Your Questions, Answered. No Auction Paddle Required.

The Estimate Game is a free online game where you guess the hammer price of real artworks before they sell at auction. You see the lot and its comparables, enter one exact price, and score by how close you land to the final result. It's made by ArtAtlas and is playable at theestimategame.com.

Pick a live or upcoming auction lot and study the artwork, the artist and the comparable sales. Then enter the single price you think the hammer will fall at. When the auction ends, the closer your guess was, the better your score.

Yes. The Estimate Game is built around exactly that: players predict what paintings, prints and other artworks will sell for at Christie's, Sotheby's, Phillips and auction houses in cities around the world, then compare their guess with the real result.

Maurizio Cattelan's Comedian, a real banana duct-taped to a wall, sold at Sotheby's New York in November 2024 for $6.2 million including fees (the hammer fell at $5.2 million). No, the banana wasn't special; it was from a fruit stand. The buyer paid for the idea, the certificate of authenticity, the instructions for installing it and owning the most argued-about artwork of the decade. The fruit is replaceable. The idea isn't. Outraged? Good. Now guess the next one in The Estimate Game.

No. Prices for modern and contemporary art come from the artist's significance, how rare the work is, its history of ownership, the buzz around it and two collectors who both refuse to lose. (Fun fact: most of what people call "modern art" today, banana included, is technically contemporary art.) Yes, your kid could probably paint it, but your kid didn't, and that's rather the point. Still not convinced? Play a round of The Estimate Game, guess the price and watch "my kid could do that" turn into "wait, how much?!"

Salvator Mundi, attributed to Leonardo da Vinci, is the most expensive painting ever sold at auction: $450.3 million including fees at Christie's New York in 2017 (the hammer fell at $400 million). That's roughly $1 million per square inch, and experts still argue over how much Leonardo actually painted. Think you'd have stopped bidding sooner? Prove it on today's top lots in The Estimate Game.

In the early 1980s, Jean-Michel Basquiat was selling postcards on the streets of New York. In 2017 his skull painting Untitled (1982) sold at Sotheby's New York for $110.5 million including fees (a $98 million hammer). Somewhere, someone who passed on a postcard is still not over it. The Estimate Game puts emerging and established artists side by side, so next time, you're the one who spotted them early.

Often, yes, and The Estimate Game lets you try. Every lot comes with an auction house estimate (a low–high range), and hammer prices regularly land outside it. You give your own exact price and see whether you got closer than the midpoint of the house estimate, which earns you a 15-point bonus. Fancy your chances?

The hammer price is the winning bid when the auctioneer's hammer falls. The final price adds the buyer's premium and fees, often 20–28% on top, so it's what the buyer actually pays. Headlines usually quote the final price. The Estimate Game asks you to guess the hammer price, because that's the purest measure of what the room decided the work was worth.

Not yet. The Estimate Game is free to play today, and for now you play for the score, the bragging rights and a sharper eye. But the sharpest eyes in the room usually get rewarded eventually. Stay tuned.

Nothing, and that's fair. If a lot is withdrawn or doesn't sell, the round is neutral: no one gains or loses points. In The Estimate Game, you're only scored against a real hammer price. A lot that leaves the room unsold just goes back to the vault, and your record stays clean.

Yes, but only for five minutes. After you lock in your price, The Estimate Game gives you a five-minute window to change your mind. The window also closes when guessing ends on that lot, whichever comes first. After that, your guess is final. Second thoughts allowed; third and fourth thoughts, not so much.

The Estimate Game scores you on how close your guess lands to the hammer price, up to 135 points per lot. It divides the bigger number by the smaller, so being too high and too low are judged the same way:

Beat the auction house (land closer than the midpoint of its estimate) and you earn +15. Beat it while going at least 25% away from that midpoint and you add +20 for boldness. Playing it safe is allowed. Playing it brave pays better.

The player whose guess is closest to the hammer price, in dollars, wins the lot and adds it to their virtual collection. A lot needs at least three guesses to be won, and ties go to whoever locked in first. Points put you on the leaderboard; wins build your collection. The real buyer paid millions. You paid nothing.

