In Obsession, players take on the role of the head of a respected family in 19th century Victorian England. Over the course of the game, you renovate your estate, employ staff, and organize activities that attract prestigious guests to improve your social standing. Your wealth, reputation and connections among the elite will determine whether you are worthy of winning the hand of the wealthy love interest.
1-4 players, age 14+
Playing time: 30-90 minutes
Design & artwork: Dan Hallagan
Publisher: Kayenta Games
https://www.kayentapublishing.com/
Obsession is a game that didn’t really appeal to me at first because of its theme and artwork, but once I got over that I discovered a more than solid eurogame with good mechanics that flow together nicely.
There’s always a lot going on in the game, and there are a lot of considerations that you have to take into account. Each turn you are going to activate one of your room tiles, on which is an event and also the specific guests and staff you need. The guests are represented by playing cards, and the personnel you need to have available on your player board. Your reputation is also important: you will have to build it up so that you can hold increasingly larger and more prestigious events, and invite more prominent guests.
Overall, Obsession is a fantastic game with high production quality and lots of variety, with all the different gentry cards and room tiles that are included. The mechanics fit the theme seamlessly and you really feel like you’re building your family’s estate as the game progresses. And if this wasn’t enough, the Upstairs, Downstairs expansion adds even more replayability with additional guests and tiles, and 4 new servants who each have their own special abilities.
This game’s an absolute joy to play and we believe Obsession has everything it needs to become a true classic!
Tabletopping 