Lloyd’s Rules for Two-Player ACQUIRE
“Four Hand Volley”
I came up with Lloyd’s Rules of ACQUIRE in 1980 but I have never been satisfied with the balance of any rules that I could come up with for a two player game so I gave up even thinking about the possibility. Yet recently I started thinking about some variants and I came up with the “Four Hand Volley” for two players.
Essentially, both players each have two hands. They are playing and controlling both hands, either independently or in cohesion with each other. Either way, only one hand wins and it might not be the hand you think.
I suggest that you use a small card table and set your hands up opposite of each other as to not confuse or mix the hands. In that manner it becomes a board game that also gives you exercise as you rotate around the table with the flow of the game. One person is Player 1 and 3 and the other person is Player 2 and 4.
The start of the game begins with a tile drawn for each hand to see which hand will go first. The game then progresses to the left of that hand. All other rules of ACQUIRE remain in place as it just becomes a four player game.
This manner of game play yields some very interesting results. It also seems to lengthen game times as it is a little different trying to make decisions for two different hands in one game. Yet this is a balanced manner of play and it will offer many, different and evolving strategies to achieve a victory.
The Four Hand Volley is submitted for your consideration as my best remedy when you can only find two people to play the game of ACQUIRE. I hope you find hours of enjoyment with this variation and let’s keep those ACQUIRE games on the table.
© 2023 L. Solon
Overview of Lloyd's Rules of ACQUIRE
Lloyd's Changes to the Rules of ACQUIRE