I mean the actions are simple in execution, but require some foresight and planning to maximize your turns. There is a space on the round track, the Builders Holiday, which allows players to purchase more than one improvement from the market during your turn. Clear board All servants that were engaged in the activity are placed in the expended service box, invited guests are placed in your discard pile, and the activity tile is, if it is its first use, turned over to reveal a rose, and replaced in your organiser. Before beginning the game, you will decide if you are going to play a Standard game (16 rounds) or Extended game (20 rounds). All the information on how it will score each area is right in front of you, and you can use this information to tune your strategy to beat it. Brilliantly written, as youd expect from a published author, and totally absorbing I only wish there were more! Ipersonally prefer the extended play, feeling that the standard game ends just as you are getting going. Obsession is a game of 16 to 20 turns in which players build a deck of Victorian gentry (British social upper class), renovate their estate by acquiring building tiles from a centralized builders market, and manipulate an extensive service staff of butlers, housekeepers, underbutlers, maids, valets, and footmen utilizing a novel worker placement mechanic. Tabletop Games Blog, News, Reviews and more. As the game progresses your engine becomes more powerful, and concentrating on one thing often leads to the opening up of another Estate cards that grab you lots of guests, should then lead you to think about an activity that invites a lot of them, thus you receive plenty of favours play it right and your back in the game. However, once used, its VPs drop from 3 to 0, so you have to make the decision to use it pretty quickly. Obsession sees you re-invigorating your estate, making improvements and making it appealing enough to lure one of the unsuspecting siblings into your domain! LotR LCG Strategy: Constructing a Deck without Knowing the Next Quest, LotR LCG Strategy: First Steps After Purchasing a Core Set, LotR LCG Strategy: A Hobbit Deck with Minimal Investment, Review for One: Pathfinder Adventure Card Game Core Set. Lets take a look. I get it, not everyone is going to go nuts over the 19th Century time period, the literary-inspired box, or the period-appropriate photos on the cards. I dont need a game of perfect information some randomness can add a lot of fun and variety to the game. Player. Obsession is a board game designed by Dan Hallagan that was published in 2018 by Dan Hallagan. The player with the purple pawn starts the game. You have some great decisions right out of the gate, such as whether or not to try and get the bonus money and reputation at the two Fairs or keep the 3 VP tile. (LogOut/ It has the thrill you get from a deck builder, but you dont have to keep your fingers crossed that the cards come round in good order.
In fact, you could say it is dripping from the box when you open it. The player selects two of these and the rest are returned to the bottom of the objective deck. Monuments feel way too powerful. THE STUDIO OF SCALE MODEL ARTIST DARREN MCGUINNESS. Then the game becomes a juggling act, as you try and force your engine into missing a cylinder; you find yourself in a quandary, and its all rather good fun! LotR LCG Strategy: Where to go After the Core Set? Change), You are commenting using your Facebook account. (LogOut/ This is a very good solo game indeed, one that I have found myself becoming somewhat addicted to, and it has quickly become one of my favourite solo games! If two or more share the same prestige, place them in the order Service, Sporting, Essentials, Estate, and Prestige. If you havent, then it might take you a play or two, but youll get the hang of it quickly. Either take 200 form the bank, or refresh the builders market (remove all tiles from the market, draw and place new in prestige order, return the removed tiles to the bag). As for the rest of the glossary, well, it is probably the most detailed and engrossing one that Ive ever read. It contains a throw away insert, and is large enough to contain the game plus the Wessex expansion. Go straight to expert, its a challenge, one that is often decided by the winning of the very last courtship. Only 3 monuments are used total, one copy of each blue building is used, and all tiles that do not have a solid black dot by the Reputation value are removed from the bag. Updated each week-end. The pawns and reputation markers are also wooden. There are also fewer servants to hire: 4 footmen, two valets, two ladies maids, and one underbutler. The game, from the players perspective, is exactly the same as when playing against other people. But all is not lost when you pass not only do you get those cards back in hand, but you get some money or you can wipe the building market. I find what really helps with the theme of this game is the Guest cards, as they give names, pictures, backstories to the people you are inviting over to your activities. This is a must buy if you intend to play the game solo the extended game against the expert AI is an excellent challenge, and quickly becomes the solitaire opponent of choice. You will use that money to improve your estate and reputation with the ultimate goal of marrying off your eligible young man or woman to one of the Fairchilds. Dan Hallagan is the owner of Kayenta Publishing, where he has published three books and one AMAZING board game called Obsession. You need to make sure one of your servants is there to make sure the event is in order, and some guests require additional support from valets of ladies maids so having a vibrant, diverse staff pays off. The meeples are all made of wood; each type of servant having a different pose and colour. Before the first turn is taken a courtship theme card is revealed and placed on the round tracker board. There are five different service tiles, and each grants an ability or benefit to the player who purchases them. Again, Mr. Hallagan has provided videos for that. And of course, you could buy something that another player really wanted, causing them to cuss like an old Victorian peddler, but it is only worth doing so if it also benefits you in some way. The worker side, having to think about providing service, is also a major aspect, especially towards the latter part of the game.
