In the case of Acquire, the pieces all come together to make a fun game that feels like a supersonic rampage through corporate takeovers. The game play is abstract, yet does a great job of invoking high-risk, big-money, all-or-nothing high finance.
The Pieces
Acquire comes with a set of pieces like Monopoly on acid. There are stock certificates – seven corporations with 41 cards each – that are reminiscent of property cards in Monopoly. There is a stack of paper money, which is doled out at the beginning of the game, just like Monopoly. But the similarity ends there, because the board is not a track allowing players to romp around the outside and pray they don’t land on Park Place. The board is solid plastic with a raised, numbered grid that looks like an empty Excel spreadsheet. The final pieces are the plastic squares, numbered to match the grid – one for each space on the board.
The stock cards are nice and durable – vital if you plan on playing with anyone under 15. The paper money is not a big deal, because paper money is paper money. The board itself is a decent-quality plastic, and the little gray plastic markers are also relatively durable. I don’t recommend you step on them, but they are reasonably tough. A few fell off the table during setup, and they were just fine.
The pieces are not especially pretty. The most graphically interesting elements are the stock cards, with minimalist design meant to emphasize color or shape over form or function. In all honesty, however, the blocky design for the game is fine. It’s not breath-taking, but then, that’s not the point. The design doesn’t shoot for the stars, but it gets the job done with a fair amount of class.
The only real problem, design-wise, is the abundance of plastic tiles. If you have any trouble at all keeping up with small parts, these things will kill you. Since you could be painfully handicapped if you do not have all the tiles, the proliferation of small pieces could be a problem. If you’re careful, however, this should not be a problem.
The Game
Players begin the game by selecting six of the square tiles apiece, and getting their share of paper money. They then take turns placing their tiles onto the board, matching the designation on each tile to its corresponding space on the grid.
Corporations are formed when two tiles are placed next to each other. Once a corporation is formed, the player who founded the company decides which corporation he has made, and places a colorful cap atop one of the tiles, to remind everyone which corporations are in play. The founding player also gets a free piece of stock, just for making the company.
Aside from placing tiles, players also spend their turns buying stock certificates. As more tiles are placed around a corporation, it becomes bigger, and as it becomes bigger, its stock becomes more valuable. Stock from a two-tile corporation is dirt cheap, while stock in a 10-tile corporation is almost prohibitively expensive.
It does not take long before corporations are popping up all over the board. Players can each purchase three pieces of stock per turn, from any corporations on the board. These stock certificates can only increase in value, so you cannot lose money, but the game is a practice in fast earnings, not budget balancing. You want to buy cheap stock and shovel it off when it goes high.
Unfortunately, you cannot sell your stock in a company until it is absorbed by a second corporation. When a tile is placed so that two corporations are joined, the larger corporation buys out the smaller. At that time, anyone holding stock in the smaller corporation may sell their stock, hold it in hopes of restarting the defunct corporation, or swap their stock for stock in the larger company at a two-for-one trade.
Owning stock in a very large corporation cannot possibly pay off while the game is running. Once a corporation has 11 tiles, it cannot be acquired, and any tile that would force an acquisition of this company is an illegal play. These companies will stay on the board until the end of the game, when players sell all their stock and count their money.
The game finally ends when someone points out that either every corporation on the board is safe from a takeover, or one corporation has 41 or more tiles. It is important to note that the game does not end until someone announces the end – players may be trading stock or placing tiles in a furious attempt to out-maneuver their opponents before the big finish.
Once the game ends, each player sells all his or her stock. Players holding stock in defunct corporations are out of luck – they get nothing for their trouble. Players holding stock in the largest corporations can make a killing – this is the payoff for not having the capital available during the game. Once all the stock is sold off, the players count their money, and the one with the most money wins.
Considerable strategy goes into every decision in the game. The only luck factored into the game involves which tiles you draw from the pile. You choose which of six tiles to place, you decide which stock to buy and how much to get, and you decide whether to sell your stock or swap it. Players who are not careful about spending all their money can be caught watching great opportunities pass them by. Players who are skinflints can likewise end up holding nothing. Players are forced to evaluate risk and payoffs, count tiles, and compare possible outcomes on the fly.
Turns pass very quickly. It takes very little time to place a tile and buy stock, and then your turn is over. The only time the pace drags is when a company is acquired, in which case everyone who owns stock has to decide what to do with it. The first game might take an hour or so, but once everyone is familiar with the turn structure, it could be as short as 30 minutes.
Observations
The sheer quantity of game pieces can be initially intimidating. There are six information cards that help you cross-reference stock prices for each corporation, and since they are on three different pay scales, this table can look slightly scary. Once the players understand it, however, it’s just a handy tool. In fact, once everyone has a decent grasp of the rules, it is deceptively simple.
I was delighted by the strategy in the game, and the ease with which I slipped into the role of a corporate power broker, gambling my wealth on the big payoff. The only luck involved in the game has more to do with the possibility that an opponent could perform a move you didn’t see coming, and leave you holding the bag. Cutthroat maneuvering can leave the richest player holding piles of worthless stock while everyone buys up the next big thing. That same tricky maneuvering can also ensure that you can’t get caught with your pants down, but you might not be as strong if one company gets consumed before another.
I really liked playing Acquire. It moves quickly, and the strategy is enough to keep everyone guessing. Luck plays almost no role in the game, which I always love in a game. The smartest, fastest, trickiest player will win four times out of five. The pieces are nifty, and the very tactile feeling of the game pulls me in farther than a batch of cardboard markers could do.
The game pieces themselves are well made. The tiles slide right onto the grid, and once they are in place, they don’t slip around. The cards are attractive and easy to read. The bright colors allow players to understand instantly the state of the game. The only complaint would be the bland gray tiles, but considering the importance of the brightly colored pieces that designate corporations, it was a solid design decision.
Finally, this a game you can play with your kids, if they’re smart. Younger children will most likely be frustrated. I played Acquire with my children, who are eight and nine. The box recommends itself for players 12 or older, but both my kids picked it right up. Any younger, however, and I doubt they would have been able to grasp the quick strategic decisions required to compete.
Style: 3 – While the physical design is solid, the game lacks a certain amount of visual appeal because of its minimalist graphics and flat color palette.
Substance: 5 – Man, did I have fun playing Acquire. The strategy is excellent and the game helped me feel, just a little, like a big-shot corporate shark.
