Obsession Board Game - Wessex Expansion

Product Information

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. 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?

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. 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:

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

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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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” 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. 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.