Obsession (2nd ed)

This game has been described as Jane Austen meets Downton Abbey. Except it's set in Victorian times and neither of those are.

It's all about managing and, crucially, expanding the family estate in Victorian Derbyshire. The family's guests bring prestige and valuable information and encourage other gentry to visit. All of which allows you to expand your estate by adding rooms to the house (another library?) and features to the grounds (cricket pitch, anyone?). As long as you have the cash to do so – and the servants to look after your guests!

Not forgetting the goal of wooing the most eligible heirs in Derbyshire on the way to becoming the most prestigious family.

I was smitten by Obsession when I first played it and it's had a similar effect on most people I've introduced it to. There is a clever game of hand management underneath a gorgeous layer of theme. And I don't just mean managing your cards (guests), but also the nice wooden pieces (staff) and solid cardboard tiles (estate improvements).

Note that there are some changes between first and second editions.

The Wessex expansion allows a fifth player (or just adds variety to the choice of families), Upstairs, Downstairs provides a sixth as well as adding different servants, improvements and guests. And there are some promotional tiles.

For 1-4 players, aged 14+, playing time 30-90 minutes: £60.00 (£50.00 tax free outside the UK)
 

In stock

Obsession was designed by Dan Hallagan and is published by Kayenta

Find out more:
    Obsession at BoardGameGeek

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Wessex expansion

This is simply another family to add to the fun. The start bonus for Family Wessex is an additional (level 2) improvement, which can be very useful. The box also contains additional guest cards and adds to the solitaire game.

With base game: 1-5 players, aged 14+, playing time 30-90 minutes: £20.00 (£16.67 tax free outside the UK)
 

In stock

Obsession: Wessex expansion was designed by Dan Hallagan and is published by Kayenta

Find out more:
    Obsession: Wessex expansion at BoardGameGeek

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Upstairs, Downstairs

This is a substantial box that adds some different servants: cook, chief housemaid, hall boy and "Useful man". Hence there are also improvement tiles that use these servants, guests that need them and Objective cards that feature them. Plus the Howard family, whose advantage is that they start with a Cook.

The new components give players lost more options and ways round some of the limitations they face in the base game. Plus a co-operative team game and different solitaire challenges.

With base game: 1-5 players (6 with Wessex as well), aged 14+, playing time 30-90 minutes: £35.00 (£29.17 tax free outside the UK)
 

In stock

Obsession: Upstairs, Downstairs was designed by Dan Hallagan and is published by Kayenta

Find out more:
    Obsession: Upstairs, Downstairs at BoardGameGeek

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Obsession promo tiles

This is a set of 20 extra improvement tiles, featuring a couple based on players' ideas (I particularly like the Parish Church, but there's also a chance of spotting a comet with the Garden Observatory). There's also an intriguing 'experimental' tile that adds an event early in the game. The idea being to give players an early opportunity to add a Prestige guest to their hand.

With base game: 1-4 players, aged 14+, playing time 30-90 minutes: £10.00 (£8.33 tax free outside the UK)
 

In stock

Obsession promo tiles was designed by Dan Hallagan and is published by Kayenta

Find out more:
    Obsession promo tiles at BoardGameGeek

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