Acquire

Goal: End the game with the most money (cash + stock value + majority bonuses)!

Setup

The board is a 12×9 grid (tiles labeled 1A through 12I). Each player starts with $6,000 and a hand of 6 tiles. The remaining tiles form a draw pile.

Each Turn

1. Play a tile from your hand onto the board. The placement type is determined automatically:
• Singleton — No adjacent tiles. The tile becomes a standalone piece.
• Extend — Adjacent to exactly one chain. The tile joins that chain (absorbing any adjacent singletons).
• Found — Adjacent to singletons but no chains. Choose an inactive chain to found. The founder receives 1 free share.
• Merger — Adjacent to 2+ chains. The largest chain absorbs the others. Shareholders of absorbed chains choose: Hold, Sell, or Trade 2-for-1.
• Unplayable — Would merge two "safe" chains (size ≥ 11). Discard the tile.
2. Buy stocks — Purchase up to 3 shares from active chains (limited by cash and available shares).
3. Draw a tile to refill your hand to 6.

The 7 Hotel Chains

Chains have 3 price tiers based on size:

• Tier 1 (Tower 🗼, Luxor 🏛️): Lowest prices
• Tier 2 (American 🗽, Worldwide 🌍, Festival 🎪): Medium prices
• Tier 3 (Continental 🚢, Imperial 👑): Highest prices

Each chain has 25 shares. Stock price rises with chain size: size 2 → $200/$300/$400, up to size 41+ → $1000/$1100/$1200.

Mergers

When a tile connects 2+ chains, the largest chain acquires the others. For each absorbed chain:

• Shareholders decide per share: Hold (keep — valid again if the chain is re-founded, otherwise worth $0), Sell (cash out at current price), or Trade (2 absorbed shares → 1 acquirer share).
• Majority (most shares) and Minority (2nd most) bonuses are paid out at the absorbed chain's final price.
• Chains of size 11+ are safe and cannot be absorbed.

End Game

The game ends when either:

• Any chain reaches size 41, OR
• Once every active chain is safe (11+ tiles), the current player may declare the final settlement
• All tiles are played (draw pile empty and all hands empty).

Final scores = cash + stock value at current prices + majority/minority bonuses for each active chain.

Controls

• Click a tile in your hand to select; click again to play.
• When founding a chain, click the company card.
• During mergers, use Hold/Sell/Trade buttons and the quantity slider.
• During buy phase, click chains to add to your cart (max 3), then Buy or Skip.
• Hot-seat mode: Pass the device when the Pass Device screen appears.

Two-Player Game: The Stock Market Plays Too

In a two-player game the stock market acts as a third shareholder. For every merger — and again at the final settlement — it holds a number of shares of the chain being settled (1 to 12, taken from the bank's stock and derived from the game seed), and it competes with the players for the majority and minority bonuses. Any bonus the stock market wins stays in the bank. This keeps a head-to-head game from turning into the two players simply splitting every payout.

Founding Early: Founding a chain gives you 1 free share and majority status. Early in the game, found Tier 1/2 chains to build a diversified portfolio. Late game, found Tier 3 chains for higher valuation.

Merger Strategy: Mergers are the most powerful plays in Acquire:

• If you hold majority in the absorbed chain, you'll receive a 10× price bonus — consider holding for the end game.
• If you're minority, trading for acquirer shares can quickly build a new majority.
• Selling locks in cash, useful when you need to buy stocks in the next phase.
• Plan tiles to trigger mergers when you're majority in the absorbed chain and minority in the acquirer — maximum profit.

Stock Purchases:

• Buy majority in 2-3 chains rather than minority in many.
• Tier 3 chains have the highest bonuses but are harder to grow.
• Watch opponent portfolios — if someone is building majority in a chain, become the minority to claim 5× bonus.
• Don't spend all your cash — you need reserves to buy after mergers.

Safe Chains (Size ≥11): Once a chain reaches 11 tiles, it can never be absorbed. Push chains past 11 when you're majority to lock in your position.

End Game: When any chain nears size 41, position yourself for the final bonus payout. Hold onto majority positions in large chains for maximum bonus.

Acquire is a classic economic strategy board game designed by Sid Sackson and first published in 1964. It is widely considered one of the foundational games of the modern board gaming hobby, renowned for its elegant blend of tile-laying, stock trading, and merger mechanics.

The game's depth comes from its interconnected systems: tile placement creates chains, chains create stock value, stock ownership creates majority bonuses, and mergers trigger payouts that reshape the entire game state. Every decision ripples through all four systems.

Psychology: Acquire is a study in long-term planning, valuation, and reading opponents. Players reveal their risk tolerance through chain-founding choices, their pricing intuition through buy/sell decisions, and their strategic flexibility through merger resolutions. The game is a compact showcase of investment strategy — diversification, majority control, and timing all matter.

This implementation features:

• ✅ Authentic 12×9 board with 108 tiles
• ✅ All 7 hotel chains with correct price tiers
• ✅ Complete merger resolution (Hold / Sell / Trade) with majority/minority bonuses
• ✅ AI opponents with 3 difficulty levels using heuristic + Monte Carlo evaluation
• ✅ Hot-seat multiplayer (2-6 players on one device)
• ✅ Undo support and full event log

Note: For entertainment and strategic self-reflection. Not a financial or investment advisory tool.