Acquire

If you had wanted me, as a teenager, to play a board game about corporate real-estate speculation, I would have laughed out loud and said no, thanks. But, somehow, someone managed to get me to play Acquire (Avalon Hill, 1962). I wish I could remember how – it was probably my brother, pulling it out of the closet on a rainy day.

Acquire has had such staying power because it embodies everything fun, and nothing boring or dry, about corporate real estate. How does it do that, you say? By keeping it simple. It consists of a regular grid running from columns A-I and rows 1-12 (for a total of 108 squares). Players take turns placing grid tiles onto corresponding spaces. When these tiles are placed adjacently, one of seven corporations is formed. Once a corporation exists, players can buy stock in the companies in the hope that more tiles will be added, increasing the worth of the corporation’s stocks.

That’s Acquire in a nutshell. The key piece is the info card (below), which shows the price of one stock certificate for a corporation of a given size, and the final payout for stock owned once the corporation expires. Each player uses this payoff chart to determine what to buy, and when, and how much. Beyond buying stock and eventually selling it, each players helps control the board by placing a single, randomly-drawn tile. Thus each player has an idea of what corporations might grow, depending on which four tiles they have drawn, and in which order they are played.

Consider the two players below, relative to the game board shown. The player on the left has a tile (8C) that will allow him or her to grow Hydra, plus other nearby tiles. As the majority holder (the one with the most stock – 4 cards in this example) there is reason to be optimistic about Hydra’s growth. Player 1 has also purchased one piece of stock in Quantum; when two corporations meet, the smaller one goes away, and the stock is sold off according to the payoff chart, to the majority and minority holders. Player 1 would be smart to buy some Quantum stock, because either Hydra or Quantum are likely to take over the other sooner or later in the game. Player 2 actually has similar options, so in this game we would expect players 1 and 2 to get into tile-positioning and stock buying wars, each trying to grow the corporations they are better represented in, while buying more of the other stock to ensure a good position if they can’t manage to get the right tiles.

The game continues much the same way, and with several players each playing for their own territories, each tile played may have an impact on any number of other players. There are 25 stock certificates for each corporation, so players find themselves paying close attention to what and how many stocks other players are buying. If a player has the most stock certificates, even by one, the payoff difference is huge. If a player is third in line, there is no payoff – their stock is worthless, and represents a lost investment.

One very important detail regarding corporation size, is that more than 11 tiles constitutes a “safe” corporation. Until then, a corporation that is linked to a larger one dissolves, and the majority and minority holders get their payoff. Once the corporation size reaches 11, they cannot be linked, and the tiles that would have linked two such corporations are no longer playable, and are discarded. By the end of the game, the board consists of, usually, several safe corporations interspersed with dead spaces. The majority and minority holders of the remaining safe corporations at the end of the game are paid off at that point. The winner is simply the player with the most money!

As I said, the theme is in no way appealing to me, but this is one of my tried and true greatest games. I don’t break it out all the time – there is still a good crowd for it – but it has yet to disappoint. There is a reason that Hasbro, once they picked up Avalon Hill about 10 years ago, decided to move forward with Acquire as one of the few Avalon Hill games. It’s a relatively under-appreciated classic, but any strategy game fan would love it.

Buy Acquire at Amazon!

Titan: The Arena

Titan: The Arena (Avalon Hill, 1997; aka Colossal Arena, Fantasy Flight Games, 2008) is another of my all time favorites because of the uncertainty of outcome until very late in the game, the interactivity of the players, and the theme.

Titan: The Arena (not to be confused with its larger namesake, Titan) is a card game in which 8 fantasy creatures, each with specific powers, are battling in an imaginary arena. They battle for 8 rounds, and each round one creature is eliminated. Players place bets on one creature during each round, and then place numbered cards on each creature to represent relative power for that round. Once each creature has a number card, the round is over and the lowest numbered creature exits, so all the bets that had been placed on it throughout the game are nullified. By the end of the last round, there is one creature left standing. Whichever player has the most value of bets invested in that creature, wins.

The beauty of this game is that each player has to simultaneously prop up some creatures while trying to undermine others, while betting accordingly. The chaos introduced by each creature’s special ability is especially fun; whichever player has the most bets cumulatively invested in any given creature gets “control” over that creature, and may invoke that creatures special ability. These abilities may prove critical late in the game! For example the owner of the Hydra can place two cards at once. If the he or she finds their  creature with a low card, they could, on one turn, put a higher number under the Hydra and a lower number on another creature. The owner of the Dragon has the ability to destroy any card in play, so what the Hydra just did the Dragon might undo. The variations are as endless as the cleverness of the players.

I would recommend this game to just about anyone who is old enough to understand the rules. It’s recommended for 8 and up, but I wouldn’t expect anyone under 10 to really understand how to deal with the contingencies.

The game play makes it essentially a very interesting card game; the theme is secondary. People with no interest in the theme should be able to ignore it and enjoy the game for what it is! Those who do like the theme will find it very easy to imagine the arena setting, manipulations of the creatures, and invocation of powers.

Note: Titan: The Arena is out of print, but has been replaced by Colossal Arena, which has new art and 4 extra creatures. This review is for the version I know, but can be safely transferred to the new one.

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History of the World

History of the World (Avalon Hill, 1991; aka A Brief History of the World, Ragnar Brothers, 2009) is my favorite strategy game. I love maps, I love history, and this game is a way to indulge both. But the game itself allows all players to be equally involved all the way through, and the game is rarely decided before the 7th epoch ends. It is my strategy game equivalent of a perfect Thanksgiving meal – it leaves me full and satisfied.

Important note: This game has been replaced on the market with a newer, “chopped down” version with 6 epochs, fewer lands, and different combat mechanics, and exceptionally reduced play time. The new version is A Brief History of the World. I haven’t played it yet, so I stand by my review of the older version, but early reviews on the new game are encouraging.

The game is played over the course of 7 epochs of world history; in each epoch, the player acts as one of 7 major world empires (ie.e, the Romans, the Persians, the Chang Dynasty, they Mayans, etc). During their turn they use whatever empire they have to expand or strengthen territory, or build monuments. the longer their territories and monuments (identified by color as belonging to that player) continue into the future, the more victory points are earned.

Empires are of varying sizes, but each epoch a bidding process based on one’s position in the game allows a fair allocation of empires so that the same player will not end up with the best empires turn after turn. Event cards confer bonuses to players throughout the game, and allow them to incur natural disasters; these cards also help level the playing field.

This game is perfect for strategy game lovers, fans of euro-games, and anyone who likes Risk but might want more. It takes a few hours, so it’s a great rainy-day game for people who already enjoy each others company.