Obsession Board Game - Wessex Expansion

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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” 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: 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. Why not seize the pleasure at once? How often is happiness destroyed by preparation, foolish preparation.” – Jane Austen, Emma

All this activity is rigidly structured, as each turn consists of the same step-by-step guided principles, all of which are channeled by available resources. While you can focus on different avenues of the family, such as increasing reputation or amassing social connections, the goal is to win the hearts of the Fairchild siblings. Ultimately, they are only interested in one area of your estate each phase. THE BUILDERS' MARKET RESERVE: New management of the Builders' Market prevents it from stagnating and increases access to service tiles.

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. 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: 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. 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. The families within the game are very well balanced in regards to their starting bonuses and there is a whole wealth of different guests that you can come across while playing the game. There is a real energy when it comes to balancing the various factors that better your fortune and the four courtship events that occur during the game will inevitably have you racing to secure new buildings and areas within your estate to attract one of the Fairchilds.

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.

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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.