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Obsession

Obsession Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

Our Story

Changes are afoot in Derbyshire, England, where four families all possessed of eligible young gentlemen and ladies find themselves embroiled in romance and intrigue during a time of optimism. Fortune has recently smiled on these somewhat neglected estates, families with respectable histories that endured hard times in the late 18th century. Now, in the mid-19th, the families Asquith, Cavendish, Ponsonby, and York have coincidentally come into new sources of income and are intent on improving their country estates and restoring their failing reputations. The inflow of funds is modest, but there is a new optimism abroad in this part of Derbyshire!

The envy of this part of the county is Alderley Hall where Margaret, Dowager Countess Fairchild, and her sister-in-law, Ethel, reside with a joint income well in excess of £20,000 pa. Only their loneliness living on such a sprawling estate dampens the generous hearts of the two widowed and childless ladies.

Then, to their delight, they welcome new occupants: their dashing nephew Charles and lovely niece Elizabeth, sadly not far removed from tragedy. Their parents, returning from holiday in the south of France, perished crossing the Channel in suddenly ill weather. The death of Margaret’s brother-in-law and his lady has brought Charles and Elizabeth permanently to the Fairchild residence, far from their childhood estate in Yorkshire. Of course, the irrepressible Fairchild ladies, now a year removed from the terrible accident, know precisely what is the best medicine for a sad heart: romance! And the surrounding hills are awash in prime matchmaking material. The nearby Derbyshire families all have marriageable children, and the Fairchild ladies have designs!

Glossary Info

Obsession also comes with a separate, optional Glossary where detailed thematic, technical, and strategic information can be found beyond the scope of this Rulebook. Every highlighted term in Blue the reader encounters in these pages has a corresponding Glossary entry. The Glossary is recommended reading after a first game or two has been played.

Note that game variations are presented in the Glossary under Variations. The Glossary is a critical thematic adjunct to this Rulebook if one is seeking to get the most out of the game of Obsession!

Game Components

  • SUPPLY BOARD (1)
  • ROUND TRACK (1)
  • BUTLER (4)
  • VALET (8)
  • HOUSEKEEPER (4)
  • LADY’s MAID (8)
  • UNDERBUTLER (2)
  • FOOTMAN (13)
  • PLAYER BOARDS (4)
  • ORGANISERS (4)
  • THEME CARDS (10)
  • VICTORY POINT CARDS (30)
  • PAWNS (2)
  • SCOREPAD (1)
  • REPUTATION WHEEL COUNTERS (20)
  • REPUTATION WHEEL MARKERS (4)
  • £100 COINS (35)
  • £500 COINS (11)
  • TWO-SIDED PLAYER AIDS (12)
  • LINEN DRAW BAG (1)
  • REMINDER TILES (4)
  • TWO-SIDED PLAYER AIDS (12)
  • OBJECTIVE CARDS (30)
  • FAMILY CARDS (17)
  • FAIRCHILD CARDS (2)
  • STARTER GUEST CARDS (15)
  • CASUAL GUEST CARDS (35)
  • PRESTIGE GUEST CARDS (26)
  • GENTRY CARDS (95)
  • SOLITAIRE OPPONENT CARDS (12)
  • SOLITAIRE AI CARD (1)
  • SOLITAIRE DICE DICE (1)
  • ESSENTIALS TILES (13)
  • SERVICE TILES (14)
  • ESTATE TILES (14)
  • PRESTIGE TILES (13)
  • SPORTING TILES (15)
  • MONUMENT TILES (15)
  • SUITES EXPANSION AND HYBRID 2ND PRINTING TILES (5)

Player Area Setup (standard play)

Rules for four Obsession variants can be found in the Glossary under Variations

  1. Decide who will be the starting player and give him or her the purple 1st player pawn.

    IMPORTANT: Player Area setup is completed before Central Play Area setup begins.

    Family Bonus: Family Ponsonby begins the game with £300. Place coins totaling £300 on or near the player board.

  2. Beginning with the player to the left of the 1st player and moving clockwise, choose a Player Board. Note: The only gameplay difference between player boards is the starting Family Bonus (which is described in the lower right-hand corner of each board).

    Player boards are two-sided, with the only difference being that one side has an integrated Country Estate Organiser that permits the START tiles to be organised directly under the player board.

    Family Bonuses at a Glance

    • Asquith has an extra family member
    • Cavendish begins the game with reputation level 1, position 4
    • Ponsonby begins the game with £300
    • York begins the game with 2 footman

  3. Each family receives 4 reputation counters—3 double-sided with the numbers 1 through 6 and 1 that reads Max. Place the counter with the number 1 face up on the reputation wheel. Place the other counters nearby.

    EXTENDED PLAY: If playing an extended play game, you will also need the 5th reputation counter that reads 7/8.

  4. Place a reputation wheel marker on position 1 of the wheel. Family Bonus: Family Cavendish starts on position 4.

  5. Acquire the 5 starting servant meeples (the blue Butler, red Housekeeper, green Valet, purple Lady’s Maid, and white Footman and places them in Available Service on the player board. Family Bonus: Family York begins the game with an extra footman.

  6. Place a Country Estate Organiser near the player board, either below or to one side. Leave room below the organiser for additional tiles. Alternatively, players may use the back side of the player board, which has an integrated organiser.

  7. Each family starts with the same 5 START Improvement Tiles, which are distinguished by a building icon in the upper right-hand corner on only one side. Place the tiles with the building icon visible. Unused START tiles are returned to the box.

  8. Each family begins with the same four family members: a husband and wife, heir, and daughter. Frequently, estate names differ from the family’s last name. Note, however, that each family member shares the same crest as on their player board, and above that crest is the 1st letter of the family name. These Family Cards are part of your starting gentry deck. Family bonus: Family Asquith begins with a fifth family member, a Dowager Countess aunt.

  9. The 15 Starter Guests have a crown in the upper left-hand corner of the card.

    Randomly deal 2 starter guests to each player. These two close family friends are combined with the family cards to form the player’s starting Gentry Deck.

    Alternatively, players can use a Starter Guest card draft to choose these guests. See Variations.

  10. Each player is dealt 5 Objective Cards, keeping them all. Over the course of the game, players will acquire new objective cards and discard undesirabe objective cards.

EXTENDED PLAY: Each player is dealt 4 Objective Cards, keeping them all. Over the course of the game, players will acquire new objective cards and discard undesirabe objective cards.

Central Play Area Setup

For each step below, locate the corresponding number icon in the layout graphic.

Place the supply board in the centre of the playing area where it will be easily accessible by all players. Populate the supply board as follows:

  1. Servants for Hire: The Servants for Hire box on the supply board holds extra servants that may be hired during the game. The number of servants varies depending on the number of players. Populate servants on the supply board as follows:

    • 2 Players: 2 Underbutlers, 4 Footmen, 2 Valets, 2 Lady’s Maids
    • 3 Players: 2 underbutlers, 6 footmen, 3 valets, 3 lady’s maids
    • 4 Players: 2 underbutlers, 8 footmen, 4 valets, 4 lady’s maids

    IMPORTANT: The underbutlers are 'stored' in the Servants for Hire area, but an underbutler is not acquired in the same fashion as footmen, valets, and lady’s maids, who are hired by the butler in the Butler’s Room. The underbutler is only hired when a Butler’s Pantry service tile is purchased from the Builders’ Market; then and only then is the underbutler taken from the Servants for Hire area.

  2. Objective Cards: Each player was dealt objective cards during player setup. Place the remaining objective cards on the supply board.

  3. £100 and £500 Coins: Thirty-five (35) £100 coins and eleven (11) £500 coins come with the game. Place a sufficient supply of coins as indicated. This supply is the bank; favours are taken from here, and purchases are paid into here. Money is not limited; if players run out of coins, use a suitable substitute.

  4. Casual Guests: The supply board holds two decks of Gentry Cards—casual guests and prestige guests. The symbol for casual guests is one Fleur-de-lis in the upper left-hand corner of the gentry card (below the prestige rating). Each player received two Starter Guests during player setup; these starter guests are a subset of casual guests and will be used during the game. Combine the remaining starter guests with the 35 regular casual guests, thoroughly shuffle, and place as shown.

  5. Prestige Guests: The symbol for prestige guests is two fleur-de-lis. Shuffle the 25 prestige guests and place as indicated.

  6. Improvement Tiles: Except for monuments and unused START tiles, place all improvement tiles in the tile bag. Monuments are added based upon player count:

    • 2 Players: Sculpture Garden + 2 other tiles of choice
    • 3 Players: Sculpture Garden + 3 other tiles of choice
    • 4 Players: Five monument tiles of choice

    Note: As an alternative to the high VP value of the Sculpture Garden, players can substitute the Garden Maze. Tiles that are monuments on one side (Suites tiles) do not count as monuments during this setup step.

  7. Round Track: Place the round track near the supply board with the white pawn on the 1st square. The side with 16 rounds is Standard Play. The side with 20 rounds is Extended Play.

    Shuffle the Victory Point Cards and place them on the round track where indicated.

    Shuffle the Theme Cards thoroughly and place on the round track. Place Reminder Tiles equal to the number of players nearby.

    Place the cards representing Charles and Elizabeth Fairchild near the round track. These cards are easily identified either by name or by the purple frame (and unique crest) in the upper left-hand corner of both cards.

  8. Builders’ Market: For initial population of the market, only improvement tiles with a Prestige Rating of 1, 2, and 3 along with four of the service tiles can be used (Brushing Room, Barn, Butler’s Pantry, and Servants’ Quarters); these are the tiles that qualify for initial population.

    Qualifying tiles are then drawn to fill the Builders’ Market for the 1st time. Draw out six qualifying tiles, returning any excluded tiles to the bag.

    TILES THAT QUALIFY FOR INITIAL POPULATION

    • Tiles with a prestige rating of 1, 2, 3 (including the Heritage Guest Suite)
    • Brushing Room service tile
    • Barn service tile
    • Butler’s Pantry service tile
    • Servants’ Quarters service tile

    TILES EXCLUDED FROM INITIAL POPULATION

    • Tiles with a prestige rating of 4, 5, 6 (including the Queen’s Suite and Lionheart Suite)
    • Servants’ Hall service tile
    • All monuments

Every tile possesses a Tile Sorting Number (TSN). Once six qualifying tiles have been drawn, place them in ascending TSN order, left to right, in the Builders’ Market (if a duplicate qualifying tile is drawn, it is stacked on top of its matching tile in the market). Setup is now complete.

Goal of the Game

Each player is the head of a respected but troubled family estate in Victorian Britain. After several lean decades, family fortunes are looking up. The player’s objective is to renovate a neglected country estate, rehabilitate the family’s tarnished reputation, and improve the marriage prospects of eligible children. A primary goal will be to form an attachment with the wealthy and influential Fairchild family.

Successful actions taken to restore the family’s standing amongst the Derbyshire social elite are measured in victory points (VP). There are seven sources of these VPs, and they represent:

  • An appealing country estate (26.7%)
  • The best social connections (21.6%)
  • Superior reputation in the county (16.6%)
  • A large and well-trained domestic staff (13.3%)
  • Private family achievements (11.1%)
  • Successful courtship of a Fairchild (8.3%)
  • Wealth (2.4%)

Flow of the Game (Round Track)

The game is controlled by the Round Track. There are two features to the round track that control gameplay: Seasons and Rounds.

Seasons

The standard and extended length games both encompass four seasons. In a standard length game, one season is three rounds (purple spaces) where Activities happen (such as hosting social events, hiring servants, and passing) ending in a courtship round showing an icon of a Victorian couple. No activities are hosted during a courtship round; courtship is evaluated and then End of Season game management actions take place. Consult the Seasonal Flowchart player aid for a summary of actions in a season.

Courtship is described in detail on page 13, but it is important to note that a Theme Card is revealed at the beginning of each season before any actions are taken (open courtship). Seasonal actions in order are:

  • A Theme Card is revealed to begin each season (Variations are listed on pages 25 and 26 of the Glossary, changing the timing of the Theme Card reveal).
    Thematic Detail: Players learn something about the passions and interests of the Fairchild siblings.

  • Players host activities for 3 rounds (standard play) or 4 rounds (extended play) during the season (purple spaces).
    Thematic Detail: Players court Charles and Elizabeth by pursuing activities that garner attention.