Buy from the Builders Market Optionally buy one Improvement Tile to place under your board. First thing first when you open up the box and take look at the components, you get that feeling of luxury. Lets start with the thing that first interested me in Obsession: its theme.
Examples are plentiful and its fairly easy to follow. The tiles are subtly decorated in what looks like period wallpaper, which adds a luxurious air to them. All are viable strategies, and the right combination can see you reap a large score. The most valuable ones tend to involve getting 2-3 specific rooms in your estate, but there is no guarantee youll see them. I could keep going on here, but you get the point by now. Reputation VPs, as per the table in the rulebook. I shall also get Jeeves to hire a new ladys maid and a footman; we shall soon be the envy of all! Favorite Games for Family Game Nights: Istanbul, Obsession: A Strategy Game by a Catholic Creator, Mr. Hallagan provides an excellent video on how to do so, Mr. Hallagan has provided videos for that, Rotating Service Essentially making exhausted servants available for this round of play, Checking the Round Track, Monuments, or Servants Hall, Monuments you have built for reputation increase, Checking Servants Hall (if you built it). Your goal is to improve your estate so as to be in better standing with the truly influential families in Derbyshire. Copyright 2022 CatholicMom.com. These included balls, dinner parties, horse trials, etc. 6 AI opponents for extended play solitaire. Note The social season, or Season, in Victorian times, was an annual period during which, it was customary for the social elite to hold events. There are plenty of rule explanations to read through, but because the game is straightforward in its turn structure, once read you find you only refer back to them infrequently, and the critical rules are all highlighted. My wifes first words, when she saw the box, was that it looked boring and dumb. I found the game to be extremely well balanced; able to win with any family, and with a variety of strategies. Thematically, this is a great mechanism; as your family gains esteem they can invite more prominent guests, and earn greater favour. If youve ever watched Downton Abbey, it feels like a board-game version of that television show. We shall be having a jolly good game of lawn tennis, and I shall require the service of the footman, Jeeves. Everything about the game shouts Victorian Britain; the events you host, the guests you invite, and the servants you move around to make it all happen. If you dont, try it anyway, you may find it surprises you! Thats far too high of a percentage so far, and lends me to be cautious toward what this game can hold. Youll see 7 different Objective cards and keep 3 during the gameplay, but some of them are dependent on getting specific buildings (which may never appear) or specific colored buildings (which this game isnt going to reward that specialization over the course of the entire play). Like the Setup Summary above, I am not going to go into a detailed explanation of how the game plays. The glossary is superb, full of story and thematic detail. The Fairchilds are going to want a specific type of estate focus every quarter of the game, but you only know the current quarters focus.