No. Looking at, learning about and enjoying art costs nothing, and prints, editions and works by emerging artists can cost less than a new phone. The art world just likes to look exclusive. The Estimate Game exists to call that bluff.

Art prices come from scarcity, the artist's reputation, the work's condition, its history of ownership and what two determined bidders will pay on the day. A unique painting is one of a kind, while photographs, prints and many sculptures come in editions, and a smaller edition usually means a higher price. Either way, some people really, really want it. The Estimate Game shows you the comparables, so you can tell a fair price from a wild one.

They know a lot, but an estimate is part valuation and part strategy. Auction houses set estimates to win consignments, keep sellers happy and manage what the market expects. A low estimate can lure bidders in, and a generous one can flatter a seller into consigning. That's why the hammer price so often lands far above or below it. The Estimate Game skips the politics: just you, the artwork and your eye.

No. Every expert started out as someone who just liked what they liked. Taste is a muscle, and The Estimate Game is the gym.

Yes, The Estimate Game is free to play on the web at theestimategame.com.

The Estimate Game is available now on the web at theestimategame.com. iPhone and Android apps are in testing and coming in the next few weeks.

No. The Estimate Game is designed for beginners and collectors alike. Every lot comes with comparable sales by the same artist across different auction houses, so you can learn how the art market prices work as you play.

The Estimate Game is auction-house agnostic: it doesn't favour any house. It curates lots, sales and themes from auction houses big and small, across many genres and cities worldwide, from Old Masters to contemporary art.

The Estimate Game exists to open up art collecting to younger generations and anyone outside the art world. If you didn't grow up going to auctions and galleries, that world can feel intimidating and closed. The game turns auctions into something playful and approachable, so you can build confidence and fall in love with art first.

Start by training your eye. The Estimate Game lets you follow real auctions, see what works sell for and learn how prices are set, with no money and no gatekeepers involved. It's a low-pressure first step before visiting galleries or bidding yourself.

Art is the only asset you can hang on your wall. It's bought first for love, but it also has a market of its own, separate from stocks and property, and some collectors see it as something to hold for the long term and pass on. It's not cash, though: art can take time to sell, buying, insuring and reselling it all cost money, and no one can promise it will rise in value. The Estimate Game lets you watch that market play out in real auction results, just for fun. It isn't financial advice, and prices can go up as well as down.

The Estimate Game gives you a ballpark. You see a work next to comparable sales, guess its price and then compare it with the real hammer price. Over time you learn how size, period, medium and the artist's reputation affect value.

Nobody can predict it for sure, but you can train your eye, and that beats waiting for permission from the art world. Many artists who are expensive today once sold early works for pocket money to people who simply loved them. The Estimate Game puts emerging and established artists side by side, so you can see the connections, compare their markets and learn to trust your own taste. Your gut might be smarter than you think.

The Estimate Game is educational as well as fun. Each lot tells the story of the artist and the work, and introduces you to many artists, genres and periods, so you build your own eye and taste as you play.

Yes. Most auction previews and sales are free and open to the public, with no tuxedo, no invitation and no secret handshake. You can stand a few feet from a Monet without spending a cent. Play a few rounds of The Estimate Game first, and you'll walk in knowing more than half the room expects you to.

The Estimate Game is a game, not a betting market. You don't buy contracts or pick price brackets. You name one exact price, and skill is measured by how close you get to the hammer.

The Estimate Game draws on past public auction results for the same artist across many auction houses, not only the house selling the lot, so you see the most relevant comparables for each work.

Ponder is The Estimate Game's mascot, the thoughtful character who guides players through each estimate.

Yes. Making a price guess and then seeing the real result is one of the quickest ways to train your eye for value. The Estimate Game is a low-pressure way to practise before you ever raise a paddle.

The Estimate Game is made by ArtAtlas (artatlas.global), a cultural travel and events platform for art fairs, biennials and auctions, based between New York and Paris.

You can reach The Estimate Game team at contact@artatlas.global for questions, feedback, press or partnerships.