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. Rotate service: Move all your Servants one box to the right. (Only those in the "Available Service" box will be available for use on your turn.) 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.

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. Rounds 4, 8, 12 and 16 (Extended Game: 5, 10, 15 and 20)are Courtship rounds. No regular turns are taken: instead, whoever has the highest score for that courtship's current Theme colour (shown by the most recent upturned card at the top of the board) may take either the Charles or Elizabeth Fairchild card into their hand, and draw a Victory Point Card. The final Courtship round is scored on the total for all four Theme colours, rather than just the fourth. (If a colour appears multiple times, it is counted multiple times.) 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. Round 11 (Extended Game: 13) is the Builder's Holiday: players may buy any number of Improvement tiles during this round.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 then can invite a certain number of guests to the activity and they themselves may have certain staffing requirements that you must be able to fulfil. They will also provide favours (rewards) as well as the activity itself. Favours can vary from money from wealthy Earls, reputation or new guests to add to your hand. All of these will build upon your fortune and better your standing with the opportunity to court the Fairchilds. “My Heart Burns For You, Obsession!” 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. The game invites a world of storytelling as you play. Each gentry card, including the family cards, are delightful as they include in-era photography and flavor detail. A picnic on the south lawn may attract a new guest. But look, it’s the local gossip Miss Beatrice Wilton, who upon future play will lower the reputation of the family. Why did Father wave to her as she passed by on her way to town? The scandal! Lady Cavendish and the Viscount are attended by the family footman. 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:

Along with the new servants on offer, is the facility to add a 5th and 6th player to the game. This requires the Wessex expansion to utilise. There is also a plethora of both casual and prestige guests to invite during the game. There are an entire 49 new guests available to add to the base game. On top of this, there are 5 new service and improvement tiles on offer, milestones, and bigger courtship cards. The new components found in The Upstairs, Downstairs expansion will allow you to mitigate prestige limitations, hunt for tiles, screen your potential guest, refresh the market a lot easier and enhance favours earlier on in the game.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.

THE BUILDERS' MARKET RESERVE: New management of the Builders' Market prevents it from stagnating and increases access to service tiles. 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.

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” 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!

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. 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. 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. Why not seize the pleasure at once? How often is happiness destroyed by preparation, foolish preparation.” – Jane Austen, Emma Note: This review is based on the 2nd edition printing, which features improved components and gameplay.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. 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! The solo mode in Obsession works well and is smoothly implemented. There’s a choice of opponents, and the reality of playing it means rolling a D20 and removing the matching tile from the builders’ market. There’s a little more to it than that, but what I want to stress is how easy the solo mode is to run. It’s one of those games which doesn’t alter the goal to make solo gaming fit. You can play using the same ideas and tactics you would if you were playing against real people, and that’s a really nice touch. Final thoughts 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 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.