  • Courtship is scored (see page 13).
    Thematic Detail: The winning player(s) are rewarded with favors and perhaps a visit from one of the Fairchilds during the next season.

    End of Season game management actions:

    • At the conclusion of each courtship, players discard one Objective Card; discarded objective cards are collected, shuffled, and placed at the bottom of the objective card deck on the supply board.
    • At the conclusion of Seasons 1, 2, & 3, the 1st player pawn is passed counterclockwise.
    • The round track is checked to see if a tile reserve activates (tile reserve rules are on pages 7 and 12).

Managing Objective Cards (OC) At-a-Glance

  • Setup: For a standard game, players are dealt five OC, keeping them all. For an extended game, players are dealt four OC, keeping them all.
  • During the Game: After each courtship, players discard one OC.
  • Round Track: During rounds featuring an OC draw, players draw two OC, keeping both.
  • Scoring: In standard play, players acquire a total of seven OC, discarding four and scoring three. In extended play, players acquire a total of eight OC, discarding four and scoring four.
    Note: Additional OC can be acquired during the game (VP Cards and Main Library) and represent additional scoring objectives.

Rounds

When the white pawn is advanced to a new purple round space, two things can happen:

  1. The round space may have a symbol showing a special event (village fair, national holiday, etc.). Players then follow specific rules for such special events:

    • Village Fair: Players who have flipped the Study tile receive two reputation and £300 at the start of this round. See Study Tile.

    • Courtship Event: Service is not refreshed and no activity takes place. Players who possess a Servants’ Hall do not gossip. Players who possess Monuments do not gain reputation. Only a courtship event is resolved this round. See Courtship.

    • Objective Card Draw: During step 2 in the Order of Play, two objective cards are drawn and added to the objectives already in hand. See Objective Cards.

    • Builders’ Holiday: Players are permitted to purchase as many tiles from the market as resources allow. This includes tiles located in the Builders’ Market Reserve. See Builders’ Holiday.

    • National Holiday: Player reputation does not limit actions this round. Players are permitted to host any activity and any guests during the holiday (as if reputation were at Max). See National Holiday.

    • End Game Scoring: Using the scoring pad, players total their victory points by category and declare a winner. See End Game Scoring.

  2. On a purple round space, each player in turn order is required to either host one activity or pass. This is a standard player turn.

    After a player has hosted an activity or passed (see Passing), the next player in clockwise order does the same. When every player has hosted one activity or passed, the round track marker is advanced to the next space on the round track.

Standard Play vs. Extended Play

Before beginning a game, players must decide between Standard Play and Extended Play. Obsession's Round Track is two-sided and features a standard length 16-round game on one side and an extended length 20-round game on the reverse. The games differ by more that just four player rounds. Extended play contains two additional icons on the round track that impact gameplay: an extra village fair (see Study Tile and an additional Objective Card draw.

Also, an additional reputation counter is used during extended play, allowing for significantly more Reputation Victory Points. The reputation wheel counters needed for standard play and extended play are shown next to each round track on this page. The counters showing 1, 3, 5, and 7 are two-sided with 2, 4, 6, and 8 on the reverse sides. The Max tile (with the flag) is the same on both sides and represents 7 in the standard game and 9 in the extended game. It is placed after the highest number as the final tile.

The impact on end game scoring is dramatic. This can be seen in the reputation victory point charts located next to each round track (the victory points accumulate in a triangular number sequence, meaning the numeric value of each level is added to all the previous levels to determine victory points).

In general, extended play allows for:

  • Greater development of the country estate
  • An opportunity to host more elaborate Activities with numerous guests
  • Increased likelihood for completion of the most difficult Objective Cards
  • Dramatically higher player reputations.

Note: budget an extra 10 minutes per player for extended play.

Standard Play

Family Reputation LevelEnd Game Victory Points
11
23
36
410
515
621
Max28

Extended Play

Family Reputation LevelEnd Game Victory Points
11
23
36
410
515
621
728
836
Max45

Builders’ Market Reserve and the Round Track

The round track is primarily used to track player tums and manage the seasonal Courtship. It is also used to remind players when the Builders’ Market Reserve begins for both service tiles and tiles with a prestige rating of 1.

A reserve reminder, located beneath the second and third Season of both round tracks (example circled in yellow above), indicates when players should 'Begin Service Tile Reserve' and 'Begin PR 1 Tile Reserve'. These reserves are locations on the large supply board to hold all service tiles and tiles with a prestige rating of I at certain times in the game. For more detail on the Builders’ Market in general and the tile reserves in particular, consult the Glossary pages 5 & 6. For now, it is important to note that at the beginning of Season 2 and for the remainder of the game, all service tiles are placed in the Service Tile Reserve on the main supply board; similarly, at the beginning of Season 3 and for the remainder of the game, all tiles that have a prestige rating of 1 are placed in the PR (prestige rating) 1 Tile Reserve on the main supply board.

Beginning the Game

The game begins with the white pawn on the round tracks first space (labelled START). Every player completes one standard turn in clockwise order before the round track pawn is advanced. Some round spaces have a labelled icon indicating an event.

Reveal Courtship Theme: At the start of each season, a Theme Card located on the round track is revealed. This theme will be one of the five Country Estate Organiser categories; players will attempt to develop the revealed theme by playing and purchasing improvement tiles that fall into this courtship category.

Courtship Variations

OPEN COURTSHIP

The default courtship rules call for an open courtship, which means that a theme card is revealed at the beginning of a season; players then develop their country estates with knowledge of the Fairchild siblings preferences.

VARIATIONS

There are two main courtship variations where the theme is either revealed at the end of the season (closed courtship) or as determined by the roll of a dice (variable courtship). Gameplay is dramatically impacted by these variations, and you are encouraged to explore them!

A Standard Turn

Starting with the 1st player, players follow the eight steps outlined on every player board. In some circumstances, players will pass, which has unique rules. Passing will be discussed at the end of this 8-step section.

1. Rotate Service

Each player performs this action after turn 1 (on turn 1, no servants have yet been used, so this step is ignored):

  • FIRST: Move servants residing in the Servants’ Quarters area to the Available Service area (spaces located at the bottom of each player board). These servants are now available for the current turn.
  • SECOND: Move servants in the Expended Service area to the Servants’ Quarters io rest. These servants are unavailable for the current turn.

2. Check Round Track, Monuments, and Servants’ Hall

There are three types of game actions that need to be checked before a player begins her turn.

  • Check the Round Track space for special events. If a symbol is present, follow the instructions for the event.
  • If the player owns Monuments, she immediately takes reputation equal to the number of Monuments on display in her organiser.
  • If the player owns the Servants’ Hall, she may deploy a servant to the hall located in the organiser; follow the Servants’ Hall instructions.

3. Host Activity

Each Improvement Tile represents a room or outside space at your country estate. Listed on each tile in white print below the tile name is the Activity you can host in that space. Choose an activity to host by selecting an improvement tile from the Country Estate Organiser. Not sure which activity to choose? Consult the Strategy Guide. Place the improvement tile on your Player Board in the square labelled ‘Activity’. Note: A servant hiring action in the Butler’s Room is a unique option for an activity to host; see Hiring Servant Activity.

Critical Rule 1: At the beginning of Step 3, the largest number on the player board (reputation) must be - the largest number on the improvement tile chosen.

Note: Special Actions (more on these later) may be taken during a turn that cause reputation to fall below the large tile number (Prestige Rating). Critical Rule 2: The servant indicated by the servant icon on the tile must be in your Available Service box on your player board (unless the player has the Servants’ Quarters tile or refreshes a servant via special actions). Announce the activity you are hosting to the other player(s); there are no secrets in Derbyshire society.

4. Invite Guests

Your Gentry Cards represent the potential guests you may invite to your activity. Note: Gentry is a term that refers to people of good social position just below nobility; all large playing cards are gentry.

The tile just placed on the player board tells what type of guests must be invited to the activity chosen. The player must supply the exact number and type of gentry indicated on the tile or the activity cannot be hosted (there are five possibilities: gentry, family, gentlemen, ladies, and a particular type of guest). The player chooses cards from her Active Hand that satisfy this instruction (cards in her Discard Pile are unavailable until the player passes).

Critical Rule 1: At the beginning of Step 3, the largest number on your player board must be ≥ the top left number on the gentry card; actions may be taken during a turn that cause reputation to fall below the card number (prestige rating). Note: Family and the Fairchilds may attend any activity - treat them as if they had a prestige rating of 1, although it would actually be much higher.

Critical Rule 2: You must have the servant indicated by the servant icon on the card in the Available Service box on your player board. Place the cards below the player board.

5. Provide Service

There will always be a coloured icon of a servant on an improvement tile (that can be played) and frequently on a gentry card; take the matching servants from Available Service and place them on the improvement tile and gentry cards.

Critical Rule 1: All service is mandatory. If a servant is not available or acquired via special action (or the player does not possess the Servants’ Quarters service tile), that activity or guest is not eligible.

Here, a footman is placed on the Tennis Court tile, a valet on the guest card of the Honourable Albert Plantagenet, and a lady’s maid on the guest card of Miss Anne Harlow.

There are three servants who can stand in for other servants under certain circumstances: the housekeeper, underbutler, and footman.

Housekeeper: Every player begins the game with a Housekeeper; there are several tiles and a few elite guests where she is the required servant.
Ability: The housekeeper may also stand in for a lady’s maid when there are no lady’s maids available. This is an innate ability and does not require a service tile.

Underbutler: There are at most only two Underbutlers in any game of Obsession, and they are kept in the Servants for Hire section of the supply board along with the extra valets, lady’s E maids, and footmen. The underbutler can only be hired if a player acquires the Butler’s Pantry service tile from the Builders’ Market. When that tile is purchased, it is placed into the player’s country estate organiser; the player also takes an underbutler from the supply and puts him in the Expended Service area on his player board.
Ability: The underbutler may serve in the capacity of any male servant (Butler, valet, or footman) at any time, even if the other servant is available.
(Note: The Butler’s Pantry service tile has been standardised for use with the Upstairs, Downstairs expansion, which has two new male servants: the hall boy and useful man. The underbutler may stand in for the hall boy, but not the useful man, who is a specialised servant.)

Footman: Every player begins the game with a Footman, and more are available from the supply. The footmen is the required servant on Several tiles and for a few guests.
Ability: A footman may also stand in for a Valet when there are no valets available, if the player has acquired the Brushing Room service tile from the Builders’ Market. Once the Brushing Room is acquired and placed in the player’s organiser, all current and future footmen have this ability. Unlike the Butler’s Pantry tile, the Brushing Room tile does not grant the player a footman; footmen are hired from the supply using a standard hiring action.

6. Enjoy Favours

Successfully hosting an Activity at one’s country estate benefits the family. Consider the following example:

Mabel, Countess of Ponsonby, received three distinguished visitors in the beautifully renovated Ponsonby drawing room: the stern Caroline, Viscountess Abernathy; the mysterious Istvan, Count Hoyos; and Anne Marie, Comtesse de Vitry, the wife of o French noble and a new acquaintance. The conversation was lively and wide-ranging: the Ponsonby family learned of key investment opportunities in France and Eastern Europe; Count Istvan fell in love with the estate grounds and enthusiastically accepted a return invitation to hunt when the weather turned, promising to bring along two close friends from London, and the neighbouring estates took notice of the fine carriages that visited.

The benefits resulting from an afternoon receiving distinguished visitors at the Ponsonby estate are called favours; most Improvement Tiles and all Gentry Cards yield them. These favours are of three types: money in pounds, reputation, and invitations to new guests.

The player acquires these favours in the following order:

  1. Total the pounds listed on all sources (tiles and gentry cards) and take coins from the supply representing that total. In the example at the lower left, the player would take coins from the supply totaling £400.

    Note: There are a class of guests called paupers, who cost the hosting family £100 or £200 if they attend an activity. A player must be able to pay this amount of money to the bank in order to invite a pauper. The money is paid during the Enjoy Favours step, so a player may either use other pound favours from the activity to account for, the pauper or use a Special Action to acquire the necessary pounds. If the player cannot generate pounds to cover the £ penalty, the pauper cannot attend.

  2. Total the reputation listed on all sources and add this total to the family’s reputation (each lion rampant is worth one space on the reputation wheel). Note: Once a player crosses over top from 5 to 1, find the circular chit with the next highest number in sequence and flip/replace the current chit.

