How to play Acquire

Learn the rules to the board game Acquire quickly and concisely - This visually rich video has no distractions, just the rules.

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RULES:

The object of the game is to be the player with the most money at the end of the game. You gain money by buying and selling hotel-chain stocks. The game ends at the end of a player’s turn who declares that either when one hotel reaches a chain size of 41 or if all the hotel chains on the game board are safe.

Setup: layout the board and give each player a tile holder. Place the hotel chain markers face up on the edge of the board. Mix up the tiles facedown on the table where all players can reach them. Choose a player to be the banker. If no player wants to be the banker, put the stocks and money where all players can reach them. The banker keeps the bank money separate from their own.

Before the game begins, the bank gives each player four $1000s, three $500s, and five $100s for a total of $6000. Each player randomly picks and reveals one tile. The player whose tile is closest to the “A” row goes first. If there is a tie, then the player closest to “1A” goes first. Shuffle the tiles back in then each player randomly picks 6 tiles to add to their hand. Players can look at their own tiles but should keep them hidden from other players.

On your turn you take 3 actions in this order: 1. Play a tile onto the game board. 2. Buy up to three stocks. 3. Draw a new random face-down tile. The tiles represent hotels and hotel chains. To play a tile, place one from your hand of tiles onto the matching space on the game board.

A new placed tile can either, found a new hotel chain, grow a hotel chain, merge two or more hotel chains, or have no effect. When you place a tile horizontally or vertically next to another tile that isn’t already part of a hotel chain, you have just founded a new hotel chain. Diagonals, do not start hotel chains. Pick a hotel chain not currently in play from the side of the board and place it covering the two newly connected tiles. You receive 1 free stock of that chain for founding it. If all the hotel chains are already founded, you are not allowed to play a tile that would found a new one. Also, if there is no more stock for the chain you founded, you do not receive the 1 free founders stock.

If you place a tile next to an adjacent hotel chain, it becomes part of that hotel chain, making it bigger in size. The size of a hotel chain is important for keeping track of its stock price and merger payouts.

When you place a tile so that it connects two or more hotel chains, a merger takes place. A merger means that the bigger hotel chain is acquiring the small hotel chains. Count the hotel chain’s tiles of each hotel. The one with more, acquires the ones with less. If it is a tie, then the player decides which hotel acquires which. During the merger, the tile you placed doesn’t count towards any hotel chain’s size.

Each player who has stock in the merging hotel chains counts up how much of each hotel, before the merging, they have to determine the majority and minority stock holders. The player with the most stock holds majority, the player with the 2nd most, has minority. Each player receives a shareholder bonus and is paid by the bank as indicated by reference chart. If two players are tied for majority, then add up the majority and minority bonus and spit it evenly, rounded to the nearest 100, between the two. The minority does not receive a bonus. If the minority is tied, then the two players split the minority bonus evenly, rounded to the nearest 100, between the two players. If only one player has stock in the hotel chain, he receives both majority and minority bonus.

Players must then decide what to do with their stocks of the acquired hotel chain. Each player, starting with the player who made the merger and proceeding clockwise, must decide to hold, trade, or sell in any combination his stocks in that hotel chain.

If you hold your stock when a merger happens, you will own stock of a hotel that won’t exist on the game board. It has zero value unless the hotel chain becomes founded again.

Players may choose to trade two stocks of the acquired hotel chain for 1 stock of the hotel chain that acquired it. Players may choose to sell their stock of the acquired hotel chain. The bank pays a player the sell price listed on the reference chart based on the current size of the hotel chain for each stock that player sells.

Once each player has taken their turn, the acquired hotel chain is put back on the side of the board. It now becomes available to found a new hotel chain. If a hotel chain grows to a size of 11 tiles or more, then it’s considered safe. A safe hotel chain may not be acquired by a larger hotel. Any play that would cause this is illegal. If all the tiles in your hand cannot be played legally…