The main game area is then set up by seeding the Supply Board and Round Track with extra Servant Meeples (number determined by player count), Objective Cards, Money, Casual Guests, Prestige Guests, many more Improvement Tiles, Theme Cards, and of course, the Fairchild Cards. #catholicmom. I think I probably broke even, having spent 8 reputation and a passing turn in order to make those market changes. The first thing this does is usually adds victory points to its overall value which means that purchasing a tile is sometimes only worthwhile if you intend to use it before the end of the game. All Rights Reserved. Refresh the Builders market Refresh the market for a cost of 4 reputation. Even when I actively try to avoid taking more than one of those cards, sometimes you just get dealt really crappy objective cards compared to your opponent. So, its small wonder that you can be inclined towards a little light roleplaying, As head of the Cavendish household I have decided to spend the afternoon with my daughter. This tile sees the family planning the village fairs, and if used, generates income and reputation each time the village fair comes up on the round track. The leaflet gives a thematic introduction to the family, as well as highlighting their benefits. Stuart Dunn was born and raised in Mobile, AL and received a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology and a Master of Business Administration from the University of South Alabama. Yet it is this very quality of the game that makes it stand out from the crowds of zombies and Lovecraftian-themed games that oversaturate the market. Its fine if youre setting up out of the box and have everything nicely organised, but if youre replaying the game, then you have to spend a little time sorting out the tiles, and if youre playing with a different player count, this can take an amount of time. There is a rulebook (12 pages), and a glossary (28 pages), both of which are large, have a glossy finish, and very nicely presented. It really is very good give it a go! The same method is used for the final courtship, where all revealed themes are added together, however, if the AI wins this one, they also get one of the Fairchilds to add to their total. Age rating, Id say 12+, mainly down to being able to grasp the intricacies.
games importance guestblog explain them Successfully hosting prestigious social activities such as Fox Hunts, Music Recitals, Billiards, Political Debates, and Grand Balls increases a players wealth, reputation, and connections among the elite. Someone can eek ahead because there were 2 green buildings to buy and they happened to get the one that flips to a +3 rather than a +2 and thus get those extra VP and add a Fairchild to their hand for the next quarter. Everything is linen finished. Obsession Victorian thematics and estate management at its best, or is it all style over substance? By no coincidence, that is the name of one of the expansions for this game. No new rules are added with this expansion, other than the ability to play solo on the extended track. Hardly surprising given the good jiggling around they receive in the bag; but its easy to rectify with a dab of glue. Theres nothing worse than buying a game and have to dig out a bag to put components in. Once the pawn lands on a courtship space, a courtship event takes place. We found we hardly ever purchased service tiles, and I spent a fair amount of time thinking about why. Extended play, which increases by one the number of turns per courtship, offers a different experience. That means putting some of your Family Member or Guest cards with it, as well as any Servant Meeples that the family and guests require to participate on that tile. If you happen to draw all low-point guests who provide you with the same things as most of your hand, youll do really well in one area but struggle in others. Enjoy Favours After you host the activity, you flip over the Improvement Tile, return it to its spot under your board, and enjoy favours of money, reputation, new guests, and/or victory points. If this is not the first courtship event, and a player has a Fairchild in their deck (hand or discard), they return the card to the table prior to totalling the current courtship VPs. In the event of a tie both players just take a VP card. Buy from the builders Market The player can purchase one new tile from the builders market, paying the cost indicated above the tile +/- any modifier as indicated on the tile. Nothing is worse than seeing your opponent wipe the market just once in the game, but happen to see a monument pop into the market and they can afford it and swipe that building without contention. Once the roleplaying had died down, and everyone started concentrating on his or her own estate, I found that player interaction was very limited. Refresh their service (place all servants in the available service area). I saw the coins and immediately took them to represent the pre-decimal 1-penny, and the old, larger 5-pence, or shilling as it was known; they are about the right size and colours. And once you start getting more reputable rooms, youre going to need even more guests, and those more reputable guests are going to demand servants to assist them. Host Activity, Invite Guests, and Provide Service These three actions are the meat of your turn. From these, place all tiles with a prestige rating of three or lower, plus the service tiles, into the linen bag. This however, doesnt last much beyond the first game, as you find yourselves drawn in to the complexities of running and improving your estate. Expended service to Servants quarters, Servants quarters to Available service. You can have activities that will see you inviting 5 guests and netting a whole load of favours, but it takes planning. If you win, then carry on as per normal rules; if you lose, the AI gets a VP card face down. When it all comes together, each turn leads you perfectly into the next. It really keeps you busy, and the changing theme can drastically alter your approach. Taking a look at board games playable with either one or two players. The box is also linen finish portraying a large country manner on its cover. If you add a little role-playing, then expect to be at the table far longer! The second thing that happens is that, in most cases, the buildings cost more guest cards from your hand to play again while giving smaller rewards from the room itself. The addictiveness comes from trying to consistently beat the AI, working different strategies, trying to find the best. Perhaps my biggest gripe with this game, even though it is delightfully thematic in a way, is that the rich get richer in this game. Finally, there was the Butlers Pantry, which recruited the underbultler (can be used to perform any male service), but nobody ever purchased this, it was our preferred strategy to use the butlers room to recruit two extra servants. There is also greater scope to use activities that require a greater number of guests, something that can reap major rewards if employed properly. An addictive puzzle focusing on improving the right areas; expanding your service, building up a reputation, and persuading the right kind of guests to come visiting; all a lovely bundle of juggling fun! The cards are also linen finish, the quality of which is excellent. I felt that the set-up could be condensed down a little I thought it jumped around, and the instructions a little long winded, especially as the explanations repeated what the illustrations clearly depicted. Lets unpack that statement though, starting with the latter part. Youre definitely doing a little engine building, which is one of my favorite things to do in a game. At first glance youd think the few extra turns would hardly make much difference, but it requires a different approach; allowing for greater improvement of your estate, you really push for those highly prestigious tiles, and can gather a lot of prestige guests. To host an activity, take the tile and place it on the activity space of the player board, providing it meets the following criteria Its prestige rating must be equal to or less than, your current reputation; you must be able to provide the service as indicated on the tile (In most cases this means they must be in the available service box of your player board).
