The Gallery Gambit box on a white plinth in a museum room, between framed paintings.
Gallery Gambit on a plinth in the museum room where we shot the game’s video.

Exhibition

Gallery Gambit

A card game for two to five gallery owners. You draft paintings from a shared Market and hang them in three Exhibitions. When one player has filled all three, the best gallery wins. About 20 minutes.

Cards painted by Julia July. A game by Robin Stokkel and Simone Luijk.

Gallery Gambit

The game: 54 painted cards, player boards and rules.

Late pledge on Kickstarter

Designer playing cards

The deck on its own, in a printed tuck box.

Add the deck on Kickstarter
Read the rulesPlay Gallery Gambit Online
The Gallery Gambit box, a face-down deck and a spread of illustrated cards laid out as three exhibits, with the 2-5 players, 15 minutes, age 10+ badge.

The game

What is Gallery Gambit

Gallery Gambit is a board game played with a deck of themed playing cards. You run a modern art gallery and buy paintings to hang the best-looking exhibits in town.

The box holds the cards and everything else you need to play: player boards with the three Exhibitions, a first-player chip, the rulebook and a score book. 2 to 5 players, about 20 minutes, ages 10 and up.

Late pledge on Kickstarter

How it plays

Draft, curate, outplay

Each player builds three Exhibitions of two, three and four cards. 2 to 5 players, about 20 minutes.

Read the full rules
  1. Players lean over a table and pick painted cards from the shared Market.

    Draft from the Market

    Take cards from the shared Market to fill your exhibits. Aim for the strongest sets.

  2. A player rearranges the cards on their player board.

    Curate with a Gambit

    You can choose to curate your exhibits by doing a Gambit. The sets will be more valuable, but you might fall behind.

  3. A finished player board with three Exhibitions of two, three and four painted cards.

    The finest collection wins

    As soon as one player completes all three exhibits, scoring starts. Rivals then go head to head for bonus points, and the best gallery owner wins.

The four aces of the Gallery Gambit deck fanned out: the Rijksmuseum, the Louvre, The Met and the Guggenheim.

The designer deck

More than a board game

The 54 cards are a full standard deck. Every card is a hand-drawn illustration by Julia July, with one art movement per suit and the four aces set in real museums.

The same cards play Gallery Gambit and any game you would play with a standard deck, like poker or rummy. They work for cardistry too.

The deck is also sold on its own, as a collector’s deck in an embossed tuck box that is printed on the inside.

Add the deck on Kickstarter

Hearts

Pop-Art

Flat colour, hard outlines and everyday objects painted like icons.

See the prints and postcards
Ace of Hearts: The Rijksmuseum in flat Pop-Art colour under a yellow sun.
Ace of HeartsRijksmuseum. Julia July
2 of Hearts: Red flowers in a blue vase marked with hearts.
2 of HeartsJulia July
4 of Hearts: A red sailboat on a blue sea under a yellow sky.
4 of HeartsJulia July
9 of Hearts: A kitchen corner with a black and white floor of hearts, a table and red flowers.
9 of HeartsJulia July
10 of Hearts: A ginger cat asleep on a green chair by an orange window.
10 of HeartsJulia July
King of Hearts: A Pop-Art king with blond hair and a gold crown.
King of HeartsJulia July

Spades

Cubism

Faces and objects broken into planes and seen from several sides at once.

See the prints and postcards
Ace of Spades: The entrance of The Met with red doorways.
Ace of SpadesThe Met. Julia July
2 of Spades: Yellow flowers with spade-shaped petals in a faceted green vase.
2 of SpadesJulia July
4 of Spades: A sailboat over a sea of broken planes.
4 of SpadesJulia July
9 of Spades: A Cubist interior with a blue table and a checkerboard floor.
9 of SpadesJulia July
10 of Spades: A black and white cat built from angled planes.
10 of SpadesJulia July
King of Spades: A Cubist king with a moustache and a crown.
King of SpadesJulia July

Clubs

Fauvism

Colour first. Shapes and light are set by feeling, and the view in front of the painter matters less.

See the prints and postcards
Ace of Clubs: The Louvre pyramid in front of the palace.
Ace of ClubsLouvre. Julia July
2 of Clubs: Bright flowers in a yellow vase marked with clubs.
2 of ClubsJulia July
4 of Clubs: A small sailboat on a choppy blue sea.
4 of ClubsJulia July
9 of Clubs: An orange kitchen with a kettle, a chair and a checkerboard floor.
9 of ClubsJulia July
10 of Clubs: A white cat asleep on a green chair beside a window.
10 of ClubsJulia July
King of Clubs: A Fauvist king with a moustache and a gold crown.
King of ClubsJulia July

Diamonds

Bauhaus

Geometry, type and clean shapes, made for the shop floor as much as the gallery.

See the prints and postcards
Ace of Diamonds: The Guggenheim as stacked yellow bands.
Ace of DiamondsGuggenheim. Julia July
2 of Diamonds: Round flowers on straight stems in a geometric pot.
2 of DiamondsJulia July
4 of Diamonds: A red sailboat on a block of blue under a yellow sun.
4 of DiamondsJulia July
9 of Diamonds: A still life of circles, squares and a checkerboard.
9 of DiamondsJulia July
10 of Diamonds: A black cat sitting on a box patterned with diamonds.
10 of DiamondsJulia July
King of Diamonds: A Bauhaus king made of a few flat shapes.
King of DiamondsJulia July

Same rank, four movements

One subject, painted four ways

Each rank has its own subject, painted once in every movement. The 2s are flowers in a vase, the 4s a sailboat, the 9s an interior and the 10s a cat. Put the four side by side and the movements show what they do differently.

