Acquire is a board game designed by Sid Sackson. The game was originally published in 1962 by 3M as a part of their bookshelf games series. In most versions, the theme of the game is investing in hotel chains. In the 1990s Hasbro edition, the hotel chains were replaced by generic corporations, though the actual gameplay was unchanged. The game is currently published by Avalon Hill, and the companies are once again hotel chains.

The object of the game is to earn the most money by developing and merging hotel chains. When a chain in which a player owns stock is acquired by a larger chain, players earn money based on the size of the acquired chain. At the end of the game, all players liquidate their stock in order to determine which player has the most money.

Components

The components of the game have varied over the years. In particular, the tiles have been made from wood, plastic, and cardboard in various editions of the game. In the current 2008 version, the tiles are cardboard. The following components are included in all versions:

• Game board with 108 spaces arranged in a 12 by 9 array
• 108 tiles corresponding to the squares in the array
• 7 markers, one for each of the hotel chains: American, Continental, Festival, Imperial, Luxor (or Sackson in the 2008 version), Tower, and Worldwide.
• 25 shares of stock for each of the seven hotel chains
• A supply of play money, in denominations of $100, $500, $1000, and $5000
• 6 charts listing the prices of shares of the chains

The array on the game board is arranged with lettered rows (A through I) and numbered columns (1 through 12). The 108 tiles correspond to each of the squares: 5E, 10B, and so forth.

Rules

Acquire is a game for three to six players, though earlier editions included special rules for two players. Standard tournament games are played with four players.

Setup

At the beginning of the game, each player receives $6000 in cash. Each player draws a tile and places it on the board. The player whose tile is in the topmost row (closest to row A) goes first. If more than one player selects a tile in that row, then the player whose tile is in the leftmost column (closest to 1) goes first. All players place these tiles on the board. Then, starting with the first player, each player draws six tiles.

Play of the Game

A turn consists of three steps:

1. placing a tile
2. buying stock
3. drawing a replacement tile

Tile placement falls in one of four categories. The tile placed could be an orphan, adjacent to no other tile on the board. The tile could create a new chain of tiles, and the player who placed it on the board would have the opportunity to found a new chain. The tile could increase the length of an existing chain already on the board. Or the tile could link two chains, causing a merger of two or more chains. Since there are only seven hotel chains in the game, placing a tile that would create an eighth chain is not permitted.