How to Play Acquire: Hotel Chains, Mergers & Stocks
Acquire is a tile-placement and investment game. Players expand hotel chains on a shared 9×12 grid, buy stock in those chains and profit when smaller chains are absorbed through mergers.
Edition scope. This guide follows Renegade Game Studios’ current edition. Classic Mode and Tycoon Mode differ mainly in stockholder-bonus structure; the core turn sequence is the same.
1. Place one building tile
Choose a legal tile from your hand and place it in the matching grid space. Depending on adjacent tiles, this may create an isolated building, enlarge an unincorporated group, found a hotel chain, expand an existing chain or trigger a merger.
Founding a hotel chain
When your placement connects enough unincorporated buildings to form a new chain, choose an available hotel chain and place its headquarters. The founding player receives the current edition’s founding benefit, normally a free share if stock remains.
Mergers absorb the smaller chain
If your tile connects two or more chains, compare their sizes before adding the merger tile. The largest survives; smaller chains are acquired. Resolve stockholder bonuses for each acquired chain before players decide what to do with their shares.
Sell, trade or hold acquired stock
After receiving merger bonuses, stockholders may sell shares of the acquired chain for cash, trade eligible shares for stock in the surviving chain at the rulebook ratio, or keep shares for a possible future refounding.
Safe chains cannot be absorbed
A hotel chain with 11 or more building tiles is safe. It cannot be acquired by another chain, and two safe chains cannot legally be merged by a tile placement.
2. Buy stock
After resolving the placed tile, you may buy stock in active hotel chains up to the current edition’s purchase limit, paying the prices shown on the stockholder information cards.
3. Draw a replacement tile
Refill your hand according to the rulebook and pass play clockwise.
Ending the game is optional when a condition is met
During your turn, you may announce the end if all active hotel chains are safe or one active chain contains at least 41 building tiles. You may also choose to keep playing. After the announcing player finishes the turn, final bonuses and stock liquidation are resolved.
Source: Renegade Game Studios current Acquire rulebook. Checked September 21, 2026.