The remainder are shuffled into the casual guest gentry deck and placed in the appropriate position, as indicated on the supply board. ), and place it in your hand. Was it an anomaly? My wife and I also like to give our servants names, so that we can summon them to our activities. However, that is not the case as the theme is strong in this one. The trials and tribulations of life after 50. (LogOut/ Yes, there is some useful information here, but that could have been contained within the glossary. My aim is to focus on reviewing board games and how they play for two people and, on occasion, how they play for one person. We have been gifted with the likes of Michelangelo, Beethoven, and Dante. Enjoy favours Both tiles and guests can provide favours. There are two booklets, one containing the rules set up, game play, solitaire rules, and scoring the other a very formidable glossary. Reputation is a big key to winning, not only does it give you a fat portion of VPs at the end, but you need it to host/invite the best activities/guests. Guests are selected from your hand and placed in the playing area. It is easily my favorite thing in the whole game. You can try different families and see if you prefer one starting bonus to another. There are fewer tiles seeded into the bag for a 2-player game. Miniature painting, wargaming terrain tutorials, reviews, interviews and painting guides, A Blog About Marvel Crisis Protocol - The Tabletop Miniatures Game by Atomic Mass Games, Wargaming with the ability of a dull nine year old, Collecting, modelling, painting and wargaming in 28mm. You get 12 actions, and one of those goes to nothing but taking cards back into your hand. Game play is a little heads down, as you focus on your player board, but analysis paralysis rarely kicks in, and there is plenty of replayability here. Nothing is worse than spending a ton of effort to get those 10 points, or impractically miss them, and then see your opponent getting even more points for collecting servants or hording money. Through all my plays, I always learn something new and always try something different, but the one thing that has stayed the same is my awe of this game and the designer. The box states it plays 1-4 players in 30-90 minutes and has a BGG weight rating of 3.17. From the computer to the tabletop, this is all about games. This Season was not just a chance to show off your wealth and elegance, but was also considered a time to discuss political matters, and of course, it was also used to place children of marriageable age into society, where, with astroke of luck, they may court a member of the elite. The tiles flip after use, usually giving more VP and making the usage of that tile less appealing (higher cost or diminished rewards, usually) and so that encourages players to make purchases and use those purchased tiles rather than just repeat the same cycle. The player who best meets these objectives while accumulating victory points will win the hand of the wealthy love interest and the game. On the round track board, shuffle the Vp and Theme cards and place in their spaces; place one reminder counter per player on the board, and put the white pawn on the first square. Ive seen it play out two different times, once a 2 players and once at 3. Again, the rich get richer here. Money is tight in this game at the very least it FEELS tight most of the time. A new tile is drawn from the bag and placed in the vacant space under the 800. 1 VP per 200 remaining on your player board. On the surface, this seems like a theme that wouldnt normally appeal to the stereotypical gamer. Its a game that allows you to win by various strategic means you can concentrate on winning the courtships; you can try and max out your reputation; Invite so many guests that you can barely fan them out in your hand; Improve all aspects of your estate and go big on their VPs. I havent been able to remove it yet as I havent pulled out my baggies for sorting yet, but I cannot get this box to close properly no matter how I try. If you can do it running up to the National Holiday square (During this turn you can host any event and invite any prestigious guests, irrespective of your reputation), then youll be able to host a big event with high prestige guests, thus returning lots of favours. Instead, it would appeal mainly to women, specifically Jane Austen fans. A Euro game with an immersive Victorian theme if you like the sound of that, then this is for you. There is a very nice linen draw-string bag included, which is well made in thick purple material, a colour often used amongst the elite to signify a royal connection. I look forward to seeing more games coming out from him in the future, and I will be at the