Acquire

Objective and modes: Players develop seven hotel chains by placing building tiles, then buy and manage stock in chains on the board. Chain name and size determine share prices. The 2023 Renegade edition offers Classic Mode and Tycoon Mode; they differ in whether third-place shareholders receive bonuses. Choose the corresponding side of the Stockholder Info Card before play and use that mode throughout the game.

Setup: Place the board in the center, shuffle the building tiles, and choose a player as banker. Each player receives $6,000 and draws six building tiles. Place the hotel headquarters and all available stock cards in the stock market tray. Determine the first player as directed and continue clockwise. New players may keep money and stock visible; experienced players can hide those holdings if everyone agrees.

Turn sequence: On your turn, take these actions in order: place one building tile on its matching board coordinate; buy up to three stocks in any active hotel chains; then draw one building tile. Use the Stockholder Info Card to find each stock's price from the chain name and size, and pay the bank immediately. You cannot buy shares in an unfounded chain or sell shares in an active chain during a normal turn.

Place a building tile: Tiles must go on the matching letter-and-number space. A tile with no orthogonally adjacent buildings remains independent. Connecting independent buildings can found a hotel chain; touching an active chain makes it larger; connecting two or more chains triggers a merger. Only up, down, left, and right count as adjacent, so diagonal contact has no immediate effect.

Found and grow chains: There are seven hotel chains. If your tile connects a group of buildings that has no headquarters, found a chain by placing an available headquarters on one of its tiles and taking one stock card as the founder's bonus. A tile next to an existing chain adds to it. Once all seven headquarters are on the board, you cannot found another chain until one becomes available, although a tile may still extend a chain or cause a merger.

Resolve a merger: When a tile connects two or more hotel chains, compare their sizes before counting the merger tile. The largest chain survives and absorbs the smaller one. If chains tie for largest size, the player who placed the merger tile chooses which chain survives. Remove the acquired chain's headquarters and resolve its bonuses and stock options. In a merger involving several chains, handle the smaller chains one at a time from largest to smallest.

Shareholder bonuses and acquired shares: Pay the acquired chain's majority and second-majority shareholders; Tycoon Mode can also pay a third-place bonus. After bonuses, players holding the acquired chain's stock choose whether to keep it in case a chain with the same name is founded later, sell it to the bank at the listed value, or trade every two acquired shares for one share in the surviving chain. The surviving chain's shareholders do not receive an immediate bonus.

Stocks and cash: A player may buy up to three shares in active chains each turn. The Stockholder Info Card sets each share price by chain name and size. Shares in an active chain cannot be sold at will, and players may not borrow money from the bank or one another. Manage cash carefully: stock can gain value as a chain grows, while a merger may convert acquired shares into a bonus, cash, an exchange, or a holding for later.

Safe chains and two players: A chain with eleven or more buildings is safe and cannot be acquired; two safe chains cannot merge. A tile placement that would connect two safe chains is illegal and must be exchanged as directed by the rules. In a two-player game, use the Classic side of the Stockholder Info Card and follow the special rules that treat the stock market as an additional shareholder during mergers.

End game and winner: A player may announce during their turn that all active chains are safe or that one chain has at least 41 building tiles. Finish that turn, then end the game. Pay bonuses for all active chains and sell shares as directed; stocks in chains not on the board are worth nothing. The player with the most cash wins. Use the selected mode's information card for exact prices, bonuses, and tie handling.