The Aces: a museum

Ace of Hearts, Pop-Art: The Rijksmuseum in flat Pop-Art colour under a yellow sun.
HeartsPop-Art
Ace of Spades, Cubism: The entrance of The Met with red doorways.
SpadesCubism
Ace of Clubs, Fauvism: The Louvre pyramid in front of the palace.
ClubsFauvism
Ace of Diamonds, Bauhaus: The Guggenheim as stacked yellow bands.
DiamondsBauhaus

The 2s: flowers in a vase

2 of Hearts, Pop-Art: Red flowers in a blue vase marked with hearts.
HeartsPop-Art
2 of Spades, Cubism: Yellow flowers with spade-shaped petals in a faceted green vase.
SpadesCubism
2 of Clubs, Fauvism: Bright flowers in a yellow vase marked with clubs.
ClubsFauvism
2 of Diamonds, Bauhaus: Round flowers on straight stems in a geometric pot.
DiamondsBauhaus

The 4s: a sailboat

4 of Hearts, Pop-Art: A red sailboat on a blue sea under a yellow sky.
HeartsPop-Art
4 of Spades, Cubism: A sailboat over a sea of broken planes.
SpadesCubism
4 of Clubs, Fauvism: A small sailboat on a choppy blue sea.
ClubsFauvism
4 of Diamonds, Bauhaus: A red sailboat on a block of blue under a yellow sun.
DiamondsBauhaus

The 9s: an interior

9 of Hearts, Pop-Art: A kitchen corner with a black and white floor of hearts, a table and red flowers.
HeartsPop-Art
9 of Spades, Cubism: A Cubist interior with a blue table and a checkerboard floor.
SpadesCubism
9 of Clubs, Fauvism: An orange kitchen with a kettle, a chair and a checkerboard floor.
ClubsFauvism
9 of Diamonds, Bauhaus: A still life of circles, squares and a checkerboard.
DiamondsBauhaus

The 10s: a cat

10 of Hearts, Pop-Art: A ginger cat asleep on a green chair by an orange window.
HeartsPop-Art
10 of Spades, Cubism: A black and white cat built from angled planes.
SpadesCubism
10 of Clubs, Fauvism: A white cat asleep on a green chair beside a window.
ClubsFauvism
10 of Diamonds, Bauhaus: A black cat sitting on a box patterned with diamonds.
DiamondsBauhaus

The Kings: a king

King of Hearts, Pop-Art: A Pop-Art king with blond hair and a gold crown.
HeartsPop-Art
King of Spades, Cubism: A Cubist king with a moustache and a crown.
SpadesCubism
King of Clubs, Fauvism: A Fauvist king with a moustache and a gold crown.
ClubsFauvism
King of Diamonds, Bauhaus: A Bauhaus king made of a few flat shapes.
DiamondsBauhaus

Reviews and previews

“Gallery Gambit takes the familiar foundation of a deck of cards and turns it into a beautiful, surprisingly tactical art-collecting game.”

Kevin Delp, Tantrum House
Ace of Hearts: The Rijksmuseum in flat Pop-Art colour under a yellow sun.

“Gallery Gambit can be played with a standard poker deck, but the custom art deck really helps you feel like you're creating exhibits in an art gallery.”

Jonathan H. Liu, GeekDad

“Familiar cards, an easy game to get into and some lovely artwork to look through. This game worked really well for us.”

Wouter & Ymke, Tabletopping

“The impressive artwork really delivers on the game's theme.”

Selwyn, Board's Eye View

Past exhibition

At Museum De Lakenhal, Leiden, 16 October 2026

Museum De Lakenhal is the museum of art and history of the city of Leiden. It is housed in the 17th-century cloth hall where Leiden cloth was once inspected for quality. Lakenhal Laat is its Friday evening programme: part of the museum stays open from 19:00 to 22:00 for talks, performances and workshops.

On 16 October 2026 Gallery Gambit filled the Achterplaats, the covered courtyard where textile workers once waited for their cloth to be inspected. Visitors played at long tables, looked at the card art on a display, entered a polaroid contest for the most beautiful exhibition and could buy the game at the stand.

The Achterplaats seen from the steps, with giant red and yellow paper flowers in front of the playing tables.
The Achterplaats during Lakenhal Laat. Photo: Simone Both
Four players mid-game at a wooden table, with the card display behind them.
Players in the Achterplaats. Photo: Simone Both
Close view of hands holding a fan of Gallery Gambit cards above the player boards.
A hand of paintings. Photo: Simone Both
A visitor studies Gallery Gambit cards displayed upright on a long table.
The card display. Photo: Simone Both
Julia July smiling behind the Gallery Gambit stand at Museum De Lakenhal, talking with a visitor in a yellow coat.

Featured artist

Julia July

Julia July, the illustrator and graphic designer of Gallery Gambit, draws inspiration from the space where professional commissions meet creative experiment. Her personal artworks continuously introduce new materials and shapes into her design process.

See Julia July’s printsVisit julia-july.nl