{{See Wiktionary}}
{{Infobox Game
| title = Acquire
| subtitle =
| image_link = [[Image:Acquire game.JPG|300px]]
| image_caption = The Hasbro/Avalon Hill version of ''Acquire''
| designer = Sid Sackson
| illustrator =
| publisher = Various
| players = 2-6
| ages = 12+
| setup_time = 5 minutes
| playing_time = 90 minutes
| random_chance = Tile drawing
| skills = Tile laying, resource management
| footnotes =
| bggid = 5
| bggxrefs =
}}
'''''Acquire''''' is a [[board game]] designed by [[Sid Sackson]]. The game was originally published in 1962 by [[3M]] as a part of their [[3M bookshelf game series|bookshelf games series]]. In the most versions, the theme of the game was investing in [[hotel]] chains. In the most recent edition, published by [[Hasbro]], the hotel chains are replaced by generic corporations, though the actual gameplay is unchanged.

==Contents==
* The game board, a rectangular array with twelve columns labeled 1 to 12 and nine rows labeled from A to I. Each of the 108 spaces on the board will hold one tile.
* 108 wooden tiles (later versions having plastic), one for each space of the board. Each tile has its location such as '''7A''' or '''1H''' printed on one side; that is the only location in which the tile may be played. Each tile represents a hotel, and adjacent tiles represent hotel chains. (In some German editions of the game, the spaces on the board are represented by cards; generic buildings are placed on the board when spaces are claimed.)
* Seven markers for hotel chains: two indicating relatively cheap chains, two indicating relatively expensive chains, and three indicating medium cost chains.
* Twenty-five shares of stock for each of the seven hotel chains.
* A supply of play money.
* Racks in which the players hold the tiles they have drawn (not present in most editions).

==Rules==
For two to six players. Standard tournament games are played with four. When there are only two players, special rules apply when there is a merger (see below).

The game starts with one tile per player picked randomly and placed in their locations. This is used as a convenient way to determine which player goes first: each player draws one of the tiles for the initial setup, and the player with the lowest-numbered tile goes first (for example 1A goes before 1C which goes before 2B). A player will also be chosen as the stock market banker and s/he will take cares of all the money and stock transactions between the players and the bank.

Each player begins the game with $6000 in cash ($1000 x 4, $500 x 3, $100 x 5) and six tiles picked at random for their starting racks. On each turn of the game, the player whose turn it is
# must play one tile
# must deal with the merger or founding of a new company if one results
# may buy three (or fewer) stock of any combination
# must draw one tile

Whenever a player places a tile horizontally or vertically adjacent to a tile which is not already part of a hotel chain, that player has the option of founding a new hotel chain, unless all seven hotel chains are already in play, in which case that tile becomes temporarily unplayable. The player may choose to found any chain not already in play, and receives one share of stock in the new chain at no charge. Note that if there is no more stock of that founded company in the stock market, the player will not receive that free share of stock.

Each player may, after playing a tile on his turn, purchase up to three shares of stock in existing hotel chains (hotel chains that are on the board). Only the player whose turn it is may buy stock. According to the official rule, a player may also ask the banker how many shares of a chain are not purchased yet.

When a new tile is placed adjacent to an existing hotel chain, the chain becomes larger and its stock increases in value. When a new tile is placed adjacent to tiles from two or more different chains, those chains merge into a single hotel chain, with the largest chain taking over the smaller one(s). If there is a tie among the largest chains, the player placing the merging tile chooses which of those will take over. In the case of a multiple merger, that is, a merger that merges three or more companies, the largest chain being acquired is dealt with first, and so on for each smaller chain.

When a hotel chain is merged out of existence, the players with the most (majority stockholder) and second-most (minority stockholder) shares receive cash bonuses. If there is a tie between/among the majority stockholders (2 or more), the bonuses of the majority and minority holder are added and divided by the number of players causing the tie. Each player will then receive an equal amount of bonus. Note that any divided bonus that is not a multiple of 100 will be rounded up to the next nearest 100. For example, if the divided bonus is $2250, each player will receive $2300. The same rule applies when there is a tie between/among the minority stockholders, in which case it will the minority stockholder bonus that is being divided (instead of the sum of majority and minority stockholder bonuses). If only one player owns the stock of the acquired chain, s/he will receive both the majority and minority stockholder bonuses. The bonuses are paid by the bank.

In the case when there are only two players, the stock market is also considered a stockholder of the defunct chain to determine who the majority and minority stockholders are. A tile will be drawn randomly to decide how many shares the stock market has. For example, if 8F is drawn, the stock market is considered to have 8 shares. It does not matter if the total number of stocks are over 25, which is the number of physical stocks that can be purchased by the human players. Bonuses deemed to be paid to the stock market will simply be retained with the stock market. The same rule applied at the end of the game when each lasting company is being liquidated.

Each player decides what to do with their shares in the now-defunct chain in the same order of how they place tile on the board, starting with the player who places the merging tile (for example, if they are placing tiles in the clockwise direction, each stockholder will decide what to do with their shares in the clockwise direction also). They may:
# Trade them in for cash at face value (the value is calculated based on the number of tiles of the acquired chain BEFORE the merger)
# Trade them in at a ratio of two to one for shares of the chain that is taking over (this option is not valid if there is no more stock of the acquiring company in the stock market)
# Keep the shares in the hopes that the hotel chain will be founded again later

Note that if a player decides to keep the shares and the chain is never founded again later, the shares will become worthless.