    In the example, the player would gain 5 reputation, and she would move the reputation wheel marker in a clockwise direction around the circular chit showing her current reputation level. She would move from the 3 to the 4 to the Sat which time she would cross over top and return to the 1, flipping the reputation wheel counter to a 4 before continuing two more positions for a total of five reputation added. She would finish at a reputation of level 4 (the large number), position 3 (the small number), one complete revolution around the wheel.

    Young Lady Admirer Bonus: The young lady of each family possesses a reputation favour that is only taken when she attends an activity along with a male prestige guest; see the Glossary page 4 for details.

    Note: There are guests who impose a reputation penalty. When paying a penalty, the player moves counterclockwise on the reputation wheel; if, in doing this, the player would ‘cross over’ the top of the wheel (from number I back to number S), then she must flip/replace the counter to show the next lowest reputation level. Exception: If the player has no reputation (level I, position 1), she may invite guests with negative reputation without paying the penalty; being so disreputable themselves, the family is free to consort with other unsavory characters. If it is possible to pay a partial penalty (i.e., player is at level I, position 2 with Miss Hawkins above attending an activity), the player must pay whatever penalty is possible until they reach the lowest reputation level.

  3. Invite/dismiss gentry as indicated on all sources. Cards taken from the supply (prestige or Casual Guests) are placed into the player’s Active Hand. In this exam- ple, the successful activity has captured the interest of two casual guests and one Prestige Guest. The player takes the top prestige guest and the top casual guest (the friends of Count Hoyos), and then, using the Countess’s ability, looks at the next two casual guests, keeping one and returning the rejected guest to the bottom of the casual guest deck. The player shows her new connections to the other players (there are no secrets in Derbyshire society), and puts them into her active hand.

The lady of the house has unique icons. When this card is used, the player has a choice between two actions: either look at iwo casual guests, keeping one (circled in red, the favour used on the previous page) or dismiss any guest (circled in yellow). On cards, only the lady of each family has this ability, but the favour is found on most estate improvement tiles. The dismiss guest favour is the only favour that is not mandatory; when a dismiss guest favour is available, the player may optionally use that favour if there is a guest they wish to remove from their gentry deck. See Dismiss Guest.

Unusual Favours (VP Card, Gossip)

A few select guests have favours that do not fall into the three main categories (money, reputation, invitations/ dismissals).

Victory Point Card Favour: Elite guests can have such an impact on the family’s quest to restore their social standing that a VP Card (normally used in courtship) is awarded. VP Cards offer a choice between a favour and end game victory points. Players take a VP Card from the supply on the round track and use it in the same way they would a courtship VP Card (see Courtship).

Gossip: Some casual guests of questionable reputation tend to gossip. On those cards is seen a favour that uses the word attack. This favour allows the player to choose another player about whom to spread damaging gossip. The targeted player decreases the reputation on his player board by the amount shown in the attack favour, but the gossiping player does not increase her reputation. Note: Some gossips are so unsavory that they also damage the family’s reputation (as seen here with Miss Oliver), while others do not (they are not yet widely known to be a gossip).

Are Favours Mandatory?

There are three main favours: money in pounds, reputation, and invitations to new guests.

All these favours are mandatory, with one exception: dismissal (a subset of invitations). The opposite of an invitation is a dismissal, and this is the one favour that is optional. Only one gentry card possesses this favour (the lady of each house), but most Estate improvement tiles have it.

The rules governing dismissals are involved, but three important ones stand out:

  • Any guest (no family) may be dismissed.
  • One can dismiss a guest who attended the activity that granted the dismissal favour.
  • One can dismiss a guest in your active hand or discard pile.

Hiring Servant Activity (and Favour)

The Enjoy Favours step in the Order of Play on every player board references a fourth favour in the shape of a servant. This favour is only available through the use of one tile, the Butler’s Room START tile.

Instead of hosting a social activity in Step 3, a player can hire servants by selecting the Butler’s Room tile. The Butler is the required servant (although the Underbutler may serve in this role), and the action is to take two servants of choice from the supply (the Servants for Hire area). Any combination of Valets, Lady’s Maids, or Footmen may be taken (this excludes the underbutler, who can only be acquired with the purchase of the Butler’s Pantry service tile).

Players can also use the back side of the Butler’s Room tile (pictured here, showing the rose in the upper right corner) to recruit one servant from another player; the player takes one valet, lady’s maid, or footman from any location on another players board. The loyal butler, underbutler, and Housekeeper cannot be recruited as they would never consider such an offer. The Butler’s Room is the only tile used for an activity (.e., placed on the player board) where no gentry cards are played.

Critical Rule: Hired/recruited servants must be placed in Expended Service on the player board with the butler or underbutler (whoever did the hiring) to be oriented to their new household.

7. Buy from the Builders Market

The Builders’ Market is the eight spaces on the central supply board where improvement tiles available for purchase are located (six spaces in the active market, two spaces in the reserve). These tiles represent potential capital additions or renovations to a country house and its surrounding grounds. In a standard round (excluding courtship rounds), each player is permitted to purchase one improvement tile from the market using pounds saved or acquired as part of a current activity (on the Builders Holiday, players can purchase as many improvements as they can afford).

One does not have to buy from the market and can instead choose to save coins (pounds) on their Player Board for future purchases.

Market rules are as follows:

Rule 1: Only one purchase per turn. The exception is the Builders’ Holiday on the round track (round 11 in Standard Play and round 13 in Extended Play). During this holiday, a player can purchase as many tiles as she can afford.

Rule 2: Players cannot purchase duplicate improvement tiles.

Rule 3. Pay the bank (£ supply pile on the supply board) the amount fixed in the Builders’ Market above the tile as well as any -- modifier on the tiles themselves located in the upper right-hand corner. Tiles that represent a more modest capital improvement are discounted (-£) and tiles that represent a significant capital improvement show a premium pound amount (+£).

Rule 4: Place newly purchased tiles in the Country Estate Organiser in the proper column (by colour/type) face-up (the back side of the tile contains a rose in the upper right-hand corner; no rose should be visible). Note: Service and Monument Tiles are the same on both sides and never removed from the country estate organiser. If the Servants’ Hall or a monument is purchased, take a Reminder Tile if you do not already have one and place it on the player board, it serves to remind players to take the reputation bonus on future turns. Players are also reminded by the Order of Play on each player board.

Rule 5: After purchasing a tile, slide the remaining tiles to the left, exposing the rightmost spot in the Builders’ Market. Draw a tile from the tile bag and place it there. If during the Builders’ Holiday (or via a VP card) more than one tile is purchased, make all purchases without drawing new tiles, slide the remaining tiles to the left, and populate only the open spaces in Tile Sorting Number order (lowest to the left). Tiles that belong in the Builders’ Market Reserve should be handled according to the reserve rules discussed on the next page.

Rule 6: If a duplicate tile is drawn, stack it on top of the same tile already in the market. If a player purchases one of the tiles, the duplicate remains available for others. If the market is refreshed, both tiles are removed. Refill any open market spaces. Critical: Never leave open market spaces (unless there no more tiles).

Rule 7: Players are permitted to purchase any tile they can afford, even if the Prestige Rating is above the family’s reputation.

Tile Types

There are four types of tiles that will appear in the market: standard Improvement Tiles, Suites Expansion Tiles, service tiles, and monument tiles. All are capital improvements of the country estate, but each functions differently.

Improvement Tile: A tile used to Host Activities on subsequent turns. Hosting activities involves removing the tile from the organiser and placing it on the player board. These tiles are the most common and contain the physical location, the activity that can be hosted, guests to invite, a graphic icon of the servant required, and the favours to be enjoyed. Once used for the first time, the tile is flipped (showing a rose). Once flipped, the tile is never flipped again (unless it is a Hybrid Tile).

Suites Expansion Tile: These tiles are a hybrid of an improvement tile (front side) and a monument tile (back side, except for the Heritage Suite). They are unique in that one guest can be invited to 1 stay overnight at the country estate with enhanced favours. See the next page and the Glossary entry on page 23 for details.

Service Tile: A tile placed in the organiser and never moved from there (the Butler’s Room, which is played, is a START tile). All five service tiles grant service-related, permanent benefits that the player enjoys for the rest of the game (indicated by the circular arrow icon).

Monument Tile: A tile placed in the organiser and never moved from there. These tiles represent prestigious decorative improvements of the players estate that increase reputation over time. For Æ each subsequent turn, the player increases her reputation by one step on the reputation wheel for each monument in her organiser.

Unique Tile Rules

There are several tiles that possess unique rules and are worth reviewing here:

Barn: On all future turns when a tile from the ESTATE category is played ( same color/pattern as the Fenced Paddock here), the player increases his reputation by one on his player board reputation wheel. This reputation increase is taken during the Enjoy Favours step.

Servants’ Hall: At the beginning of a turn during Step 2, the player with the Hall may place any available servant - the source of rumours - onto the tile. The targeted player reduces her reputation by one, while the player with the Hall increases his reputation by one. The gossiping servant is then placed into Expended Service and rotated normally in future turns. Once Stop 3 (Host Activity) begins, the player cannot use the Hall.

Private Study: The study is a location where family members gather to plan and manage the estate. One such effort is planning for the annual fair in the village located on family property. The tile is played on a standard turn, and the activity that is hosted is Village Fair Planning.

If a family plans for successful fairs, then at the beginning of the turn (Step 2) featuring the village fair icon, the player’s reputation increases by two (the reputation wheel marker is incremented by 2) and revenue of £300 is gained. Fairs take place twice during a standard game and three times during an extended play game. The Study tile can be used once; when the activity is hosted, the Study tile is flipped to reveal this permanent benefit, which applies to all future fairs.

If the Village Fair Planning activity does not take place, no added revenues are enjoyed by the family and their reputation in the local community is not enhanced, however, the player retains the 3 victory points showing on the front side of the tile, which reflect the family’s dedication to high society rather than village stewardship.

Main Library: Essentials tiles have a powerful benefit - number of guests. This can be seen in parties of 5, 6, 7, and more, a direct path to hugely favourable events. The Main Library, however, is a unique tile in that it is reserved for family and generates two unique favours: an objective card draw on the front side, and a victory point card draw on the back.

The Main Library objective card draw differs from the draw(s) on the round track in that the player only takes the top objective card from the supply. This card is an additional scoring objective; in a standard game, players score three objective cards (four in an extended game). A Main Library objective is in addition to these totals. On the back of the tile, the favour is a victory point card draw from the top of the VP card deck.

Hybrid Tiles: Hybrid tiles are a unique 2nd printing bonus tile. The tile refers to a room or outdoor space that is multi-purpose. As a result, the type of the tile changes with the activity (the front is a different colour/category than the back).

These are the unique hybrid tile rules:

  • The white flower icon with the line underneath is the front side of the tile; this is the side that will be face-up in the market and the side that will be placed into the organiser when purchased (under the appropriate tile category). The front-side VP would count, if needed, towards a courtship in that category.
  • The colour on the opposite side is previewed as the pattern behind the servant icon.
  • After the tile is used to host an activity (played onto the player board), it flips and is placed into the new tile category (for example, the Green Room above starts out as an ESSENTIALS tile and, after being used to host a Philanthropy Meeting, it is flipped and placed under the PRESTIGE category in the organiser; the Green Room then counts towards a PRESTIGE courtship, if needed).
  • If a tile is used to host an activity a second time, it is again flipped and relocates under the original tile category. Thus the hybrid tile mechanism allows it to be flipped back and forth between two categories in response to courtship developments.

Suites Expansion Tiles: There are three suites tiles, two of which have unique rules: the Queen’s Suite and the Lionheart Suite. These tiles double favours and convert into a monument after they have been used one time.

The Queen’s Suite permits the invitation of one prestige guest from the player’s Active Hand and has the effect of doubling one favour of that guest (player’s choice). Service is required for the guest. Once played, the tile flips and converts into a monument.

The Lionheart Suite allows the player to invite a prestige guest not currently in her gentry deck to stay al the estate. The player selects the top stays in the Lionheart Suite; all favours of this guest are doubled. The player does NOT provide service to this guest; the butler coordinates perfect hospitality for this visitor. This tile can be used for this action only one time, as it converts to a monument tile once used. This new guest then is placed into the player’s discard pile.

Builders’ Market Reserve

During a game, the Builders Market Reserve will activate twice. The purpose of the reserve is to remove low-value tiles from the market as player reputations rise.

