This rare 1963 "test market" world map, wood tile, game of ACQUIRE comes with
Lloyd's Rules of ACQUIRE. The game has been played, but it is still in
very good condition and includes:
- Game Board
- 108 Wood Game Tiles
- 7 Wood Colored Hotel Markers
- 35 Festival Stock Certificates
- 33 Imperial Stock Certificates
- 31 Worldwide Stock Certificates
- 29 American Stock Certificates
- 26 Luxor Stock Certificates
- 24 Tower Stock Certificates
- 22 Continental Stock Certificates
- Play Money
- 6 Information Cards
- Instruction Booklet
This original concept game of ACQUIRE is played
with staggered amounts of stock for each company. These games were "test
market" games and were only sold in eight cities in the United States from
December of 1963 until the fall of 1964, which makes them very difficult to
obtain.
A quantity of 60 assorted stocks are shuffled and dealt to the players before
the game begins. Players' decisions when opening hotels are based on the
cards they received in the distribution, and disclosure of players' holdings are
only done by choice. This concept allows for the inability to know what an
opponent has in their portfolio, and what it would take to acquire or lose
majority shareholder in a particular hotel chain. All stocks begin at a
cost of $200 and only one stock certificate can be purchased per turn.
Even though this particular World Map ACQUIRE game has been played, it is in
very good condition. Both the stock certificates and the money are in very good
condition.
The wood tiles have the Fleur-de-lis design printed on the back. The stock
certificates are printed with the original style of artwork that includes the
printed backs, and the tiles are marked with the original style of the
designations. The Information Cards display the stocks that are
distributed at the beginning of the game.
The World Map editions of ACQUIRE came with inner boxes that did not include
tops. The inner box of this particular game has been taped on all four
corners. There is shelf wear around some edges, which is heaviest at the
corners. There is also a price written with a blue marker in the top left
corner of the box from an earlier thrift sale. Overall, the box is in very
good condition.
Included with this game are
Lloyd's Rules of ACQUIRE, which were designed to
help eliminate the one-sided games that can occur during game play.
This World Map, wood tile, edition of ACQUIRE is extremely hard to find, making
it the ultimate edition to possess if you are a collector of the fantastic game
of ACQUIRE.
Lloyd's Rules of ACQUIRE
ACQUIRE is a fantastic game, and a huge tribute to
the intellect of Sid Sackson. Yet, after my first experience with the game,
I felt that the rules needed some adjustments to increase the ability of the game
to attract new players.
I wanted the game to have a broader appeal to more of my friends. The more
friends I could get to enjoy the game, the more chances I had to play the game.
I accomplished this by creating a way for players to stay involved in the game even
if the didn't have any money. I also created a level playing field for obtaining
stock while at the same time increasing the strategic maneuvering of stock purchasing.
Lloyd's Rules of ACQUIRE allows trading of stock when a player is out of money.
The player can get rid of stocks that do not help the player and trade them for
stocks that are more important within their portfolio. It allows these players
to try and maintain majorities in the companies that are most important. It
also allows the ability for players to invest on every turn, to potentially increase
their portfolio, without the fear of being "stuck" with those purchases when they
are ultimately out of money.
Lloyd's Rules of ACQUIRE eliminates the 2- for-1 trade rule when companies merge.
In the corporate world of hostile takeovers, is is very seldom that the conquering
company offers the shareholders of the vanquished company a cut-rate bargain for
the stocks of the conquering company.
The 2-for-1 trade creates the possibility for a person who holds majority in a conquering
company to lose that majority to numerous shareholders because they decided to sacrifice
their small company. It decreases the strategy level of obtaining majorities
and skews the game into more of a factor of luck. In Lloyd's Rules of ACQUIRE,
the players of the vanquished company are given payouts for their companies, and
their shares, and they can invest wherever they choose when it is their turn.
Lloyd's Rules of ACQUIRE are printed into a convenient 10-page booklet that is printed
on yellow card stock for long lasting durability and fits neatly into the original
versions of this timeless classic. This booklet can be used to replace old,
worn, or lost rules as they conveniently have the original rules of ACQUIRE fully
printed with Lloyd's changes to the rules printed in red.
This 10-page booklet also includes a Stock Price Extension chart. This chart
helps when figuring payouts at times of merger or at the end of the game.
This chart helps eliminate the need for a calculator or a math professor.
Lloyd's Rules of ACQUIRE can be used in all editions of ACQUIRE from 1962-2008.
They can also be used in the International versions of ACQUIRE. They can be
used with the Special Powers Variants that were found in the 1993 Schmidt Spiel
edition and the 1995 Avalon Hill Edition. They can also be used with the Wild
Tile Variant and the 1963 World Map Conversion Kit.
If you are interested in additional information, visit the
Lloyd's Rules of ACQUIRE page on our main website.
