Obsession Board Game - Wessex Expansion

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Welcome to 18th century Derbyshire, England, where several influential families of neglected estates are anxious to change their fortunes. How, you ask? Well, the Fairchild progeny, Elizabeth, and Charles, have permanently moved into Alderley Hall and seek refuge from the melancholy of the lonely countryside. What better way to improve in both rank and status than by romancing these two respectful, and more importantly eligible, siblings? 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. 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. 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: 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.

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:

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I love the fact that some guests are branded as “gossips” and can be used to damage another families reputation but some of them are that unsavoury that you also damage your own reputation for simply being associated with the “gossip”. The grand monuments provide an ongoing reputation bonus, as you would imagine if you had them within your estate. You can build a Lionheart suite within your stately home and invite a prestigious guest to said suite and they are waited on hand and foot by the butler of the house. Their thanks is in the form of double rewards. Everything about Obsession has been meticulously thought out every single detail fits beautifully together like a gracious Victorian puzzle.

Round 14 (Extended Game: 11) is a National Holiday: player Reptutation does not limit actions this round. Players may host any event and invite any guest, irrespective of their Reputation. Obsession with this (and the Wessex expansion) makes the game playable from 1-6 players of ages 13+ and will play in approximately 30-90 mins. 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.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! 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. 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! 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.

Enjoy favours given by the event tile and the played gentry cards. These are all compulsory, with the exception of "Dismissing".

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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. Why not seize the pleasure at once? How often is happiness destroyed by preparation, foolish preparation.” – Jane Austen, Emma While there are expansions available for Obsession, I am yet to play with these added into the base game but I can safely say that the experience you get with just the base game itself and the amount of content available is certainly enough to keep you going for a good long while. Of course, if you are looking to play with more than 4 players, then you will want to look at getting the Upstairs Downstairs expansion that adds new families into the mix, as well as different service staff to utilise and complete activities. The Wessex expansion, as the name may suggest, adds the Wessex family into the mix, as well as new casual and prestige guests. “Flawless My Dear” Last but not least is the inclusion of three new ways to play the game. This expansion will open the game up for Solo Estate Challenge, Team Cooperative Play and Tableau Obsession.

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! 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.Round 11 (Extended Game: 13) is the Builder's Holiday: players may buy any number of Improvement tiles during this round. You have a special someone in your life who isn’t as into board games as you are, and you want to know if this game could be the one that lures them into your hobby. Each activity must be attended by the estate’s service team. Certain activities necessitate certain staff, such as the Bowling Green, which requires a footman to attend two gentry members for the event. The gentry, based on their status, may also require attending. The starting family cards do not require this, but many of the cards you will add to your hand over time will require the attention of a lady’s maid or valet. Once used, staff members become expended and will not be available for a period of time. The central boards include Derbyshire and Alderley Hall. Each turn, players choose a building tile representing a room or outdoor space in and around their 19th century British country house. The tile chosen dictates the event that can be hosted and the guests to be invited. Players must carefully plan, however, to have the proper staff available to service the event and support guests as needed. The reward for success is new investment opportunities, permitting further renovation of the estate (acquisition of more valuable/powerful building tiles), an increase in reputation in the county, an expanding circle of influential acquaintances, and a larger and highly-trained domestic staff.