Acquire

Overview

Players are real-estate tycoons investing in hotel chains. Each turn, players place building tiles on a grid to found, grow, and merge hotel chains, while buying stock in those chains. When a smaller chain is acquired in a merger, stockholder bonuses are paid to the top shareholders. The player with the most money at game end wins.

Components

1 Gameboard (12x9 grid, labeled 1A through 12I)
108 Building Tiles
7 Headquarters Buildings with 11 Headquarters Banners
175 Stock Cards (25 each of 7 hotel chains)
6 Stockholder Info Cards (double-sided: Classic Mode / Tycoon Mode)
1 Player Aid Card
Money: 30x $100, 40x $500, 50x $1,000, 35x $5,000

Setup

Place the gameboard in the center.
Place building tiles facedown and mix them well.
Choose a banker. Place the 7 headquarters buildings and stock cards in the stock market tray.
Each player receives $6,000: 4x $1,000 + 3x $500 + 5x $100.
Remaining bills sorted by denomination beside the board.
Each player gets a stockholder info card. As a group, choose Classic Mode (bonuses to top 2 stockholders) or Tycoon Mode (bonuses to top 3).
Decide whether money and stocks are open or hidden information.
Determine first player: each player draws a tile and places it on the board. Closest to 1A goes first; play proceeds to the left. Leave these tiles on the board.
Each player draws 6 building tiles (hidden).

Turn Structure

On your turn, perform these three steps in order:

Place a Building Tile on its matching space on the board.
Buy Stocks (optional): Purchase up to 3 stock cards in any active hotel chains.
Draw a Building Tile from the facedown pile.

Actions

1. Place a Building Tile

Choose one tile from your hand and place it on its matching board space. One of four things happens:

Independent Building: Tile is not adjacent to any other tile. Nothing else happens.

Found a Hotel Chain: Tile connects to one or more independent tiles (not part of any chain).

Choose a headquarters building from the tray and place it on one of the connected tiles.
Receive 1 free founder’s bonus stock card for that chain.
Cannot found if all 7 headquarters are already on the board.

Grow a Hotel Chain: Tile is adjacent to an existing chain. The chain grows by one tile.

Merge Hotel Chains: Tile connects two or more chains. The larger chain survives; smaller chains are acquired.

Count tiles in each chain (do NOT count the merging tile).
If chains are the same size, the mergemaker chooses which survives.
Remove the acquired chain’s headquarters building to the tray.
Pay stockholder bonuses for the acquired chain.
Starting with the mergemaker, clockwise, each player with acquired stock must choose for each share: Keep it, Sell it at current price, or Trade 2-for-1 into the surviving chain’s stock.
For 3+ chains merging: the largest survives; smaller chains are resolved one at a time from largest to smallest.

2. Buy Stocks

Purchase up to 3 stocks in any active hotel chains. May buy multiple stocks in the same chain and/or across different chains. Stock prices are determined by chain name and size per the info card.

Running Out of Money: You cannot sell stock in active chains. No loans allowed. You must wait for a merger payout.

3. Draw a Building Tile

Draw one tile from the facedown pile. At end of turn, you may also discard any unplayable tiles (tiles that would merge two safe chains) and draw replacements. Tiles that would found an 8th chain are NOT unplayable, but cannot be placed until a headquarters is available.

Scoring / Victory Conditions

End-Game Triggers

A player may declare the game over during their turn if:

All active hotel chains are safe (11+ tiles), OR
Any single active chain has 41+ tiles.

A player is not required to declare if it is advantageous to continue. After declaring, the player finishes their turn, then the game ends.

Final Scoring

Pay stockholder bonuses for all active hotel chains (as in mergers).
Players sell all stock at current prices. Stock in chains not on the board is worthless.
Player with the most money wins. Ties share victory.

Stockholder Bonuses

Determined by chain name and size on the info card. The primary, secondary, and (in Tycoon Mode) tertiary stockholders receive bonuses.

Single stockholder:

Classic Mode: receives primary + secondary bonuses.
Tycoon Mode: receives primary + tertiary bonuses.

Tie for primary:

Classic: Add primary + secondary bonuses, divide by 2 (round up to nearest $100). No secondary bonus paid.
Tycoon: Add primary + secondary, divide by 2 (round up). Secondary stockholder gets tertiary bonus. No tertiary paid.

Tie for secondary (Tycoon): Add secondary + tertiary, divide by 2 (round up). No tertiary paid.

Tie for tertiary (Tycoon): Split tertiary bonus among tied players (round up).

Special Rules & Edge Cases

Safe hotel chains (11+ tiles) can never be acquired. Two safe chains cannot merge.
Founding with zero stock: If all stock for a chain is taken, the founder receives a cash payment equal to the stock’s current value instead.
Incorrect tile placement: If discovered on the same turn, move to correct location. If discovered later, the tile stays; if the correct tile is held by a player, exchange it.
Two-player variant: Use Classic Mode. When merging, draw a building tile to determine the “stock market’s” stock count (the number on the tile = number of shares the market holds). The market competes for bonuses (any bonus going to the market stays in the bank). Return the drawn tile and remix. At game end, the market competes for bonuses in active chains.
Tiles that would form an 8th chain are not unplayable but cannot be placed until a headquarters building is available.

Player Reference

Turn Summary

| Step | Action | Required? | |——|——–|———–| | 1 | Place a building tile | Yes | | 2 | Buy up to 3 stocks | Optional | | 3 | Draw a building tile | Yes |

Key Numbers

Hotel Chain Tiers (affects stock prices)

Budget tier (cheapest)
Mid-range tier
Premium tier (most expensive)
Stock prices scale with chain size per the stockholder info card