Service Tile Reserve: After the 1st courtship is over, the Service Tile Reserve activates, and the following steps are then taken:

  • Move all SERVICE tiles currently in the market to the Service Tile Reserve space.
  • Refill the market as needed. If any additional SERVICE tiles are drawn, they are moved to the reserve and additional tiles are drawn to fill the market.
  • For the remainder of the game, all SERVICE tiles drawn are moved to the reserve and replacement tiles are drawn to fill the market.
  • Players may review the tiles in the reserve at any time and make purchases from there. Players may make multiple purchases from the reserve on a builders holiday.

Prestige Rating 1 (PR1) Tile Reserve: After the 2nd courtship is concluded, the PR1 Tile Reserve activates, and the following steps are then taken:

  • Move all tiles with a PR1 in the market io the PR1 Tile Reserve space.
  • Refill the market as needed. If any additional PR1 tiles are drawn, they are moved to the reserve and replacement tiles are drawn.
  • For the remainder of the game, any PR1 tiles drawn are moved to the reserve and replacement tiles are drawn.
  • Players may review the tiles in either reserve at any time and make purchases from there. Players may make multiple purchases from both reserves on a builders holiday.

Special Actions

Special Actions (SA) refer to a class of actions where a player may trade reputation for pounds, refreshed servants, or new choices in the Builders’ Market. Each player board lists these actions. The three SA are:

  • Borrow Pounds (£): Anytime during a player’s turn, she may borrow an unlimited amount of money as long as reputation is available. The cost of this action is a decrease in reputation by 2 per £100 borrowed.
  • Service Help: Anytime during a player’s turn, he may refresh as many servants as desired as long as reputation is available. The cost of this action is a decrease in reputation by 3 per servant refreshed.
  • Refresh Builders’ Market: Anytime during a player’s turn, she may refresh the Builders’ Market only once as long as reputation is available. The cost of this action is a decrease in reputation by 4 when the market is refreshed.

How to Refresh the Market: The tiles in the market are removed and set aside (tiles in the SERVICE or PR1 reserve are never affected by a market refresh action). Six new tiles are drawn and placed in the market in Tile Sorting Number order; duplicate tiles are stacked, and the reserve is used if in effect (see Builders Market Reserve above). The tiles that were removed from the market and set aside are then added back to the bag. The market is refreshed.

8. Clear Player Board

Move servants who participated in the activity to the Expended Service box on the player board. Return the improvement tile just used to the country estate organiser. If it is the 1st time the activity has been hosted, flip it over to the side showing the rose in the upper right-hand corner. If it has already been flipped, do NOT flip it again (tiles used in activities are only flipped once, except for hybrid tiles). Place gentry who attended the activity into the discard pile, face-up. The players turn is over, and the next player in clockwise order takes his turn (turn order is clockwise, but the 1st player marker is passed counterclockwise after each season, which happens three times per game).

Passing

If a player chooses io Pass, Step 2 of a Standard Turn still applies he is impacted by any special events showing on the Round Track (as described on page 6, right side), he still collects any monument reputation, and he still may use a Servants’ Hall Gf he has one). In addition, passing accomplishes the following:

  • The player takes back his Discard Pile, creating an Active Hand consisting of all his Gentry cards. All gentry are again available to attend activities.
  • The player refreshes service, placing all servants in the Available Service box on his Player Board.
  • Next, the player chooses between two options:
    1. Collecting £200 in tenant rents, taking £200 from the supply, or
    2. Declining the £200 in tenant rents in favour of refreshing the Builders’ Market (see Special Actions, for refreshing instructions).
  • The player then has the option of purchasing from the Builders’ Market. It is an unwise strategy to refresh the market without a reserve of pounds to spend; such an action only benefits the next player in the turn order.

Courtship

The arrival of Charles and Elizabeth Fairchild both eligible, refined, and substantially wealthy into a relatively modest corner of Derbyshire engages the minds, hearts, and conversation of every member of the social elite within a day’s ride by carriage.

Players represent families emerging from an extended period of economic hardship with a goal of rehabilitating their standing. A most effective way to improve family fortunes is to secure a connection (via marriage) with a reputable, wealthy family. In Obsession, Charles and Elizabeth Fairchild represent the best of connections and are the focus of the game’s seasonal Courtship event.

In Standard Play, a courtship event takes place on Round Track spaces 4, 8, 12, and 16. In Extended Play, courtship events occur on round track spaces 5S, 10, 15, and 20 (the reverse side). These spaces feature the word Courtship and show an icon of a Victorian couple.

For an open courtship (which is the default courtship), a Theme Card is revealed at the start of the season. The first three courtship events are scored for the single theme card revealed in that season. The last courtship event is scored for the cumulative total of all four theme cards.

The 1st Three Courtship Events

The theme card is revealed at the start of the season, showing a category of improvement the Fairchild siblings highly value (i.e., ESSENTIALS, SERVICE, ESTATE, PRESTIGE, or SPORTING). Players then play three standard, activity-based rounds. At the end of that season, players total the victory points (VP) on the Improvement Tiles in their organisers under the revealed category.

The player with the highest total gets a courtship visit from the Fairchild of their choice. The card representing the desired Fairchild is taken from the round track and put into the winning player’s Active Hand. This player keeps the card for the next season, inviting the Fairchild to activities as desired, normal guest rules applying.

Note: In standard play, the first action on courtship rounds 8, 12, and 16 is for the player who won the previous courtship io locate the Fairchild card in their Active Hand or Discard Pile and return Charles or Elizabeth to the round track area. This does not apply during the first courtship (round 4) because, being the first courtship, no player is yet holding a Fairchild card. It also does not apply if a previous courtship was a tie (discussed below) because no one holds a Fairchild card.

The winner also takes one Victory Point Card from the round track, examines the favour, and sets the card, face down, near the player board. A victory point card offers players a choice between the number of VP indicated on the card (3, 4, or 5) and a benefit that players may take at any time during their turn (f they surrender the VP). The player does not have io make that choice when acquiring the card; at any time during her turn right up until end game scoring begins, she may take the favour by revealing the card and surrendering the VP.

Courtship Tie: If there is a tie between players in the theme category, each player takes a VP card, but the Fairchild suitor does not spend the next season with any of the contenders, the love interest cannot decide which family to visit!

The Final Courtship Event

On round 16 in standard play (round 20 in extended play), players total the VP on the improvement tiles in their organisers under ALL revealed categories. If a theme appears twice, the VP in that column are counted twice, reflecting the love interest’s consuming passion for the lifestyle associated with that doubled improvement type. For example, the courtship combo seen above would reflect a love of the outdoors, gardens, animals, and riding, attended by a fine staff of footmen formal picnic in the French Garden might be a favourite activity. This courtship would be very different from one that featured two Essentials, one Prestige, and one Service theme. That courtship would reflect a love of libraries and an appreciation for formal dining, galleries, and other indoor activities.

The player with the highest total puts a Fairchild card of her choice into her card deck for end game scoring. The winner also takes one VP card from the round track. Note: If the card has a favour, the player may use it before final scoring if she chooses.

Tiebreakers: If there is a tie among players in the total for all four theme categories, the player with the highest player board reputation wins the final courtship. If still tied, no one wins the card of either Charles or Elizabeth Fairchild, but all tied players draw a VP card.

Solitaire

The central gameplay mechanic of Obsession is the hosting of events, which is an action that takes place independent of one’s competitors. As a result, Obsession naturally lends itself to solo play.

Setup

Pages 3, 4, and 5 of this Rulebook describe setup. For Solitaire, observe the following small differences:

  • Starting Player: The Solitaire Player (SP) is always the starting player.
  • Player Board Selection: The SP may choose any family board.
  • Remaining Player Area Setup: The procedures for acquiring family cards, servants, Starter Guests, and Objective Cards, as well as for setting up the reputation wheel and Country Estate Organiser, are identical to page 3 of the Rulebook.
  • Round Track and Supply Board Setup: Set up for a two-player game.
  • Closed courtship is used (see Jane Austen variant).

Choose an Opponent

Obsession comes with twelve opponents for Solitaire: four expert, four intermediate, and four beginner. Locate the Solitaire opponent cards, which are packaged with the gentry deck when Obsession is unboxed for the first time. Each card has the name and icon of the opponent, the difficulty, the opponents base score in large black print, and a chart showing the development of their country estate over time, which is used to determine Courtship winners. The SP chooses an opponent from amongst these twelve cards and places it next to her player board.

Locate the 20-sided dice and the Solitaire card that contains the Builders’ Market AI, which provides for the competitive purchase of Improvement Tiles from the market, with Monuments being aggressively targeted. Place the Solitaire AI card and dice next to the opponent card.

Playing the Game

The game is set up and the opponent chosen, it is time to play! Follow normal gameplay as described on pages 8-13 of the Rulebook, which is divided into eight steps. Once the SP ends her turn by shopping in the Builders’ Market and clearing her board, she rolls the d20 dice to see if the opponent - will scavenge a tile (remove a tile from the market).

Note the positions of the Builders’ Market spaces (in yellow) as it relates to the solo AI these positions will be referenced every AI turn.

Builders’ Market Reserve Note: Even though the management of the Builders Market has changed from the 1st printing of Obsession to the 2nd printing, solo play can be played with either market system. Early playtesting with the market reserves (see page 12) reveals that service courtships are easier to win and objectives are easier to complete (helping the solo player), but that the scavenging action, which ignores the reserves, is more consequential (stealing tiles of greater value on average).

New Market Solo Rule: If the AI scavenges a duplicate tile, both tiles are removed from the game.

If no monument is on display in the market, use the Standard Turn column on the AI card.

After the dice is rolled, remove the tile from the appropriate position (or not at all, if a 16-19 is rolled; refresh the market if a 20 is rolled). The tile is removed from the game. Next, slide the tiles to the left and add a new tile drawn from the tile bag to the right-most position.

If a monument is on display, use the Monument Turn column on the AI card. (If there is more than one monument, the AI targets the least expensive one.)

If a 16-19 is rolled (no purchase), subtract 5 from the dice value on the next turn (there cannot be two consecutive no purchase’ dice rolls). If a 20 is rolled and the market is refreshed, the opponent does not make a purchase and will have iis dice roll modified next round (-5 from dice value next turn). Move the round track marker. ahead one space and begin the next round.

Courtship

When the round track marker is advanced to a courtship space, a theme card is revealed. Courtship proceeds normally as described on page 13 of the Rulebook, except that the SP compares her WP total for the revealed theme to the appropriate theme value on the opponent’s card chart. For example (playing against Eden, seen on left), if PRESTIGE is the theme revealed in Season 2, the SP compares her PRESTIGE total to the value 3, which is Eden’s PRESTIGE total in Season 2. If the SP wins, she secures the VP card and Fairchild card per normal. If she loses, the top vP card is placed face-down (no looking) next to the Solitaire opponents card. Those points will be added to the base score in large black print on the Solitaire opponent’s card during end game scoring. If the courtship is a tie, both the SP and the opponent receive a VP card.

For the final courtship, the opponent, if it wins, not only secures a VP card but the Fairchild card as well (all to be used in end game scoring).

End Game Scoring

After the final courtship event, the SP totals her VP normally using the scorepad. This total is compared to the total of the opponents large black base score on the card and any VP cards won during courtship, as well as the 8 VP for the Fairchild card, if applicable. High score wins! The Solitaire player wins all ties.

Rule Exceptions

  • Butler’s Room: The SP can only hire servants; they cannot recruit.
  • Servants’ Hall: The SP action is to simply increase reputation by one (no action impacts the opponent), much as with a Monument.
  • Gentry Cards: If gentry cards have an attack element (gossip), no attack takes place; such cards are simply treated as undesirable guests (with negative VP counting during end game scoring, unless the guest is dismissed).

Challenging Mode - Monuments Variant: For an extreme upgrade in the AI challenge, add the VPs for all monuments scavenged by the AI to the base score, in addition to courtship VP cards and Fairchild card VP if any.

End Game Scoring

After the last Courtship event, the round track pawn is moved to the centre space with the wedding bells icon; it is time to see who wins the overall competition and the game! For end game scoring, use the included scorepad to total the victory points for the seven categories described below.

1. Improvement Tile VP

Total all VP showing on each improvement tile (lower right-hand corner) in your organiser, monuments included.

