At first glance, MEGAcquire can appear intimidating because of the complexity of the board, the amount of companies, and the extensive rules. (Rules that are too basic do not allow for many variables and leave too much gray area.)
In the game's basic concept, the player creates and grows companies by playing the tiles from their hand. The tiles available to the player are provided strictly by the luck of the draw. The skill in the game of MEGAcquire, to generate money, comes from the ability to buy stocks in the companies that will grow or even in the companies that are purchased by larger companies. Stock purchases are generally made in companies based on the player's capability to grow those companies with their tiles on hand. However, players can make money by buying into companies that grow from the other players’ tile placements.
Goal:
The main objective of MEGAcquire is to become the wealthiest player at the end of the game. This is done by forming companies and obtaining stock, while shrewdly buying and trading the right stock at the right time, merging companies to obtain capital, and increasing the value of the companies in which you have stock by adding tiles to those companies.
Setup:
Put the game board in the center of the table with the tiles face down in either the top or bottom of the box. (Tiles can be left in bag and shaken before player draws.) Designate a “banker” and a “stock broker” to handle distribution of stock certificates (if desired).
The banker distributes $12,000 to each player. The banker keeps the rest of the money in front of them in four piles. To determine who goes first, each player draws one of the tiles and places it on the board. The player whose tile is closest to “A-1” goes first. (The progression of tiles goes A-1 thru A-13 and then B-1 thru B-13. A-13 is closer to A-1 than B-1).
The tiles are placed back into the pile or bag of tiles and shuffled. All players draw 12 tiles and keep the tiles in front of them and concealed from the other players. The play then progresses to the left of the first player.
Turn Summary:
Play a tile on the game board onto its matching space.
Buy or trade stocks in any active company. No more than six individual stock certificates can be purchased or obtained through trade in one turn.
Buying Stock -- a player can buy up to six individual stock certificates from active companies.
Stock prices are determined as follows:
Find the name of the company on the information card for which stock is being purchased. Refer down the appropriate column to find the tile size of the company.
Cross-reference that to the stock price column for the cost per certificate.
There are only 25 certificates for each company – once those certificates are gone, they cannot be purchased (unless stocks are returned through sale after merger or through trade).
The declaration of stock amounts held by individual players must be determined before game play begins. There are four different methods that can be chosen:
- No disclosure of stock amounts during regular game play. Players keep track by memory.
- Bank discloses stock amounts left.
- Players disclose stock amounts on hand.
- Total disclosure of stock amounts.
Trading Stock:
A player on their turn may trade stock for other stock ONLY if they do not have enough money to purchase the stock they want to buy. They can only trade the amount of stock it takes to raise the funds needed to make the purchase of up to six stocks.
If the monetary trade is not exactly even, the player is allowed to get a small amount of change. If the cash value of the change is more than one of the shares being used in the trade, then the player must keep that share instead of receiving cash.
Example: If a player has stock in Regal and the company has three (3) tiles, the stock is worth $500 for each share traded. The player wants to purchase three (3) shares of Solon that has 41 tiles, or $1,000 for each share. The player could trade six (6) shares of Regal for three (3) shares of Solon.
A player can trade as many shares as they wish in one turn, but they can only obtain six shares.
Finish the turn by drawing one tile from the supply to replace the tile that was just played. Players should always have twelve tiles in front of them.
Game Play:
Playing a tile – Depending on how a tile is played, one of four things can happen:
- The tile is not adjacent to other tiles and is “unincorporated.” (The hexagon shape of the tiles allows for connection to any tile that is adjacent in every direction.)
- The tile is adjacent to another unincorporated tile and so forms a company. (If all of player’s tiles would form new companies, but all companies are already on the board with none available to be formed, then the player does not play a tile and does not draw a new one. The player is still allowed to purchase stock.)
When a company is formed the player selects an available company marker from the tray and places it on any one of the new company's tiles on the board. The player gets one free stock certificate for founding the company.
(If players already hold all the stocks from that company, then the founding player gets the “founding bonus” in cash payment that is equal to the company's value at time of opening.) - The tile is adjacent to an existing company, in which case the company grows in size by one tile and its stock increases in value according to the stock value chart.
- A company that is 21 tiles or more in size is “safe.”
- A safe company can absorb a smaller company through merger, but can never be absorbed itself.
- A tile cannot be placed in a location that would cause two safe corporations to merge. Such a tile is turned upside down and placed on the board in the proper location. The player draws another tile to replace that tile. (If a player has a tile that will cause two safe companies to merge, they may turn it over immediately, whether it is their turn or not, and draw a replacement tile.)
- A company that is 21 tiles or more in size is “safe.”
- The tile is placed adjacent to two (or more) existing companies. In this case the two companies merge:
- Count the number of tiles in each company. (Do not include the merging tile in the count for either.)
- The larger company always absorbs the smaller company.
- If merging companies are the same size, then it is the Merge Maker who decides the fate of these same size companies.
- If a tile is placed that merges more than two companies, the larger one survives and the smaller ones become defunct. The companies are absorbed one at a time from smallest to largest.
- If merging companies are the same size, then it is the Merge Maker who decides the fate of these same size companies.
- Remove the colored marker from the smaller company and return it to the tray.
- All players reveal how many stock certificates they hold in the now defunct company. The player with the most becomes the “Majority Stockholder” while the player with the next most becomes the “Minority Stockholder.”
- The Majority Stockholder receives the bonus indicated on the information card in the 1st Majority column. Cross-reference the number of tiles in the defunct company and type of company (small, medium, large). The Minority stockholder receives the bonus indicated in the next column to the right.
- If one player is the sole stockholder in a company, that player gets both bonuses.
- If there is a tie for Majority Stockholder, add the majority and minority bonus and divide evenly between the two players who are tied; no other players are paid. If the bonuses do not divide equally into even $100 amounts then the bonus is rounded up to the next $100 amount.
- If there is a tie for Minority Stockholder, split the Minority Stockholder bonus indicated among those tied.
- Players must now decide what to do with their defunct stock. They may (starting with the player who holds majority, and proceeding with the next largest stock holder):
- Hold – The player can keep the stock certificates from the defunct company anticipating that it will be founded again.
- Sell – The player can sell their stock certificates back to the bank for the market value of the company directly before the merger.
- Player can use any combination of both options, i.e. if a player has ten (10) shares they can sell seven (7) and hold three (3). The Merge Maker is the only player able to acquire stock, as is the normal course for a turn.
- Hold – The player can keep the stock certificates from the defunct company anticipating that it will be founded again.
- Count the number of tiles in each company. (Do not include the merging tile in the count for either.)
Ending the Game:
The game ends when all disputed borders are resolved (when all the safe companies left on the board can no longer benefit from growth). After all disputed borders are resolved, place the remaining tiles on the board. Remove the “turnover tiles” between the companies and count the tiles for each company, starting with the smallest.
Players can also decide to end the game early due to time constraints. (A time limit can be established before the game begins.) When the decision is made to end the game, all players should be in agreement, and the last player to play in the first round of the game should be the last player to play in the last round.
Majority and Minority bonuses are paid out in the surviving active companies at the market rate.
All stocks in surviving active companies are sold back at their market price.
The player with the most cash wins.
MEGAcquire featured in Spielbox Magazine