- BGG rating
- 6.9
Fresco: Expansion Module 7 – The Scrolls
- 2–4 players
- 45 min
- Complexity 2.3/5
- 2010
- BGG rank
- BGG #553
- BGG rating
- 7.2
Fresco
2010
Rules assistance for Fresco
Plain-language explanations of turns, card effects and disputed situations, with official source references and saved question history.
- 2–4 players
- 60 min
- 10+
- Complexity 2.6/5
For 2 players
Rules assistant for Fresco
What would you like to know?
Answers come from the official rulebook, with the page to check.
Fresco is a board game released in 2010 for 2–4 players, 60 minutes per game, and ages 10 and up. It was designed by Wolfgang Panning, Marco Ruskowski, and Marcel Süßelbeck and its main mechanics are Set Collection, Income, and Simultaneous Action Selection.
Expansions
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About the game
In Fresco, players are master painters working to restore a fresco in a Renaissance church. Each round begins with players deciding what time they would like to wake up for the day. The earlier you wake up, the earlier you will be in turn order, and the better options you will be guaranteed to have. Wake up early too often, however, and your apprentices will become unhappy and stop working as efficiently. They would much rather sleep in! Then, players decide their actions for the turn, deploying their apprentice work force to various tasks. You'll need to buy paint, mix paint, work on painting the fresco, raise money (which you'll need to buy the aforementioned paint!) by painting portraits, and perhaps even send your apprentices to the opera in order to increase their happiness. Points are scored mostly by painting the fresco, which requires specific combinations of paints, so you'll need to buy and mix your paints wisely, in addition to beating other players to the paints and fresco segments you would like to paint. Fresco includes several expansion modules, so you can play without expansions for a lighter family game or add in expansions to vary play and increase the decision-making and difficulty, resulting in a very flexible game with a high replay value.
Categories
Mechanics
Publishers
- Devir
- Arclight Games
- Queen Games
- Competo / Marektoy
- Evrikus
- Piatnik Distribution
Questions and answers
Fresco supports 2–4 players according to the catalogue. This range comes from the publisher’s listed player count, so the game can be set up for any group size within it. Some setups, rules and scoring details may still vary by player count, so check your edition’s rulebook for the exact configuration.
The listed playing time for Fresco is 60 minutes. This is the publisher’s estimate for a full game. The actual duration depends on the group, the player count and familiarity with the rules: first sessions usually run longer, while experienced groups often finish faster. Setup and teaching time are not included in this estimate.
The catalogue lists Fresco for ages 10 and up. This is the publisher’s recommendation and reflects reading demands, rule complexity and small components rather than theme alone. Younger players can often join with help from an adult, so check the age guidance on your edition and consider your group’s experience with board games.
Fresco has a complexity rating of 2.6 out of 5 from BoardGameGeek players, which makes it a medium-light game. The rating reflects how much rules knowledge, planning and decision-making a typical game demands. Expect a longer first teach for heavier games, and use a preparation guide before game night.
Fresco belongs to these categories: Renaissance. Its main mechanics are Set Collection, Income, and Simultaneous Action Selection. Categories describe the theme and setting of a game, while mechanics describe what players actually do on their turns. Each mechanic links to a catalogue hub with similar games, which helps when you want something comparable.
The credited designers of Fresco are: Wolfgang Panning, Marco Ruskowski, and Marcel Süßelbeck. These credits come from the published game data and name the people responsible for the game’s design, not its illustrators or publishers. Designer pages on MeepleRules collect other titles by the same designers, which helps when you enjoy a game and want to find similar ones.
The catalogue lists Fresco as a base game. It can be played on its own with the components in the box and does not require any other title. Expansions, if any exist, add new content or rules on top of it and are listed separately in the catalogue with a link back to this base game.