Why change Acquire? Because many people, particularly players new to it, are dissatisfied with Acquire in its current form. E.g. I read through all the comments about Acquire on BoardgameGeek.com (BGG) the other day. It seemed like, on average, one comment in every 4 or 5 mentioned luck - usually in a negative way (e.g. "too random", "too much luck", etc.).

Also, I've seen first-time Acquire players who seem to be frustrated when they run out of cash. They continue to play tiles but otherwise they have nothing to do for several turns. Many times these players are not interested in playing Acquire again.

I hope that the changes that I'm proposing will alter the game enough to blunt the characteristics of Acquire that some players don't like. At the same time, I hope these changes do not excessively distort the characteristics of Acquire that many players already enjoy.

Most of the ideas that make up this set of changes are *not* my own. I've simply brought together ideas from various sources and tried to make a workable combination from them.

Here's a summary of the changes I propose:

1) Use some of the Special Powers (SP) cards and change others.
2) Limit who can use the SPs and when.
3) Reduce the amount of money that each player starts with.
4) Use the "Championship Acquire" tile allocation and replenishment scheme.

The SP cards (in changes 1 and 2) were designed by Sid himself for a German version of Acquire in the 1990s. Change 3 is variation on 1830's scheme of dividing the starting cash (i.e. fixed amount of dollars/the number of players = cash allotment for each player at the beginning of the game).

Change 4 is something I've only seen in Colin Ward's DOS implementation of Acquire. I'm a little uncertain of *all* the rules for it but the basic idea works so well (IMO) that I figured it should be included here.

Details: Proposed Changes

1) Which Special Powers cards (SPs) should be used?
A) Take 5 tiles.
B) Buy your 3 shares for this turn at a cost of $0 each.
C) Play 4 tiles. (or is it "Play 3 tiles"?)
D) Trade-in up to 6 shares (of any chains currently active) for 3 shares of other chains.
E) Sell 3 of your shares (of any chains currently active) back to the bank at their current value.

Special Power E is a new one proposed by (IIRC) Richard Vickery in a comment on SPs on BGG. SP E can replace the unnecessary SP card, "Buy 5 shares" (which won't be needed since that SP is useless to players who are out of cash).

SPs A, B, and C may only be used once per player per game. SPs D and E can be used on as many turns as a player chooses.

2) When is a player considered "out of cash" (and eligible to use a SP)?

Short answer: On the second consecutive turn that the player has insufficient cash (at the beginning of his turn) to buy the 3 cheapest shares available from the bank. (I'll give an example of how this works below.)

Note that the player doesn't actually buy the shares. He just checks to see if he *could* afford them. Thus, the bank's available shares are just used as a measurement tool.

There is an additional requirement: There must be at least one player who is *not* "out of cash" (at the beginning of his last turn) in order for any player to use a SP. In other words, if everybody's out of cash, then nobody can use any SPs.

There should probably also be a condition test to exclude SPs from being used near the end of the game (when there are likely very few shares available - at any price). I haven't figured out what that condition test should be yet. Any suggestions out there?

Here's an example of how the "out of cash" test works:

On a given turn, Player A buys 3 shares and has $800 leftover. The other players take their turns and Player A's turn comes around again. Player A begins his turn by checking to see if he meets the test for being "out of cash". He begins by checking the shares available in the bank.

At that time Luxor is sold out (i.e. the bank has no Luxor shares left to sell). Tower has shares left but the Tower chain is 3 tiles long (so its shares cost $300 each). Most of the other chains also have shares available - for $300, $400, or more each.

Player A only has $800. Since Player A's $800 could not buy even three $300 shares (which are the cheapest ones available at that time), Player A has satisfied the test for being "out of cash". This is the first turn he qualifies as being "out of cash". But one turn of being "out of cash" is not enough to give him the right to use a SP. That takes two consecutive turns of being "out of cash".

So Player A doesn't get to use a SP on this turn. Instead he plays this turn under the normal rules. Note that, as usual, Player A can spend as much or as little of the $800 (that he has left) as he wants to on this turn (just as he normally could).

