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TAKEOVER
a game of strategy and tactics for the piecepack
(v 0.2b, 29 May 2001)
Copyright (C) 2001 by James Kyle and Chris Young
2 to 6 players - 30 minutes

SUMMARY

Players take turns merging corporations (tiles) to increase either short-term cash gains (value-up coins) or long-term stocks that pay out at the end of the game (suit-up coins). The suit of a tile represents its industry; the value of each tile, along with the number of other tiles in its stack, represents its worth.

SETUP

Shuffle all the tiles and lay them out, face-up, in a 6 tile by 4 tile grid.

Place all stocks (coins) value-up on the table. Roll to see who will begin initial stock selection. Take turns choosing and collecting one stock each, reversing the pecking order each round. Continue until all stocks have been taken by players. Then, simultaneously,all players must conceal their stocks and may flip as many of them as desired suit-side up. Henceforth, all suit-up coins are considered stocks and all value-up coins are considered cash assets.

PLAY

Starting with the player who began initial stock selection, take turns; on your turn, you may either merge two corporations or pass. At any time during play, players may negotiate, deal, and trade stocks and cash assets.

GAME END

If no more mergers are possible, or if all players pass in succession, the game ends and players cash out their stocks. The player with the most money wins.

MERGING CORPORATIONS

Corporations that are adjacent (diagonal is not sufficient) and are within the same industry may be merged for free. Simply pick up one of the corporations (including any tiles stacked below it) and stack it on top of the other. The owner of the stock matching the corporation that is being subsumed must then cash out the stock (if it has not been already) by flipping the coin value-side up.

Corporations that are adjacent but are within different industries may be merged at a cost of the value (NOT total worth) shown on the corporation being subsumed. The player performing the merger must pay this cost by discarding cash assets with a total value equal to or greater than the cost. If the player overpays, the extra is lost. (Subsuming a penny stock (null value) corporation is free.) Beyond this cost, the procedure for the merger is the same as described above.

SPECIAL MERGING OPPORTUNITIES

Penny stocks (null coins) that are cashed in have no cash value but represent special merging opportunities. By discarding such a coin, a player may merge two corporations that are not adjacent to each other on the board, provided the two corporations are in the same row or column with only blank table space between them. The merger is performed in the same way as described above (in MERGING CORPORATIONS) including any cost associated with merging corporations that are from differing industries. (continued)

SCORING

At game end, players calculate their individual scores as follows:

1) Evaluate each stock (suit-up coin) by finding the corresponding corporation on the board (the tile that matches by suit and value). The corporation's worth is equal to the value showing on the top tile, in millions of dollars, plus one million dollars for each other tile in its stack. For example, a corporation consisting of the 2 of suns stacked on top of three other tiles would score a total of ($2m + $3m =) $5 million.

2) Evaluate each of your cash assets as each value-up coin's value in millions of dollars.

3) Add the total worth of your stocks and the total worth of your cash assets to arrive at your total score for the game.