Hotel chains with eleven or more tiles are deemed too big to be merged out. In this situation, the chain is claimed to be '''safe'''. A tile which would connect two safe chains is unplayable and may be placed to the side at the end of the player's turn in exchange for a fresh tile.

A player may declare that game is over at the end of his/her turn when
#one hotel chain reaching forty-one tiles, or
#when all chains are safe

At the end of the game, all hotel chains pay bonuses to the largest shareholders as if they were being merged out, and all shares of stock are cashed in for face value. The richest player wins.

==Variants==
* Some players play with all information (except the tiles held by players) open at all times, while others play that the cash and stock holdings of players are kept secret. The inventor said that his original intent was for holdings to be hidden, but that either open or secret was acceptable; the last version published during his life (the 1999 Hasbro edition) explicitly states that the players should mutually decide before beginning, but the default is secret. Various versions of the rules indicate which method is to be used. Some editions used an intermediate rule, where player stock holdings are placed in separate piles before them, so that it is clear who is invested in each chain, but not how much.

* In one version of the Acquire board game, there are five special cards each player can use. They are
# Take 5
# Play 4
# Buy 5
# Trade 2
# Free 3

Each special card can only be used once by each user and a user can only use on special when it is his/her turn.

'''Take 5'''

When this special card is used, a player can take 5 additional tiles from the pile. The player is not allowed to take any more tile until s/he has less than 6 tiles on hand.

'''Play 4'''

When this special card is used, a player must play 4 tiles on the board. If a merger happens during this play, all bonuses must be disbursed and shares of the stockholders must be taken care of before the player continue to play the next tile.

'''Buy 5'''

When this special card is used, a player can buy 5 shares (or less, such as 4) of any combination of the chains, instead of the normal limit of 3.

'''Trade 2'''

When this special card is used, the player can trade 3 shares of any chain with 3 pairs of shares s/he is holding. Both the chains whose shares are being traded in and the chains whose shared are being traded out MUST exist on the board. After use the Trade 2 card, the player may still buy 3 shares of stock.

'''Free 3'''

When this special card is used, the player can take 3 shares of stock free of charge. However, s/he is not allowed to buy any share for that turn.

==Unofficial Variants==
{{Unreferencedsection|date=August 2007}}
* There is also a variant of the game in which play is simultaneous, instead of players taking turns. For each phase of a turn, the players prepare their moves and then announce them when everyone is ready. If players try to make moves that conflict with each other (such as two people trying to buy stock in the same chain when only one share is available), they must bid cash to decide the outcome. This variant tends to be faster-paced and less predictable than the standard rules.
* One variant is to begin play with all tiles, except the ones the players have on hand, placed out on the board in their proper places, but placed upside down. The player then picks freely any one of these tiles at the end of his turn. This decreases the element of luck in game play.
* A nice touch is to grant a player who just created a new chain a one-time opportunity to buy four shares of that chain instead of three (no shares of other chains may be bought). This makes for an extra incentive to start a new chain.
* Four players score as two teams of two. Although the strategy is quite different, rules and procedures are identical to normal variant except that 1st and 3rd players combine their wealth at the end, as do 2nd and 4th players. Discussion or revealing tiles between partners is prohibited but, as in contract bridge, plays may have conventional meanings if disclosed to opponents. By one such convention, founding Continental or American (when alternative exists) suggests that founder has a merger tile for that chain.
* Adding a "bonus" of $1000 for playing a merging tile can improve the desirability of merging, and provide a way out for players who are stuck with no cash and no stock which can be sold in a merge.
* A player has the ability to buy or sell any 3 stocks in a turn. This provides the player with an alternative way of generating cash flow, instead of playing a tile that may provide them with a small amount of money but larger amounts for their opponents. It also allows for short term investments to be made in hotel chains that grow from size 2 to size 6 (i.e. before the sizing ranges, such as 6-10 and 10-20, come in to effect and slow down the growth in the shares). Furthermore, since shares can now be sold, a majority shareholding is only guaranteed when 13 shares are owned by the one player.

==Awards==
[[GAMES Magazine|''GAMES'']] magazine has inducted ''Acquire'' into their buyers' guide [[GAMES 100#Hall of Fame|Hall of Fame]].

==External links==
* [http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=ah/prod/acquire ''Acquire''] homepage at Wizards of the Coast
* Sid Sackson's [http://www.webnoir.com/bob/sid/acquire.htm ''Acquire''] homepage
* {{bgg|5|''Acquire''}}

'''Online Variants'''
* [http://www3.telus.net/kensit/NetAcquire ''NetAcquire''] - Free Windows software that lets one play online with others
* [http://GamesByEmail.com/Games/Mergers ''Mergers''] - A free browser-based, play-by-email, ''Acquire''-based game at GamesByEmail.com. 100% AJAX, no flash or installs required.
* [http://www.gethostile.com ''Get Hostile''] - A real-time online implementation of ''Acquire'' playable in your browser

'''Electronic Versions'''
* [http://www.iwestdev.com/projects/acquire/acquiregba.php ''Acquire''] - ''Acquire'' for the Gameboy Advance that was never published

[[Category:3M Bookshelf games]]
[[Category:Avalon Hill games]]
[[Category:Economic simulation board games]]
[[Category:Tile-laying board games]]
[[Category:Sid Sackson games]]

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