2. Gentry Card VP

Total VP in the upper right-hand corner of all the cards in your gentry deck, positive and negative.

3. Objective Card VP

Total the VP for each completed objective.

4. Reputation VP

Calculate the VP for reputation showing on the player board.

5. Service VP

Award 2 VP per servant present on the player hoard, regardless of type (butlers, underbutlers, and housekeepers are worth the same 2 VP as valets, lady’s maids, and footmen).

6. Wealth VP

Award 1 VP for every £200 remaining on the player hoard, rounding down. Extra coins have no VP value. For example, £500 rounds down to £400 for 2 VP; the extra £100 is not counted.

7. Courtship VP

Expose and total the Courtship/Victory Point cards.

Calculate the GRAND TOTAL and announce the winner.

TIEBREAKERS: If there is a tie, the player with the Fairchild card in his gentry deck is the winner. If tied players do not have the Fairchild card, the highest Player Board reputation wins. If it is still a tie, players share the victory. Critical Note: Total VP wins; a player does not need the Fairchild card in hand to win the game.

Thematic Background of Favours

What Is an Activity?

Obsession's engine is the hosting of social activities, and while all the trappings of such gatherings need t0 be thematically sound (history, titles, location, people, etc.), the favours that flow from these activities are what powers the game along. If theme is queen in Obsession, then favours must make thematic sense.

To begin, when you host a social activity (i.e., a game of bowls on the Bowling Green), that is the focal point of a visit usually spanning several days. Travelling around the countryside in 1860s England was neither quick nor entirely comfortable, and guests from some distance away would enjoy an extended stay. Furthermore, the family is always present, regardless of whether any family members were featured at the activity itself.

It is important io realise that the activity is not concurrent with the favours. It is in gameplay, but not in the real world of our setting. You are hosting two, maybe three, social events at your country estate per season, a time which spans many months.

A visit is planned, provisions purchased, and the estate made ready, then guests arrive and enjoy some notable activity. Conversations begun on the Bowling Green carry over to the Drawing Room and the dinner table. After a stay of several days, your guests slowly depart at their convenience.

No pounds change hands, no new connections have yet been made, no local attitudes about your family have evolved, for no one is yet aware. Get out of the house' dismissals, while perhaps possible, are highly improbable. There was a visit of some days with certain activities standing out (ie., the one you hosted) that slowly sends out ripples through local society. During the weeks following the visit, the consequences of your foray into high society come io fruition:

  • At the market, our housekeeper proudly mentions the name of a distinguished visitor from London to Lady York’s maid, who carries the news back to her viscountess.
  • Lady Cavendish learns that the older sister of her dear friend who had visited will be in town, and she immediately pens an invitation to both ladies for a game of Cassino in the Parlour.
  • The earl’s instructions io his banker based upon a whispered word from a well-connected parliamentarian about international tensions permits the earl to protect a foreign investment.

Thus are favours born.

The Timing of Favours

Let’s examine the three main favours more closely.

Peter, Viscount Townshend (£300): A guest who grants a financial favour usually has flavour text describing extensive travels or connections in political society (where government laws and favouritism will likely benefit the aristocracy).

Viscount Townshend, an expert in horseflesh, visits Earl Asquith Io see his now horses. The viscount stays only a short while due to pressing matters in London and departs on day three after a morning ride to hounds. During this visit, the earl learns that the tea crop in India was poor and, several days later, his banker makes a move in tea futures.

Major Anthony Cole and the Hon. Albert Plantagenet (both 3 reputation): A guest who grants a reputation favour either has a high prestige rating, reputable connections, or an element of impressive personal history that reflects well on the hosting family, perhaps an admired military man who is respected every- where, a woman who is accomplished, or a man with a noble lineage.

The Asquiths enjoy an afternoon in the Drawing Room with the Hon. Albert Plantagenet and Major Anthony Cole. The family has a strong military tradition, and Major Cole’s heroism on the Continent is of great interest. And all know the story of the Plantageneis (and, if you do not, Albert will tell you).

Later that week, after the guests have departed, servants running errands in town describe in glowing terms the proper and impressive guests. It gets back 10 the valet for Viscount Ponsonby, who discusses (with a bit of envy) the visitors with his friends. Word spreads. People, some graciously, some enviously, acknowledge that the Asquiths are doing rather well.

Hon. Regina Washburn (1 reputation, prestige invite): A guest who grants an invitation favour usually has flavour text describing social connections.

After visiting the Asquith estate and spending time in their new English Garden, Regina Washbum returns home and raves to her mother about the exquisite glory of the Countess’s floxgloves; Viscountess Hampton (her mother) suggests Regina take her friend, Lady Suffolk, to see them as she is a lover of flowers of all types. Tne following month at a Ball, Regina connects with Lady Suffolk, and they agree she simply must see the garden. Regina sends a note to Lady Asquith the following day. A new connection is made.

In the game of Obsession, you embrace the gentle pace of 19th-century English life. The improving of your country estate, courtship of the Fairchilds, and rehabilitation of your family’s reputation unfold gradually, thematically, historically.

Glossary

The Fairchild Family Some Background

It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife. However little known the feelings or views of such a man may be on his first entering a neighbourhood, this truth is so well fixed in the minds of the surrounding families that he is considered the rightful property of some one or other of their daughters.

— Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen

Some decades after these words were penned, the sudden arrival of Charles Fairchild, Esq—a single man in possession of a good fortune-into a Derbyshire neighbourhood did indeed elicit such feelings of ownership, however fanciful, in the minds of more than one daughter; yet it should be noted that the neighbouring young gentlemen were equally enamoured of his sister, the refined and beautiful Miss Fairchild.

The Fairchild siblings had everything to recommend them-pleasing countenances, the best connections, and substantial wealth, with the likelihood of inheriting a greater fortune-but little else was known. Neither had been seen since the near death of Charles eleven years earlier, and then tragedy struck, devastating a prominent, centuries-old Derbyshire family.

Happiness is but a mere episode in the general drama of pain.

— Thomas Hardy

Henry, Earl Fairchild, the eldest of three brothers, inherited the Fairchild title and fortune before Queen Victoria ascended the throne. Pale and prone to illness, the eldest Fairchild lacked the robust constitution of his siblings: stout Edward and lively William, the youngest Fairchild brother and eventual father of Charles and Elizabeth.

Edward, whose manners left something to be desired and who had a weakness for the bottle, harboured a deep bitterness that the least fit of the Fairchild sons had inherited Alderley Hall, the beloved family estate. He quarrelled with Henry at every turn, and his sharp tongue, often loosened in revelry, brought him into disrepute for airing family concerns in public.

William possessed the most agreeable and unaffected manner of the three; he cared nothing for family politics and tended to avoid his brothers. For a time, his popularity in Derbyshire society was unrivalled; he socialised with an easy grace, hunted and rode with skill, and danced at every ball, and with every young lady, a delight to all.

Then, while visiting a friend in the North Riding of Yorkshire, William spied Charlotte Kings- bury at a ball given by her father, Viscount Hazelwood, and the most loquacious Fairchild brother was struck dumb. William and Charlotte were married sixteen months later, settling in Yorkshire near the estate of Charlotte’s parents at the insistence of Lord Hazelwood.

Back in Derbyshire, Earl Fairchild was finally spared the public carping of Edward when the middle Fairchild brother married suddenly and departed for Hertfordshire. Rumour had the disagreeable Edward guilty of licentious behaviour with a young actress, his sudden departure no coincidence.

I think people really marry far too much; it is such a lottery after all, and for a poor woman a very doubtful happiness.

— Queen Victoria

Oddly, the oldest brother became the last Fairchild to marry. Henry’s wife, Margaret Gable, was regarded by everyone as kind-hearted and generous, a woman without duplicity. With only one sibling and few relations, Margaret longed for a house filled with sons and daughters, dear friends, merriment, and bustle. That the couple produced no children became an enduring heartbreak for Margaret; Alderley Hall soon became as silent as the grave with Edward gone, William staying close to Charlotte’s family many miles to the north, and the unsocial Earl Fairchild frequently in poor health.

In Yorkshire, the birth of Charles and then Elizabeth four years later finally moved William to accept a standing invitation from his eldest brother to visit. William and Henry shared little affection, but the youngest Fairchild often declared his admiration for his sister-in-law Margaret, and he thought the children might bring her pleasure.

The arrival one summer of the Yorkshire Fairchilds captivated Margaret, and Henry, too. Henry’s gentle wife was delighted at last to have children to spoil. For a period of six years, the eldest and youngest Fairchild brothers grew closer, with much- anticipated summer trips to Derbyshire becoming an annual affair.

Then Charles took severely ill during a visit, and it was thought he might be lost. The lad rallied and spent a summer slowly regaining his strength, with a physician-and his Aunt Margaret-in almost constant attendance. Margaret’s heart grew deeply attached in a time of trial, and it ached with the departure of her precious niece and nephew that autumn.

It was a devastating heartbreak for Margaret when Charlotte refused to allow the children to return to Alderley Hall.

Terror made me cruel ...

— Emily Bronte, Wuthering Heights

Charlotte Fairchild was a gentle woman, but a terror had filled her during her son’s long illness, along with a belief that Henry’s frequent infirmity, unwholesome pallor, and noxious treatments were somehow at fault. The terror fixed so firmly in her mind that no persuasion of William’s would convince her-or her Yorkshire relations-to let Charles and Elizabeth return to Derbyshire to again warm the halls and hearts of Margaret and the earl.

Within the year, Henry, Earl Fairchild, succumbed to a cruel, wasting disease. In death, Henry exacted a measure of justice against his brother Edward; the Fairchild earldom had never been subject to an entail, and Henry, who could never give children to his beloved Margaret, left her everything else: the estates, the fortune, Alderley Hall-everything, in fact, except the title.

Tragedy had by no means finished with Margaret, Dowager Countess Fairchild; eight short months after the death of Henry, her only sibling, her brother, died when he was thrown from a horse, breaking his neck. His wife, Ethel, just three years married and herself childless, soon joined the Dowager Countess in Derbyshire, mutual companions coping with loneliness and loss, broken- hearted and withdrawn.

I have had my share of sorrows-more than the common lot, perhaps, but I have borne them ill. I have broken where I should have bent; and have mused and brooded, when my spirit should have mixed with all God’s great creation.

— Charles Dickens

Ten years after the death of Henry Fairchild, while on vacation in the south of France, William- haunted by regret for his role in denying Margaret the treasured company of her niece and nephew- persuaded his wife that the time had come to reunite Charles and Elizabeth with their beloved Aunt. Charlotte, herself feeling that she might have gone a bit too far, acknowledged that Charles and Elizabeth, now young adults, were the picture of vigour and health.

Charlotte Fairchild relented. "They so loved Alderley Hall," she said.

The return of Charles and Elizabeth to Derbyshire was delayed when a tragic accident crossing the Channel led to the deaths of their parents. Now, a year later, with their mourning completed, the siblings finally arrive at Alderley Hall, amazed at the new energy that has taken Derbyshire ... and the Obsession gripping them all!

£100 and £500 Coins

Description: Currency denominations used to bank wealth and make purchases.

Thematic Material: One hundred pounds (£100) in the middle of the 19th century would be equivalent to over £7000 in 2020 (or over $9000).

Gameplay Detail: One hundred and five hundred pound coins are used to provide a convenient method for saving money from round to round. Furthermore, all purchases are made in increments of £100, making these convenient denominations. Pounds are not limited; in the unlikely event that coins run out, select an appropriate substitute and add to the supply.

Active Hand

Description: The hand of gentry cards from which a player chooses guests and family to attend activities, provided she has both the reputation and servants to support them.

Thematic Material: The guests in a player’s Active Hand comprise those acquaintances in the family’s circle of friends who should next be invited to visit. Propriety requires that friends not be neglected, and the Active Hand reflects those connections who are perhaps overdue to attend an appropriate social occasion at the estate.

Gameplay Detail: A player’s gentry card deck is composed of an Active Hand and a face-up discard pile. The Active Hand contains those family members and guests from whom the player must choose when issuing invitations to attend an activity. Once a family member or guest attends an activity, that card is placed in the player’s discard pile and is not available again until that player passes and reclaims her deck. If a player does not have sufficient qualifying guests to attend one of the activities listed on a tile in her country estate organiser, she must pass or choose to hire servants by playing the Butler’s Room (which is the lone 'playable' tile that does not require a gentry card).

