets of cards.
Play three rounds and score at the end of the game. Most points wins.
