''Acquire'' is a multi-player mergers and acquisitions themed
board game
Board games are tabletop games that typically use . These pieces are moved or placed on a pre-marked board (playing surface) and often include elements of table, card, role-playing, and miniatures games as well.
Many board games feature a co ...
. It is played with tiles representing hotels that are arranged on the board, play money and stock certificates. 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. It was one of the most popular games in the 1960s
3M bookshelf game series, and the only one still published in the United States.
History
Acquire started life as the
Milton Bradley
Milton Bradley (November 8, 1836 – May 30, 1911) was an American business magnate, game pioneer and publisher, credited by many with launching the board game industry, with his eponymous enterprise, which was purchased by Hasbro in 1984, and ...
gambling-themed board game
Lotto Lotto may refer to:
* Lotto, original, 15th century name of the Italian lottery
* Lotto (Milan Metro), a railway station in Milan, Italy
* Lotto carpet, a carpet having a lacy arabesque pattern
* Lotto Sport Italia, an Italian sports apparel manu ...
played in childhood by
Sid Sackson
Sid Sackson (February 4, 1920 in Chicago – November 6, 2002) was an American board game designer and collector, best known as the creator of the business game ''Acquire''.
Career
Sackson's most popular creation is probably the business game ''Ac ...
, who went on to become a game designer. He reworked the game into a wargame he called "Lotto War". Sackson (along with
Alex Randolph
Alexander Randolph (4 May 1922 – 27 April 2004) was a Bohemian-American designer of board games and writer. Randolph's game creations include ''TwixT'', '' Breakthru'', '' Hol's der Geier'', '' Inkognito'' (with Leo Colovini), ''Raj'', '' ...
) was commissioned by
3M to start a new games division in 1962. When he submitted the game to 3M in 1963, he called the game "Vacation". 3M suggested the name change to Acquire, and Sackson agreed. The game was test marketed in several U.S. cities in 1963, and production began in 1964 as a part of the
bookshelf games series.
The 3M game division was sold to
Avalon Hill
Avalon Hill Games Inc. is a game company that publishes wargames and strategic board games. It has also published miniature wargaming rules, role-playing games and sports simulations. It is a subsidiary of Hasbro, and operates under the company ...
in 1976 and became part of their bookcase game series. Avalon Hill made ''
Computer Acquire'' for the
PET
A pet, or companion animal, is an animal kept primarily for a person's company or entertainment rather than as a working animal, livestock, or a laboratory animal. Popular pets are often considered to have attractive appearances, intelligence ...
,
Apple II and
TRS-80
The TRS-80 Micro Computer System (TRS-80, later renamed the Model I to distinguish it from successors) is a desktop microcomputer launched in 1977 and sold by Tandy Corporation through their Radio Shack stores. The name is an abbreviation of '' ...
in 1980.
The Avalon brand became part of Hasbro in 1998. Hasbro slightly reworked and reissued the game in 2000, but thereafter discontinued it. In the mid-2000s, the game was transferred to a Hasbro subsidiary
Wizards of the Coast
Wizards of the Coast LLC (often referred to as WotC or simply Wizards) is an American publisher of games, primarily based on fantasy and science fiction themes, and formerly an operator of retail stores for games. It is currently a subsidia ...
. Wizards celebrated "''50 years of Avalon Hill Games"'' with the release of the 2008 edition (though the game was not yet 50 years old). In 2016, the game was transferred back to the Hasbro games division and republished in Nov. 2016 under the Avalon label.
In most versions, the theme of the game is investing in
hotel
A hotel is an establishment that provides paid lodging on a short-term basis. Facilities provided inside a hotel room may range from a modest-quality mattress in a small room to large suites with bigger, higher-quality beds, a dresser, a re ...
chains. In the 1990s
Hasbro
Hasbro, Inc. (; a syllabic abbreviation of its original name, Hassenfeld Brothers) is an American multinational conglomerate holding company incorporated and headquartered in Pawtucket, Rhode Island. Hasbro owns the trademarks and products of K ...
edition, the hotel chains were replaced by fictitious corporations, though the actual gameplay was unchanged. In the current Avalon edition, the companies are once again hotel chains.