Activity

Description: The main engine of each turn, an Activity is the social event hosted in a particular room or outdoor space at a player’s country estate. The Activity is seen in small white letters on each improvement tile immediately below the tile name.

Thematic Material: The independently wealthy landed gentry of Victorian Britain derived their income from legacy wealth and property, and generally did not need (or want) to work. The gentry lifestyle was therefore filled with social activities such as formal dinners, balls, hunting, riding, picnics, and recitals, all of which may take place in a game of Obsession.

Activities are limited by the family’s reputation (the largest number on each player board). This restriction simply reflects limitations on a family emerging from a period of frugal living-a family who has just begun renovating their country house and expanding the domestic staff can hardly host a ball; it would be a disaster and few would come. Only when a family has made improvements, cultivated the gardens, hired and trained domestic staff, and re-entered society with a purpose can they host balls or brave recitals, formal dinners, and shooting parties. The increasing reputation on the player board reflects the family’s increasing ability to stage grand events attended by the most desirable guests.

Gameplay Detail: Improvement tiles represent a room or outdoor space where an Activity may take place. These Activities are the focus of Obsession gameplay. Each turn, a player will either pass or select an Activity to host at their country estate.

Admirer Bonus

Description: A bonus favour of two reputation granted when a player’s eligible young female family member is sought out at a social activity and made the object of conspicuous attention by a male prestige guest.

Thematic Material: A favourable marriage for a daughter from a family struggling with money, image, and social standing was a common obsession in Victorian Britain and in the literature of the 19th century. Few happenings excited a family’s optimism as much as the young lady of the house being paid court at a social event by an established, wealthy, and debonair single gentleman.

Gameplay Detail: The card for each family’s eligible young lady references an Admirer Bonus. This bonus is only activated when the young lady’s card is played at the same activity with a male prestige guest. The male prestige guest is identified by the presence of two fleur-de-lis in the upper left-hand corner of the card and a reputation of three or more. When a male prestige guest is seen spending time with the young lady at an activity, the player receives two additional reputation during the 'enjoy favours’ stage of her turn.

Note that the Charles Fairchild card does not reference a reputation level. The card does, however, have two fleur-de-lis in the upper left-hand corner (and also shows the Fairchild family crest in place of a reputation level); there- fore, Charles is a prestige guest, and he does enable the Admirer Bonus.

Barn

Description: The Barn is the service location that references an investment in the groundskeeping staff, which enhances the family’s reputation when estate activities are hosted.

Thematic Material: Few aesthetic pursuits more iconically represent 19th-century English culture than the enjoyment of gardens and manicured grounds. A serious investment in the beloved grounds of the family’s estate would draw notice and praise, and enhance the family’s reputation in the area.

Gameplay Detail: The Barn service tile appears randomly in the Builders’ Market and has a discount of £100 attached to the purchase price. When a player acquires this tile, it is placed under SERVICE in the country estate organiser. On all future turns when an estate tile is played, the player increases his reputation by one on his player board reputation wheel.

Note that the Barn is worth 2 victory points; all other service tiles are worth 0 or 1 victory point.

Brushing Room

Description: The Brushing Room is the service location where footmen are trained to serve as valets when staffing is inadequate. This allows players to use white footman meeples as if they were green valet meeples when providing service to gentlemen guests.

Thematic Material: The Brushing Room was a small room in a superior house for brushing garments. There, a male servant experienced with providing personal service to the gentlemen of the house (butler, underbutler, valet) could educate a footman being called upon in a time of need on the proper care of a wardrobe.

Gameplay Detail: The Brushing Room service tile appears randomly in the Builders’ Market and has a discount of £200 attached to the purchase price. When a player acquires this tile, it is placed under SERVICE in the country estate organiser. On all future turns, the player may use a footman as a valet when providing service to a gentleman, but only when a valet is unavailable.

Builders’ Holiday

Description: An event on round number 11 on the round track (round number 13 in extended play) where players are able to purchase as many improvements from the Builders’ Market as their resources allow. This special round is marked by the quarried pile of rocks seen to the right.

Thematic Material: The quarry symbol (pile of rocks) on the round track represents the sudden availability of cheap building materials or an influx of new skilled craftsmen that ignites a building boom.

Gameplay Detail: Normal turns limit a player to one purchase from the market. During the Builders’ Holiday, however, purchases are unlimited, provided the player has (or can acquire) the necessary wealth. This presents the player with a unique opportunity to acquire critical tiles to complete objectives or to excel in a courtship category.

If a player purchases more than one improvement tile from the market, the remaining tiles are moved leftward, opening up blank spaces on the right side of the market row. These open spaces are filled with new tiles drawn from the tile bag and placed in tile sorting number order.

Builders’ Market

Description: The eight spaces on the central supply board where improvement tiles available for purchase are placed (six in the open market and two in the tile reserve). These tiles represent potential capital additions or renovations to a country house and its surrounding grounds.

Thematic Material: The Builders’ Market is not historic, but a device used in Obsession for managing purchases in such a way as to reflect the relative scarcity of skilled labour and high-end building materials in mid-19th century England.

Gameplay Detail: The rules for initially populating the Builders’ Market are covered in the Rulebook, page 5. The rules for buying from the Builders’ Market are described in the Rulebook, pages 10-12. There are two scenarios beyond initial population that deserve some review:

Duplicate Tiles: In the 2nd edition, the revised market population rules changed how duplicate tiles are managed. Previously, duplicates occupied two spaces in the market, resulting in fewer choices and a stagnant display. Now, duplicate tiles are stacked on top of each other; if a player purchases one of them, the other remains available for purchase. If the market is refreshed, both tiles are removed.

Undesirable Market Population: On rare occasions, the initial population will be nonsensical (i.e., three sets of duplicates, mostly one category, etc.). Do not hesitate, if all players agree, to redraw the initial population so that it reflects an interesting and thematically sensible variety. Please note that this option is not available when the Builders’ Market is refreshed in the middle of a game; a player takes a risk when refreshing the market, and he must live with the consequences!

Builders’ Market Reserve

Description: The two spaces on the central supply board to the left of the open market where service tiles are placed after Season 1 and improvement tiles with a prestige rating of 1 are placed after Season 2. These tiles remain available for purchase, but are prevented from clogging the open market late in the game.

Thematic Material: The Builders’ Market reflects the relative scarcity of skilled labour and high-end building materials in mid-19th century England. However, some minor, low-cost improvements-most notably simple service enhancements and outdoor animal accommodations-would be locally accessible to any established family. The Builders’ Market Reserve houses those basic options later in the game.

Gameplay Detail: Since the 2nd printing of Obsession introduced the Builders’ Market Reserve, a review of the new Supply Board will be helpful.

The old Builders’ Market is the six spaces framed in yellow, which is now called the 'open market.' Tiles are drawn from the purple tile bag and move to the left through the open market as improvements are purchased and spaces left empty. During certain times in the game, however, some tiles bypass the open market and are placed in the Builders’ Market Reserve. The reserve is framed in red and is used to manage low-value tiles as the game progresses.

To summarize the reserve rules, detailed in the Rulebook, page 12:

  • After the 1st courtship is over, the Service Tile Reserve activates, and all SERVICE tiles currently in the market are moved to the Service Tile Reserve space. For the remainder of the game, all SERVICE tiles drawn are moved immediately to the reserve. Players may purchase from the reserve, and the reserve is not affected by a market refresh (only the open market is affected).

  • After the 2nd courtship is over, the PR 1 (Prestige Rating 1) Tile Reserve activates, and all PR 1 tiles currently in the market are moved to the PR 1 Reserve space. For the remainder of the game, all PR 1 tiles drawn are moved immediately to the reserve. Players may purchase from the reserve, and the reserve is not affected by a market refresh (only the open market is affected).

Solo Use: Solo players may use the reserve. Service courtships are easier to win and objectives are easier to complete, but the scavenging action, which ignores the reserves, is more consequential (stealing tiles of greater value on average).

Butler

Description: The Butler is represented by a tall dark blue meeple and is used to provide service for the most prestigious events (such as a music recital, formal affair, or grand ball). The Butler is also the hiring manager for new servants.

Thematic Material: The Butler in Victorian Britain was the senior domestic servant (along with the housekeeper), responsible for the smooth running of the house. In addition, he was in direct charge of the dining room, wine cellar, and pantry, as well as the male service staff and all country house activities. The Butler also wielded significant power as the ultimate arbiter of who was admitted to visit the family.

Gameplay Detail: The Butler is required when new servants are hired or when a proposal is made to recruit a servant from another estate. After hiring/recruiting servants, he and the new members of the domestic staff are placed in the Expended Service section of the player board for orientation. These meeples will then be rotated normally into Available Service. Like the housekeeper and underbutler, he is a loyal servant who cannot be lured away with a recruiting action.

Butler’s Pantry

Description: The Butler’s Pantry is the service tile improvement that provides an underbutler in the form of a tall black meeple taken from the Servants for Hire section of the supply board.

Thematic Material: The Butler’s Pantry in Victorian Britain was far more than just a domestic storage room. There, the butler coordinated the wine service as well as the security and storage of the valuable crystal and china used as the elegant centrepiece of fine Victorian dining. Common servants were not usually permitted entry to the Butler’s Pantry; only the underbutler serving in his jack-of- all-trades role in support of the butler had routine access.

Gameplay Detail: The Butler’s Pantry service tile appears randomly in the Builders’ Market and has a premium £100 attached to the purchase price. When a player acquires this tile, it is placed under SERVICE in the country estate organiser, and a tall black underbutler meeple is taken from the supply board and placed in the Expended Service section of the player board. This meeple will then be rotated normally into Available Service.

The underbutler functions in any male service capacity: as the butler, a valet, or a footman. The meeple is placed as if it were one of these other male servants and rotated accordingly. Note: The underbutler may be used as a butler, valet, or footman even if one of these servants is available.

Butler’s Room

Description: The service improvement tile that is part of the initial setup-it is a starting tile-present in every player’s country estate organiser. This is the only service tile that does not confer an ongoing benefit and is 'played'-the tile is placed onto the player board with the butler meeple in order to hire new servants.

Thematic Material: The Butler’s Room is not historic; in Obsession, it refers to a small office or personal space where the butler might interview servants. The additional action on the back side of this tile-to recruit a servant from another player-reflects a not uncommon practice where elite servants might be hired away from a nearby house.

Gameplay Detail: The Butler’s Room is used when a player wants to acquire additional servants. Instead of choosing a gentry-oriented activity to host during a standard turn, the player takes the Butler’s Room tile from the organiser and places it on the player board. The butler (or underbutler) meeple is mandatory for this activity.

No gentry cards are played when this tile is used; instead, the player may take two servants from the Servants for Hire area on the supply board. These two servants may be any combination of valets, lady’s maids, and footmen-they may be the same (e.g., two valets) or different (e.g., a footman & a lady’s maid). Hired servants are then placed in Expended Service along with the butler to be oriented to their new house.

After this tile has been played for the first time (i.e., flipped to the backside with the rose), a new ability is unlocked. Future use of the Butler’s Room permits either another hiring action as described above or the following new ability:

  • Recruit one valet, lady’s maid, or footman servant from another player (from any location on that competitor’s player board). This newly hired servant is placed with the butler (or underbutler, if used) in the Expended Service section of the player board to be oriented. Tall meeples-the butler, housekeeper, & underbutler-are loyal and cannot be recruited.

This Butler’s Room may be used as many times as a player wishes, although once meeples are gone from the Servants for Hire section of the supply board, only the Recruit One Servant action can be performed. If only one servant is left in the Servants for Hire area on the supply board, the player may only hire that one servant; she cannot hire one servant and recruit a second one.

A player may purchase from the Builders’ Market after the Butler’s Room is played, just as in a regular turn.

Casual Guests

Description: The 50 gentry playing cards (15 starter Casual Guests and 35 regular Casual Guests) identified by a single fleur-de-lis. These guests represent guests of modest or possibly questionable reputation.

Thematic Material: Casual Guests comprise those acquaintances at or below the social standing of the four families at the beginning of the game. In addition to loyal, long-standing friendships, these guests may include impoverished friends, young men at times inclined to drink and revelry, and even a scattering of possibly gauche but enormously wealthy American heiresses looking to experience British society.