The other players take their turns in order until it is again,player A's turn. Before Player A plays a tile, he again checks his "out of cash" status. If his cash on hand is still inadequate to purchase the 3 cheapest shares available (at this time), then he is considered to be "out of cash" for this turn. If so, then this is the second consecutive turn that Player A has been of "out of cash"

That qualifies Player A to exercise one of the SPs before this turn. So he exercises the SP of his choice and then continues with the remainder of his turn.

Maybe Player A gets some more cash as a result of what happened on this turn. Maybe he doesn't. Regardless, on his next turn, he tests his eligibility again. If he again has less cash than the cost of the 3 cheapest available shares, he may use another SP before that turn (because it will be the third consecutive turn where he has been "out of cash" - he only needs two consecutive to qualify).

It is possible that a player could get to use a SP on several turns in a row. Also it's possible that more than one player may be out of cash at the same time - which means that more than one player may be using a SP during one round of turns.

This is intentional. The purpose of restricting the SP use is to help only the players who can't keep up in the share buying race. Until those players get enough cash to buy three shares on their turns, they are doomed to fall behind. The SPs provide help to them.

3) How much cash should each player have at the start of the game?
For 2-player games, same as usual - each player should get $6000.
For 3-player games, each player should get $5000.
For 4-player games, each player should get $4000.
For 5-player games, each player should get $3500.
For 6-player games, each player should get $3000.

4) How many tiles should each player have at the start of the game?
For 2-player games, each player should get 12 tiles.
For 3-player games, each player should get 10 tiles.
For 4-player games, each player should get 9 tiles.
For 5-player games, each player should get 8 tiles.
For 6-player games, each player should get 7 tiles.

The rules for replenishing tiles are different too. You don't always draw a new tile at the end of your turn. The cases when you don't (as I understand them) are:

1) On turns when you used a tile to start (or re-start) a chain
2) On turns when you played a tile that causes a merger while there are fewer than 7 active chains on the board
3) You have previously used the "Take 5 tiles" SP and you haven't yet gotten down to the number of tiles you would have had if you hadn't used that SP.

The net effect is that the more chains you start (or re-start), the fewer tiles you have to choose from on subsequent turns. There is a lower limit - 2 tiles. If you are down to only two tiles and you start a chain, you still get to draw a new tile at the end of your turn.

That's the gist of it. Comments, questions, and especially, playtesting reports are welcome. Please post them to rec.games .board. It's also possible that I've misread or misinterpreted some of the SP rules or other rules that I've incorporated here. If you spot such an error, please point it out.

Design Objectivess

This is already a relatively long article, so I won't go into the reasoning behind these rules or other alternatives. Instead, I'll just make a few comments about the design objectives and possible strategy effects.

The purpose of the SPs is to provide a means for trailing players to catch up (and to give them something to do until they get some cash).

The purpose in limiting access to the SPs is to give the leading players a chance to "see it coming" and be able to plan for it if they so choose. In some cases, a leading player may find it worthwhile to take steps to prevent other players from being eligible to use a SP. There are a variety of possible ways to do this.

The purpose of limiting the starting cash is to prolong the fight for majority and minority bonuses. I find that when there is too much cash chasing too few shares, many chains are sold out before the first merger. E.g. in a 6 player game, it is possible to sell out all the shares in 5 of the 7 chains before even one merger takes place. That tends to make mergers seem anti-climactic.

The purpose of the "Championship Acquire" tile rules is to blunt the "dash for cash" aspect of the opening stage of the game. By making each "chain start" cost a player a tile, it makes starting a chain a two-edged choice (i.e. free share and a head start vs. loss of a tile).

The initial allotment of tiles for the 3- and 4-player games is the same as in Colin Ward's pgm. The allotments for 2-, 5-, and 6-player games are guesstimates. In fact, all of the allotments listed here may need to be adjusted upward a little to compensate for the effect of lowering the initial cash allotments.

BTW, does anyone know the origin of the "Championship Acquire" variant? I've been reading rgb for years and don't recall seeing it (or Colin Ward's pgm) mentioned here before. Also, I didn't find anything relevant with a google and dejanews search. It seems odd that I could find no mention of it.

Feel free to add, drop, or modify any of the rules proposed here. If you find a combination of changes that you think works better than these, please post your findings so all Acquire players may benefit. questions, comments, suggestions, and playtesting reports are welcomed. Please post them to rec.games.board.