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 2008 version, the tiles were cardboard. In the 2016 version, the tiles are plastic, but the board size was reduced, from 9x12 to 10x10.
Gameplay
A short setup precedes play, wherein each player receives play cash and a small random set of playing tiles and becomes
the founder of a nascent hotel chain by drawing and placing a tile representing a hotel on the board. Tiles are
ordered, and correspond to spaces on the board. Position of the starting tiles determines order of play.
Play consists of placing a tile on the board and optionally buying stock. The placed tile may found a new hotel
chain, grow an existing one or merge two or more chains. Chains are sets of edge-wise adjacent tiles. Founders
receive a share of stock in new chains. A chain can become "safe", immune to acquisition, by attaining a specified
size. Following placement of a tile, the player may then buy a limited number of shares of stock in existing chains.
Shares have a market value determined by the size and stature of the hotel chain. At the end of his or her
turn, the player receives a new tile to replace the one played.
When mergers occur, the smaller chain becomes defunct, and its tiles are then part of the acquiring chain. The two
largest shareholders in the acquired chain receive cash bonuses; players may sell their shares in the defunct chain,
trade them in for shares of the acquiring chain, or keep them. Mergers between 3 or more chains are handled in order
from larger to smaller.
A player during his turn may declare the game at an end if the largest chain exceeds a specified size (about 40%
of the board), or all chains on the board are too large to be acquired. When the game ends, shareholder bonuses
are paid to the two largest shareholders of each chain, and players cash out their shares at market price (shares
in any defunct chains are worthless). The player with the most money wins.
An interesting and optional aspect of gameplay is whether numbers of players' shares is public or private information.
This is negotiated before the game starts. Keeping this information private can greatly extend the game: when players
are less certain of their status, they are less willing to end the game.
Acquire is for 2–6 players, and takes about an hour and a half to play.
Reception
In the December 1993 edition of ''
Dragon'' (Issue 200),
Allen Varney
Allen Varney (born 1958) is an American writer and game designer. Varney has produced numerous books, role-playing game supplements, technical manuals, articles, reviews, columns, and stories, as well as the fantasy novel ''Cast of Fate'' ( TSR, ...
advised readers to ignore the hotel theme: "Supposedly a game of hotel acquisitions and mergers, this is actually a superb abstract game of strategy and capital." Varney called the game "An early masterpiece from
idSackson, game historian and one of the great designers of our time."
Awards
The game was short-listed for the first
Spiel des Jahres
The Spiel des Jahres (, ''Game of the Year'') is an award for board and card games, created in 1978 with the purpose of rewarding family-friendly game design, and promoting excellent games in the German market. It is thought that the existence ...
board game awards in 1979.
[Spiel des Jahres page for Acquire in German]
''
GAMES'' magazine has inducted ''Acquire'' into their buyers' guide
Hall of Fame.
[GAMES Magazine Hall of Fame](_blank)
. Retrieved 2010-07-26 The magazine's stated criteria for the Hall of Fame encompasses "games that have met or exceeded the highest standards of quality and play value and have been continuously in production for at least 10 years; i.e., classics."
It was inducted into the
Academy of Adventure Gaming Arts & Design's Hall of Fame, along with Sackson, in 2011.
[Origins Awards Hall of Fame for Acquir]
Academy Hall of Fame
/ref> It is also one of the Mind Sports Olympiad
The Mind Sports Olympiad (MSO) is an annual international multi-disciplined competition and festival for games of mental skill and mind sports. The inaugural event was held in 1997 in London with £100,000 prize fund''Mind Sports Olympiad Su ...
games.
References
External links
*
''Acquire''
Wizards of the Coast page
Webnoir page
"The Origin of ACQUIRE"
Acquisition Games page
{{Avalon Hill
3M bookshelf game series
Avalon Hill games
Board games introduced in 1964
Economic simulation board games
Multiplayer games
Sid Sackson games
Tile-laying board games
Stock market in popular culture