Guests with negative characteristics are not definitively known to be conniving, immoral, or manipulative people. Each type of unsavoury guest joins the circle of friends as an acquaintance in good standing. Rumours may be swirling around some, but such gossip might be attributed to the jealous behaviour of others. At first blush, such guests might be under attack, apparently wholesome and in need of defence. Over time, the rumours might prove true, and then the continued society of such people would have consequences. The appropriate response is to part company with such unsavoury personalities, but even that must be done with decorum.

Gameplay Detail: There are two groups of Casual Guests in Obsession-starter guests, who can be identified by the closed crown in the upper left-hand corner of the card, and the remaining Casual Guests.

There are 50 Casual Guests, and 20 of them (40%) possess some negative characteristic that may, over time, make them undesirable visitors to a player’s country house. These unwholesome guests are classified as cads, scoundrels, paupers, gossips, adventuresses, and American heiresses.

Casual Guests are identified on improvement tiles and playing cards by a single fleur-de-lis. When a new Casual Guest invitation is extended by another guest, family member, or activity favour, it will reference one fleur-de-lis to indicate which guest deck on the supply board should be used.

When a Casual Guest card is taken from the supply, it should be shown to the other players-the comings and goings of gentry are never a secret in the county-then placed into the player’s active hand available for immediate use.

Charles & Elizabeth Fairchild

Description: The two gentry cards representing the dashing heir to the Fairchild fortune and his refined and beautiful sister. They are distinguished by name and a unique crest in the upper left-hand corner of the card enclosed in a blue frame.

Thematic Material: In the lives of the landed gentry in Victorian Britain, advantageous marriages were a central theme. Marrying well was as desirable as marrying poorly was loathed, and love rarely had the power to break down such unromantic considerations. In Obsession, Charles and Elizabeth Fairchild represent the ultimate opportunity for families recovering from hard times to marry exceedingly well and form a highly advantageous connection.

Charles and Elizabeth come to Derbyshire from Yorkshire under tragic circumstances: the deaths of their parents on holiday. They arrive an unknown addition to Derbyshire society; the entire county is eager for any information about the Fairchild siblings.

Early news spreads: Charles is reserved and dignified, while Elizabeth, who shared her late mother’s love of society, has begun inviting prestigious Yorkshire guests of her acquaintance to visit.

Gameplay Detail: The cards representing Charles and Elizabeth Fairchild are kept near the round track, where courtship events will be resolved. The winner of a courtship event takes one of the Fairchild cards into her active hand for use during the next season. Driven by romantic interest, Charles and Elizabeth Fairchild will attend any event regardless of the reputation of the hosting family. The Fairchild cards are managed like any other card once placed in hand after a successful courtship.

The favours granted by Charles and Elizabeth are not the same. Charles grants a favour of three reputation, while Elizabeth has favours of two reputation and an invitation to a prestige guest. Note that Charles enables the admirer bonus for the young lady of any house, meaning that a visit from Charles can generate five reputation. Elizabeth, if attending an activity with the heir of any house, would generate two reputation, plus one from the heir for a total of three; she, however, also possesses a powerful prestige invitation favour.

At the conclusion of the first, second, and third seasons, the Fairchild card is returned to the round track area before the outcome of the next courtship. After the final courtship (fourth season), the Fairchild card chosen by the courtship winner (along with its significant 8 victory points) remains in the player’s hand for end game scoring.

Clear Player Board

Description: The eighth and final action that takes place at the end of each player’s turn.

Thematic Material: Flipping improvement tiles when the board is cleared represents experience gained by the family and domestic staff in hosting a specific activity.

Country Estate Organiser

Description: The header tile that organises improvements into five categories-Essentials, Service, Estate, Prestige, and Sporting.

Thematic Material: The Country Estate Organiser groups renovated spaces to help define an estate’s 'personality.'For example, a player who invests in such a way as to maximise the grand outdoor spaces-gardens, gazebos, kennels, paddocks-would possess a very different estate as compared with a player who focuses on art galleries, a statuary, smoking rooms, and libraries.

Concurrent with the renovation of the country estate, news and gossip about the interests of Charles and Elizabeth Fairchild define a profile of their perfect house and grounds. The player whose estate renovations best mirror the interests of the Fairchild siblings enhances her chances of securing the very best connection.

ESSENTIALSSERVICEESTATEPRESTIGESPORTING
Essentials are rooms that every reputable manor house contains: family spaces, libraries, eating rooms, etc.Service rooms are devoted to the domestic staff and typically provide some increase in efficiency.Estate spaces are those improvements, typically engaging the outdoors, which lend to the grand feel of the country estate.Prestige improvements are rare, opulent, refined rooms that distinguish a manor house and greatly enhance the family’s reputation.Outdoor Sporting spaces are a hallmark of country living and accommodate hunting, animals, and friendly sporting contests.

Gameplay Detail: Obsession groups tiles that generate similar activity favours. Estate tiles, featuring intensely social activities, all generate invitations to new guests. Prestige tiles host only the most sophisticated events and increase the family’s reputation. Sporting tile activities provide the perfect setting for conversations about investments, politics, and overseas opportunities, and all such tiles generate wealth in pounds. Most Essentials tiles do not show a favour on the tile itself; however, closer examination shows that these tiles do offer a significant advantage: large numbers of guests (who all have their own favours). Finally, Service tiles grant valuable special abilities to the domestic staff.

Courtship

Description: The wooing of Charles and Elizabeth Fairchild over the course of a season. It is marked by a space on the round track at the end of each season (identified by the Victorian couple icon).

Thematic Material: Romance and marriage-not necessarily in that order-were a focal point of the Victorian idle rich. Forming alliances with respected families, avoiding public impropriety, marrying well where possible, and securing the future of female children were all part of an elaborate drama that served as the backdrop for daily life.

The dramatic arrival of Charles and Elizabeth Fairchild-both eligible, refined, and substantially wealthy-into a relatively modest corner of Derbyshire would engage the minds, hearts, and conversation of every member of the social elite within a day’s ride by carriage.

Gameplay Detail: Obsession embraces the calculated Courtships of the era by making it a strategic focus of the game. Players who ignore this courtship mechanic-the intentional catering to the interests of Charles and Elizabeth Fairchild-are likely to pass on a source of victory points that may exceed 25% of a winning total.

There are ten Courtship cards, two of each improvement category (Essentials, Service, Estate, Prestige, and Sporting). A final profile of the Fairchilds will be some combination of these cards; if a category appears twice, it represents a preferred style of living with an intense, specific focus.

Two additional notes will be helpful:

  • Players should always be aware of where they stand in each category relative to 1) the other player(s), and 2) the next Courtship event. Equally desirable activities late in a season may not have an equal impact on Courtship.

  • The final Courtship event takes into account all four revealed themes. The winner of this final courtship stands to benefit as much as thirteen victory points (8 VP for the Fairchild card and up to 5 VP for the victory point card), a game-changing amount of VP. Do not neglect developing the improvement categories that are already known heading into the last Courtship; if a duplicate category is revealed during the final Courtship, a player who has conscientiously developed that duplicate theme will be in a commanding position.

Discard Pile

Description: The face-up pile of gentry cards consisting of family and guests who have recently attended activities and are no longer eligible to attend future activities until a player has passed and reclaimed her deck.

Thematic Material: The cards in a player’s Discard Pile consist of guests recently seen attending special events and activities at the family’s country house. It would be unseemly in Derbyshire society to neglect long-standing friendships in favour of repeated invitations to new acquaintances.

Gameplay Detail: A player’s gentry card deck is composed of an active hand and a Discard Pile. The Discard Pile contains those guests who have recently attended activities. The gentry in the Discard Pile are not available to attend an activity again until the player passes and reclaims her deck.

Note that a player may search her Discard Pile to review cards played or to locate undesirable guests for dismissal (see below).

Dismiss Guests

Description: The optional action taken by the lady of the family and/or specific estate favours that permits a player to remove guests from either her active hand or discard pile; dismissed guests are returned to the bottom of the appropriate supply deck.

Thematic Material: In 19th century English culture, proper behaviour and good manners were mandatory for the landed gentry (and, as much as possible, for everyone in England). Disconnecting one’s family from the society of a guest whom the family finds distasteful was not easily done. The difficulty of dismiss- ing unwelcome guests in Obsession reflects this strict practice of avoiding what might be perceived as ungracious or rude behaviour.

Gameplay Detail: Dismissing Guests is not easy in Obsession. Only the genteel action of the lady of the house or a specific favour resulting from one of several estate improvement tiles enables a player to remove a casual guest with negative victory points from her gentry deck before end game scoring. Any guest may be dismissed, but as all prestige guests confer victory points, this action is usually reserved for undesirable casual guests.

There are several details that govern guest dismissal:

  • Guest dismissal is the only optional favour.
  • Whenever the word 'Dismiss’ is used, it is unrelated to the fleur-de-lis (invitation) and is a separate, optional action.
  • Only one gentry card-the Lady of the house-may Dismiss Guests. Five of the 12 Estate tiles grant favours permitting dismissal.
  • Dismissal takes place when the board is cleared and after favours are enjoyed.
  • Dismissal favours are cumulative (for example, a tile with a dismissal action can combine with a card with a dismissal favour to allow two guests to be dismissed).
  • Any type of guest may be dismissed. Family members cannot be dismissed.
  • Guests in either the active hand or discard pile may be dismissed.
  • Guests attending the current activity may be dismissed. If a guest attending a current activity is dismissed, the player still receives the favour (or suffers the penalty) from that guest.
  • Dismissed guests are returned to the bottom of the appropriate deck on the supply board (usually the casual guest supply pile). It is not unlikely that such a character may resurface in Derbyshire society.

Enjoy Favours

Description: The phase of a turn following an activity during which a player collects benefits in the form of money (£), reputation, connections (new guests), or additional servants.

Thematic Material: The idea of Favours in Obsession captures the benefits of the gradual restoration of a family to its rightful place amongst the social elite. Hosting prestigious social activities flawlessly supported by a robust domestic staff greatly increases the family’s reputation. Word spreads in the family’s circle of acquaintances, leading to friends of guests expressing interest in meeting the family and visiting the estate. Investment options open up as influential guests disclose overseas opportunities and facilitate connections in local and national government.

Gameplay Detail: The process for securing Favours is covered in detail in the Rulebook, pages 9 and 10. All favours are mandatory except guest dismissal. In practice, this only impacts casual guest invitations (players will not refuse money, which scores VP, or reputation, which can be convert- ed via special actions into money and other useful actions). Casual guests have a 40% chance of having some unsavoury characteristic, which will translate into negative favours and negative VP for end game scoring. However, propriety dictates that all introductions be respected.

Extended Play (Round Track)

Description: An Obsession game that contains 16 standard rounds where players host activities or pass instead of twelve (for standard play, see page 21 in the Glossary).

Thematic Material: None.

Gameplay Detail: An Extended game of Obsession is 20 rounds, consisting of 16 spaces for hosting activities on standard rounds and four spaces that trigger a courtship event. The final space-the wedding bells in the middle-marks end game scoring.

Extended Play features an additional village fair and objective card draw, and has a modified distribution of round events to enhance variety. The maximum reputation is two levels higher than the standard game (9 instead of 7, both represented by the Max chit with the Union Jack-see the setup instructions on page 7 of the Rulebook). The two higher levels of reputation (levels 8 & 9) now in play are worth 17 additional VP. The VP breakdown is seen in the reputation victory points entry on page 19 of the Glossary.

Family Bonus

Description: A unique benefit specific to each family.

Thematic Material: Families are never identical. Each player board representing a family comes with a family bonus that grants a unique starting advantage:

  • Family Asquith is the largest
  • Family Cavendish is the best connected
  • Family Ponsonby is the wealthiest
  • Family York has the largest domestic staff

Gameplay Detail: Family Bonuses tend to have the greatest impact during the first season of Obsession. As the game progresses, these advantages tend to shrink in importance. A wise player exploits his advantage early.

The Bonuses are:

  • Family Asquith has a wealthy and respected dowager countess living with them. This card also generates one end game victory point.
  • Family Cavendish begins the game with reputation level 1, position 4.
  • Family Ponsonby begins the game with £300.
  • Family York begins the game with an extra footman.

Fleur-de-lis

Description: The fleur-de-lis is the symbol used to denote guests. One fleur-de-lis represents guests of lesser reputation. Two fleur-de-lis represent prestigious guests.

