Obsession sees players manage an estate in Victorian England…

…in Derbyshire of all places.

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.

Obsession Game Overview

Quick Rules Summary

Players will activate room tiles in their estate along with gentry cards from their hands and servant meeples from their supply to gain money, reputation and more.

Money allows players to expand their estate for more options of which rooms to activate. Drawing more cards allows the player to have more options with the ladies and gentlemen they play each turn.

Players can also increase their reputation allowing them to have more extravagant rooms in their estates and more influential acquaintances.

How do you win?

Rooms in the estate as well as Gentry cards in hand are worth a number of points, both positive and negative. Players also receive, discard and receive (then discard) victory point cards each with a goal to achieve.

These and a few other ways of scoring gain points and the player with the most points is the winner.

Main Mechanisms

The Gentry cards and used in a fairly standard deck-building way. BGG says it’s also worker placement but I really don’t see it myself. You move a meeple onto a room to use it yes, but only on tiles in your play area. It’s more resource management as the meeples, although they are butlers etc, is just a resource,

USP

Nothing much stands out to me as unique. It’s a collection of things done elsewhere. I don’t think I’ve played a game based in Derbyshire before… I played it in Derby too!

Theme

I do like the theme. The actions on the room once activated flip over and drop in value representing that room now being ‘seen’ so it’s not as big a deal in the community. They increase in points, but no one wants to attend a ball in the same ballroom twice do they?

Everything is based on reputation which makes sense for the era.

Setup

Tiles out, cards shuffled. Each player has their own starting cards, tiles and pieces in a really nice box that helps with setup.

Components & Artwork

Boxes aside, the components are made of pretty standard stuff.

The real(?) pictures for the gentry are good fun.

Ease of Teaching

Only cards in hand are hidden information but it can be played with cards face up. This will help new players get into the game.

Everything else, if explained OK, is fairly straightforward.

Similar Games

The theme made me think of both Last Will and Legacy: The Testament of Duke de Crecy.

Obsession Review

Positives

All of the families have their own ‘player power’.

The theme is pretty good and the mechanisms work alongside it.

I’ve been to a few of these big estates in Derbyshire so I can connect with the game more than most games.

The servants when used become unavailable for a turn or two which adds to the puzzle but…

Negatives

…I find it more frustrating than fun.

It had that Ark Nova annoyance of “I need reputation but I can’t gain reputation because I don’t have enough reputation to gain reputation”.

The rooms and gentry do not come out in any particular order. They should really be in 3 stages to allow for progression.

Summary

A decent game but nothing special.

Jesta ThaRogue