Game Daze Foothills Mall Manager Review, March 2010

Ben -

There are not too many strategy games that continue to be popular after almost fifty years, but Acquire has done just that. First published in 1962, this Sid Jackson classic has seen several editions by several different companies over the years.

In Acquire you are playing as powerful hotel tycoons, creating and expanding hotel chains while buying up the little guys, trading stocks the whole time. Played on a grid board, players take turns placing one of their six tiles on the board. If your tile is placed next to a single other tile, you may form one of the seven hotel chains and claim a free stock in that chain. Then you can buy up to three more stocks in any chain that is currently in play. Then you draw a new tile. If your tile is placed in such a way that two or more chains would be combined, then the largest chain will absorb the smaller chains. When this happens, the top two majority shareholders in the absorbed chains get stock bonuses. Then everyone who has stock in those chains may exchange their shares for the larger chain at a rate of two-to-one. Or instead they can sell off their stocks. All stocks are bought and sold at a rate determined by the amount of tiles that make up the chain. This applies as well as the majority holder bonuses. Once a chain reaches certain size, it can no longer be absorbed by another chain. At the end of the game, all stocks are sold off and the winner is the one who retired with most wealth.

Acquire is one of the first strategy games I played when I was first introduced to games beyond those we all grew up with and I still enjoy it. I recommend it both as a family game and for those who like the deeper strategies.

Game Daze Chandler Fashion Ctr. Employee Review, June/July 2009

Jade-

As a strategy buff I always enjoy the challenge of a different game than the typical ones that are out there. Although I still do love them it is nice to engage in a game that requires different type of play. That is why I enjoy Acquire. Drifting away from your average war type play, you instead play a game that is economically based. Acquire submerges you into the world of business and control. You are playing the role of a powerful real-estate tycoon who wants to gain control of all the 7 hotel chains that are offered in the game. In trying to gain control of these hotel chains you then also monopolize them to gain the most return on your investments. The winner of the game is the real-estate agent who accumulated the most profit.

I would recommend this game for younger interested or involved in the economic system, any adult who wants something different to play and all types of strategy buffs like me!