Enjoy favours given by the event tile and the played gentry cards. These are all compulsory, with the exception of "Dismissing". AWARD-WINNING THEME: Obsession is set in 1860s England, but it is a passionate tribute to much more—from Jane Austen's Regency era through the Industrial Revolution and the evocative literature of the Victorian period to early 20th century Edwardian England. The affection for this period is not for the high and mighty, but for the underdog. It is Lizzy Bennet and John Bates, Jane Eyre and Elinor Dashwood, David Copperfield and Mary Thorne.

THE BUILDERS' MARKET RESERVE: New management of the Builders' Market prevents it from stagnating and increases access to service tiles. NEW IN THE 2nd PRINTING: Unique to the second printing (indicated by 2E topped by a crown in the upper right-hand corner of the box) are two new hybrid improvement tiles: The South Lawn and Green Room. Hybrid tiles refer to a room or outdoor space that is multi-purpose; as a result, the tile category changes with the activity, a power that greatly impacts courtship! Obsession achieves what it sets out to do—emulate the romance and comedy of errors captured by Jane Austen novels while also providing a quality board game experience. For our household, the thrill of storytelling attached to the gameplay elevates this beyond any of its worker and tile placement brethren. There are not many games that fully feel like a labor of love, but here Dan Hallagan’s attention to period detail has won us over. We’ve fallen under the spell of the namesake; consider us fully obsessed! Throughout the game, a competitive courtship for the hand of the most eligible young gentleman and lady in the county presents specific renovation and reputation objectives. The player who best meets these objectives while accumulating victory points will win the hand of the wealthy love interest and the game. As a note, this expansion works best in conjunction with the Wessex expansion. The base Obsession game is needed for this expansion as it is not a standalone game.In addition, most advertising networks offer you a way to opt out of targeted advertising. If you would like to find out more information, please visit http://www.aboutads.info/choices/or http://www.youronlinechoices.com. Obsession, then, is a game of carefully planning your various actions, ensuring you have both the staff (meeples) and the ladies and gentlemen (cards) available to carry them out. There’s a very satisfying feeling of ‘getting stuff’ when you carry out an action, because you not only get the bonus from the tile (money, in the afternoon ride example) but also the bonuses from each of the cards you played. Your money goes towards new tiles to add to your board, giving you more worker spaces, and more combo opportunities. It’s a really nice set of systems. I have not the pleasure of understanding you

Those of you who revel in multiplayer-solitaire games will love Obsession. The only real competition is in the scrapping over the buildings on offer, and the odd tile that lets you recruit a worker from another player’s board. Other than that, it’s just you against your own brain. To be honest, that’s just as bad for me, my brain is my own worst enemy. That sort of game should be a natural fit for a good solo game, and guess what – it is. Over the course of various turns (either 16 turns in a standard game or 20 in an extended game), you must work to host events, ensuring you can service said events effectively with your staff, and attract new guests to your estate, thus increasing your income and your reputation. The game plays over 4 seasons and at the end of each season, you compete for the affection of one of the Fairchilds, who will bring certain reputation and fortune in their wake. For example, we prefer to play the game with closed courtship. This means that we do not know what appeals to the Fairchilds until the end of a phase. This requires us to maintain a close race for estate points without knowing which area of appeal will turn up. But the game allows you to play this as an open option, so you’re aware immediately what to work towards, or even a random option in which a die determines when this information appears. Obsession takes Jane Austen and Emily Bronte seriously, and then goes the extra mile by wrapping the experience in a wonderful set of mechanics. There’s tableau-building as you work hard to build the most glorious estate. There’s hand management as you mull over the best gentry card to add to the current hosted event. There’s worker placement as you struggle to keep your servants available for the needs of the estate and the whirlwind of guests coming and going. Once a gentry card is used during a round, it is discarded and can’t be used again until reclaimed.NEW IN THE 2nd EDITION: Unique to the second edition (indicated by 2.1E topped by a crown in the upper right-hand corner of the box) are two hybrid improvement tiles: The South Lawn and Green Room. Hybrid tiles refer to a room or outdoor space that is multi-purpose; as a result, the tile category changes with the activity, a power that greatly impacts courtship! At the end of the game, a final courtship phase considers all four phases. The player with the estate that appeals to the Fairchilds most will win the final matchmaking event. This, combined with an accounting of points related to estate improvements and social connections, will decide the ultimate winner regardless of who enticed the final courtship. The Cavendish family is ready to make some improvements. Game Experience: Period dramas have always been a staple on British television. From Downton Abbey to Bridgerton, we seem to be ‘obsessed’ with the goings-on of affluent, Victorian families. Thankfully, there is a board game that can certainly feed that ‘obsession’ and desire to live out your Victorian fantasy and one that really does impress all that play. I am of course talking about Obsession, a worker placement, hand building game in which you take the role of the head of a respected but very troubled family estate. Obsession aims to allow players to reconnect with influential families, residing in Derbyshire, who after years of misfortune, have finally turned the tide and are set on bettering their fortunes. “Life Is A Game, Where The Player Must Appear Ridiculous”

Note: This review is based on the 2nd edition printing, which features improved components and gameplay.Let me guess. You found your way here because you’re board-game-curious and heard that Obsession has a Pride and Prejudice / Jane Austen vibe. How am I doing so far? If that’s the case, Chances are you fall into one of two categories: The Upstairs, Downstairs expansion brings with it four brand new servants for you: Hall Boy, Cook, Head Housemaid and Useful Man. The cook allows you to invite guests 1 or 2 levels above the reputation score. The Hall Boy gives the butler an outstanding service option. The Head Housemaid has impeccable reputation and helps assure that only the most prominent people get acquainted with the family. The Useful Man is for those well versed in Obsession and is, as the name would suggest, very useful and has some versatility in his play options giving him ways to mitigate Victorian Fate. Why not seize the pleasure at once? How often is happiness destroyed by preparation, foolish preparation.” – Jane Austen, Emma Regardless of which camp you’re in, the answer is a resounding maybe. Obsession is a great game and no mistake. It may just be a little troublesome for someone unaccustomed to a modern board game’s disposition. The very first moment I beheld him, my heart was irrevocably gone

Obsession The Board Game. To be honest, the name is pretty appealing if you ask me – it’s a game I see myself being obsessed with personally. Maybe that’s what they was aiming for? Of course, being of landed gentry, the very idea that you’d deign to let them ride without sending a servant to escort them is unthinkable. That means you’ve got to move one of your wooden servants from the Available Service box on your board to the tile, but only if you’ve got the correct type available. There’s no use in trying to send a Lady’s Maid off to the stables, they need a Footman. Host activity: Choose tile from your estate to use this turn. Its bottom-left number must be equal to or lower than your family's Reputation.You are the head of a respected but troubled family estate in mid-19th century Victorian England. After several lean decades, family fortunes are looking up! Your goal is to improve your estate so as to be in better standing with the truly influential families in Derbyshire. Despite that opening salvo, I’m not a big Austen fan, nor do I have anyone I think I could necessarily tempt into my cult of cardboard with such a game. I had heard, however, that Obsession is a great Euro game in its own right, so my curiosity was piqued good and proper. There’s no denying that the setting is a very clever twist on the standard Euro fare, and it is gorgeous. It’s time to bring all resources to bear. Property staff at the ready! Dust off the best rooms. Repair the most attractive elements of the estate. Invite the most prestigious gentry from our remaining social connections. And of course, prepare the children to be marriageable material.