front of the line to support him and his company! Which means you probably need to hire a bigger staff at some point. Help with service Refresh a servant for the cost of 3 reputation per servant. VPs can be gained in the following ways: Thematically, you are aiming to gain the interest, and finally the hand of, either Charles or Elizabeth Fairchild. The player with the most points wins that seasons courtship, takes a VP card, and chooses to add one of the Fairchild siblings to their hand. Ultimately, this game is one I look forward to exploring more in the future. Change), You are commenting using your Twitter account. You have many different ways to keep this game fresh and interesting. There are a few tiles and guest cards that attack opponents, reducing their reputation slightly, but they are few and far between. The theme sets it apart, rather than being something that caters to what is currently trendy. 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. Its relatively quick for a Euro, with a solo game coming in at around 40 minutes to and hour, and 4 players approaching the 2-hour mark. As you can see, there are VP scores for each courtship event, and for each improvement area. Starting guests (casual guests marked with a crown in their top left corner) are shuffled and two are dealt to each player.
The Wessex family is just as well balanced as the other families, and I found no advantages/disadvantages of playing them. If you find yourself behind in the first couple of courtships, then there are plenty of ways to catch up. Recommended video review Ant Lab Games Playthrough. I dont think Ive finished a game yet with any money, because it is just that tight for spending. A scoring pad is included, again with sepia tones, and there are plenty of sheets to be going on with. I thought that the VP and Theme cards would be too small and fiddly, however, this doesnt present a problem in the way that they are used during the game. The inclusion of a draw string bag, and a lovely one at that, is a great plus, and one that other publishers should take note of(Fantasy Flight Games?) A week ago, fresh off playing the game with my sister, I was ready to herald Obsession as a potential best game of 2018. Each entry is broken down into: a description, thematic material, and gameplay detail, covering pretty much every aspect of the game. It is Narnia, and I must buy it every time I see it. I love the artwork, it is subtle yet highly effective, and shows a great attention to detail the character portraits are just right, and the wallpaper background of the tiles is hardly visible but just adds to the feel of the game. The tile is placed, face up (no rose visible), in the estate organiser, and must not be a duplicate of one already owned. Im sure we can rustle up a little cash through wagers, wot?. Yes, Im aware that show wasnt set during Victorian England, but it has the same Upstairs, Downstairs feeling of the gentry and the servant class. Provide service Take the appropriate servants from the available service box, and place them where indicated on the activity tile and guests. But in order to use those buildings and guests you probably are going to need to increase your reputation some. It actually isnt a bad action, but it wont flip those precious buildings to make them more valuable. Tabletop Games Blog, News, Reviews and more All you need to paint is a few tools, a little instruction, and a vision in your mind. Bob Ross, A Blog about any Thoughts in my Head: Politics, Writing, Life, Painting, Terrain, Dioramas, and Battle Reports Middle Earth Strategy Battle Game and Fallout. Be at the forefront in the selected theme on a courtship, and youll win the attention of a Fairchild. Of course it can go down again, and a useful tool in gaining those few extra pounds just at a crucial moment. If a theme appears twice, then that category is doubled. The backs of all the cards are tastefully decorated, again keeping within the period of Victorian England. Because my wife is my primary gaming partner, a lot of consideration goes into finding those games that play well with 2 players, and we typically prefer to find those games that do not require a variant (official or otherwise) in order to play it with just the two of us. You control everything you purchase, and as for the deck of cards you pass, and then you can use anything in your hand; its my favourite mechanism of the game. Finally a look at the rules. I was sad, when it was on Kickstarter, that I didnt have the ability to back the game. There is a first round strategy guide, game play variations, and a breakdown of victory point distribution, what more could you want!
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