Mergers and Stock
How chains merge, the stockholder info card, Classic and Tycoon bonuses, ties, and what to do with acquired stock.
How a merger works
When your tile touches two or more chains, they merge. Count each chain’s tiles without the tile you just placed.
- The larger chain survives; the smaller one is acquired. On a tie in size, you (the mergemaker) choose. A safe chain (11+ tiles) can never be acquired, so two safe chains can never merge.
- Return the acquired chain’s headquarters to the tray. Its tiles, and your tile, join the survivor.
- Pay the bonuses for the acquired chain at its size before the merger.
- Everyone holding its stock, starting with you and going clockwise, keeps, sells or trades it.
Merging three or more chains: the largest survives (you break ties) and the others are handled one at a time, largest first. The survivor’s stock pays nothing now, but its price goes up with its size.
The stockholder info card
Find the chain’s column, go down to its size, and read across: the share price and the bonuses. The Tycoon Mode side:
  |    |   | Price per share | Primary | Secondary | Tertiary |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | — | — | $200 | $2,000 | $1,500 | $1,000 |
| 3 | 2 | — | $300 | $3,000 | $2,200 | $1,500 |
| 4 | 3 | 2 | $400 | $4,000 | $3,000 | $2,000 |
| 5 | 4 | 3 | $500 | $5,000 | $3,700 | $2,500 |
| 6–10 | 5 | 4 | $600 | $6,000 | $4,200 | $3,000 |
| 11–20 | 6–10 | 5 | $700 | $7,000 | $5,000 | $3,500 |
| 21–30 | 11–20 | 6–10 | $800 | $8,000 | $5,700 | $4,000 |
| 31–40 | 21–30 | 11–20 | $900 | $9,000 | $6,200 | $4,500 |
| 41+ | 31–40 | 21–30 | $1,000 | $10,000 | $7,000 | $5,000 |
| — | 41+ | 31–40 | $1,100 | $11,000 | $7,700 | $5,500 |
| — | — | 41+ | $1,200 | $12,000 | $8,200 | $6,000 |
The Classic Mode side has the same prices and only two bonuses: primary = 10 × the price, secondary = 5 × the price (a $700 share pays $7,000 and $3,500).
Paying the bonuses
Everyone shows how many shares of the acquired chain they own. The most shares is the primary stockholder, then secondary, then (Tycoon only) tertiary. No shares, no bonus. The bank pays.
| Situation | Classic Mode | Tycoon Mode |
|---|---|---|
| Only one stockholder | Primary + secondary | Primary + tertiary |
| Tie for primary | Tied players split primary + secondary; no secondary paid | Tied players split primary + secondary; the next player gets the tertiary |
| 3 or more tied for primary | Split primary + secondary | Split all three bonuses; nobody else is paid |
| Tie for secondary | Tied players split the secondary | Tied players split secondary + tertiary; nobody gets the tertiary |
| Tie for tertiary | — | Tied players split the tertiary |
| Only two stockholders | — | No tertiary paid |
Split amounts are rounded up to the next $100.
After the bonuses: keep, sell or trade
Starting with the mergemaker and going clockwise, each holder of the acquired stock does any mix of:
- Keep it, hoping the chain is founded again later.
- Sell it to the bank at the acquired chain’s price (its size before the merger).
- Trade it 2 for 1 for shares of the survivor, while the tray has them.
Then the mergemaker carries on with the turn: buy stock and draw.
Two players
Play Classic Mode. At every bonus payout — mergers and the end — the bank is a third stockholder: draw a tile and read its number as the bank’s shares (9F = 9). It doesn’t matter if the total passes 25. Bonuses it wins stay in the bank. Shuffle the tile back.