Thematic Material: A fleur-de-lis is a stylised lily often used in heraldic design (on flags, coats of arms, crests, banners, etc.). It has its origins in France, but was added to the British royal coat of arms in the 14th century as part of King Edward III’s claim to the French throne, where it stayed until the early 19th century.

Gameplay Detail: In Obsession, the fleur-de-lis is used as a symbol of privileged birth and as shorthand for both casual and prestige guests; one fleur-de-lis in the upper left-hand corner of the gentry card (underneath the large prestige rating number) represents casual guests, and two fleur-de-lis represent prestige guests.

Footman

Description: The Footman is represented as a short white meeple and is used to provide service for most outdoor events. If trained in the brushing room, the Footman can provide personal service as a backup valet.

Thematic Material: A Footman was a male domestic servant whose name was derived from his historic function of running beside the carriage of his wealthy patron. The name equally applied to the Victorian era, where Footmen were constantly on their feet, waiting on family and guests at table and out of doors, transporting food from the kitchen to the dining rooms, announcing visitors, carrying coal, winding clocks, attending to lamps, and in general performing a wide variety of tasks necessary to keep an estate running smoothly. As Footmen interacted with guests, they were required to be presentable and were often chosen for their height and good looks.

Gameplay Detail: In Obsession, the Footman is perhaps the most useful servant; he provides mandatory service for most sporting and estate activities, may function as a backup valet if trained, often is called upon to run errands for prestigious guests (in the absence of a hall boy), and is available for hire in larger numbers than his more specialised counterparts, the valet and lady’s maid.

Gentry

Description: The Victorian social elite.

Thematic Material: This term, used extensively in the game of Obsession, is not associated with males, although it bears a resemblance to 'gent' or 'gentleman.' It applies to a class of people-both males and females-and is a middle English term derived from old French genterie, meaning genteel.

According to Dictionary.com, Gentry are:

  1. wellborn and well-bred people.
  2. (in England) the class below the nobility.
  3. an upper or ruling class; aristocracy.
  4. those who are not members of the nobility but are entitled to a coat of arms, especially those owning large tracts of land.

Gameplay Detail: In the game, Gentry is used to refer to any member of the bridge-sized deck of character cards. The term applies to a gentleman or lady, family or Fairchild, casual guest or prestige guest.

When an improvement tile references gentry as in the Music Room tile here, it is a generic term that applies to any and every card in the player’s active hand (the discard pile is also composed of gentry, but those cards are unavailable until the player passes).

More restrictive activities will feature an invite to gentlemen or ladies, to family or a particular class of guest. All of these narrower terms are a subset of Gentry.

Gentry Cards

Description: All bridge-sized playing cards are Gentry Cards and consist of family, the Fairchild siblings, casual guests, and prestige guests.

Thematic Material: Each Gentry Card represents an a member of the Victorian social upper class. The card indicates that person’s social standing and service needs as well as a personal description.

Gameplay Detail: Gentry Cards come in four types: casual guest (starter and standard), family member, Fairchild, and prestige guest. An example of each card is seen in the middle of the next page alongside numbered explanations of the card contents.

Guest Level (prestige rating): A prestige rating (largest number on the card) shows the minimum family reputation required for a guest to visit that family. Immediately below the prestige rating are fleur-de-lis; one fleur-de-lis indicates a casual guest and two fleur-de-lis indicate a prestige guest.

If there is a crown immediately below the frame, these guests are used in setup. The crown identifies the casual guest as a starter guest. The fifteen starter guests are gathered into a separate deck during setup, and two of these guests are dealt to each player to create the starting gentry deck (there is also a variant setup, a starter guest card draft; see Glossary, page 26).

After setup, the remaining starter guests are shuffled with the 35 casual guests (single fleur-de-lis, no crown) and placed on the supply board. It is extremely important that these unused starter guests are thoroughly mixed into the casual guest deck, otherwise there could be a concentration of unsavoury guests that will impact gameplay negatively.

Note: Family and the Fairchilds do not have a prestige rating, but instead feature their family coat of arms. Cards featuring a coat of arms function as if their prestige rating is 1 (the Fairchild prestige rating would be much higher, but the love interest makes them willing visitors to a family of lower social standing).

Victory Points (VP): The number inside the wreath indicates the amount of VP awarded at the end of the game. All prestige guests grant between two and eight VP; casual guests range from two VP for some guests with a prestige rating of 2 to -4 for the most unsavoury characters. The negative VP are framed in red, and they indicate an amount of VP the undesirable guest costs a player at the end of the game.

Service Required: The lower left frame(s) indicates the mandatory servant(s) required for the guest to attend an activity. The colour and shape of the servant icon inside the frame(s) indicates the type of servant(s) needed. If the guest does not require service when attending an activity, an icon indicates no servant is needed. Family members never require service, as they have personal servants that are not part of the staff used to provide guest and activity service during the game.

Background: A short summary of the guest’s history and connections. Some guests fall into categories and have an underlined header (such as an American Heiress). Family members have the family name referenced and underlined.

Favours: Icon(s) in the lower right-hand corner indicate the benefit(s) enjoyed by the player as the result of hosting an activity that this guest attends. Pounds are shown as a number preceded by a £ symbol, reputation is indicated by the lion rampant, and guest invitations by fleur-de-lis. Favours are enjoyed at the end of an activity.

Penalty: Some guests damage a player’s reputation or cost money. Penalties are framed in red in the lower right-hand corner. If a £ penalty cannot be paid (not enough £), the guest cannot attend.

Important Note: A player with the lowest reputation (level 1, position 1) may host a disreputable guest (with negative black lions framed in red) without consequences (she cannot damage such a low reputation).

Note: The Marquess of Thornhill, one of the most reputable guests, is presented here enlarged so that the anatomy of a Gentry Card can be clearly seen.

Host Activity

Description: The third action in a standard turn and the primary mechanic in Obsession that involves a player choosing an improvement tile from his country estate organiser for the purpose of hosting a social activity.

Thematic Material: The landed gentry of Victorian England derived their income from legacy wealth and property, and generally did not need (or want) to work. The gentry lifestyle was therefore filled with social activities such as formal dinners, balls, hunting, riding, picnics, and recitals, all of which may take place in a game of Obsession.

Gameplay Detail: Hosting Activities is the primary game mechanic in Obsession. Unless a player passes, each turn involves him Hosting a social activity enabled by an improvement tile (renovated room or space) located in his country estate organiser. Not all activities located there can be Hosted, only valid ones. A valid activity meets 3 requirements:

  1. Yellow Arrow: The family’s reputation (the large number tile on the player board) is greater than or equal to the prestige rating on the improvement tile (the large number in the lower left-hand corner of the tile),
  2. Red Arrow: A sufficient number of activity-appropriate guests with prestige ratings at or below the player’s reputation are in the player’s active hand, and
  3. Orange Arrow: Servants are available for both activity and personal service (the graphic below assumes no service is needed for the hidden guest cards).

This activity is possible because the player’s reputation is ≥ both the activity on the tile (Family Recital) and the three gentry cards the player wants to invite, and the servants are available to provide all the necessary service (butler and lady’s maid).

Housekeeper

Description: The Housekeeper is represented by a tall red meeple and is used to provide service in support of all dining activities and as a backup lady’s maid. Such service would primarily be coordinating meals through her management of the food and kitchen.

Thematic Material: The Housekeeper was the highest ranking female servant and quite accomplished. She was in charge of the female staff (maids and kitchen staff) as well as all accommodations for both the female and male staff (living quarters). She managed the household accounts and paid tradesmen for their services. She also ensured that the house was clean, an enormous task given the staggering size of many country houses.

Gameplay Detail: Due to her responsibility for estate provisions and all staff in the kitchen, the Housekeeper is the required servant for meals in the breakfast room and formal dinners in the dining room. The Housekeeper may also function as a lady’s maid when shorthanded, but only if a lady’s maid is unavailable. Like the butler and underbutler, she is a loyal servant who cannot be lured away by another player (via the Butler’s Room recruiting action).

Hybrid Tiles

Description: Two improvement tiles that represent generic spaces used for activities that fall into different improvement tile categories. This was a 2nd printing Kickstarter stretch goal.

Thematic Material: Victorian era blueprints not infrequently feature Green Rooms, a name possibly borrowed from the theatre waiting room of the same name. Unlike most other rooms-Smoking Room, Conservatory, Dining Room, Gallery-the room lacked a specific function and served many uses. Outdoors, the South Lawn serves a similar function as a space that can host a variety of activities, ranging from archery to family picnics.

Gameplay Detail: Hybrid Tiles are 2nd printing bonus tiles that introduce new mechanics. A Hybrid tile refers to a multi-purpose room or outdoor space, and therefore references two distinct activities, front and back. As a result, the improvement category of the tile changes with the activity (the front is a different colour/ category than the back). Unlike a standard improvement tile, a Hybrid tile flips every time it is used, changing its location in the country estate organiser.

The rules of Hybrid Tiles are covered in detail on page 12 of the Obsession Rulebook, but it is important to note that these tiles present a player with an opportunity to react to an emerging courtship by flipping the tile VP into the new courtship category. Beware, however, of overuse of any one improvement tile; the player’s country estate VP will suffer.

Improvement Tiles

Description: Square tiles representing a renovated room or space in which social activities may take place.

Thematic Material: Obsession uses the idea of 'Improvement' to capture a variety of actions that must take place to transform a neglected country house over a century old into a thriving estate that is the envy of Derbyshire society.

More often than not, the purchase of an improvement tile such as a Music Room represents a renovation project and not new construction. The footprint of the grand old house is not shy of space; Improvements involve not the addition of needed space, but the renovation of rooms and spaces that have fallen into disrepair. It is likely that a new Music Room would involve renovating an extra sitting room that had been closed off during lean times to save on heating and staff costs.

The presence of this Improvement Tile in the Builders’ Market suggests that the needed specialised labour to renovate a drafty old space into a room with acoustics to accommodate musical performances is now available from London, and that the materials needed-some imported from the Continent-can be obtained for the project as well.

Projects involving the estate grounds would more likely include new construction or landscaping. An Improvement Tile such as a Paddock represents a serious attempt at breeding and raising horseflesh beyond the usual provision for horses that all Victorian upper-class families would have made. Acquiring this tile would involve finding a stablemaster, allocating appropriate paddocks, buying the additional horses required (of the necessary quality), and ensuring that proper stabling was available.

Improvements in the Builders’ Market encompass more than just wood, tile, stone, and mortar. They involve a plan to bring back to life a room in the country house or space on the estate grounds that will recapture the best of country living and gentle society.

They involve an Obsession to restore honour!

Gameplay Detail: There are 3 types of Improvement Tiles-standard Improvement Tiles, service tiles, and monuments. Several examples are presented in the centre of this page.

  1. The room or space name.

  2. The victory points the tile is worth for both courtship calculations and end game scoring (if this side is face-up in the organiser).

  3. The name of the activity that may be hosted in this room or space.

  4. The guests who must be invited to the activity.

  5. The servant who is required to support the activity.

  6. The favour or recurring benefit associated with the activity; one prestige each turn in the case of the monument and a special service ability in the case of all service tiles (except for the Butler’s Room).

  7. The prestige rating, which is the minimum reputation level (the large circular number tile on the player board) the family must have to host this activity.

  8. The type of improvement.

  9. The Builders’ Market discount or premium associated with the improvement tile. This pound amount will be subtracted from or added to the pounds displayed above the tile’s position in the Builders’ Market.

  10. A building icon that indicates that the tile is a starting tile; starting tiles are present in each player’s country estate organiser.

  11. A rose icon that indicates the tile has been played and flipped to the back side where there are usually greater benefits and an increase in VP.

    Once a rose icon is showing, that tile may be played as often as desired, but the tile is never flipped back to the front side. The back side attests that the family and domestic staff have acquired a certain level of skill in hosting that type of activity.

  12. The tile sorting number, which is used to rank improvement tiles and monuments relative to each other. These numbers are used in populating the Builders’ Market.

Invite Guests

Description: The fourth action in a standard turn that involves a player choosing valid guests from his gentry card active hand to attend the activity being hosted on that turn.

Thematic Material: Activities are often planned at a family’s country estate with specific guests in mind: those who would be comfortable attending and for whom the family can provide outstanding service.

Gameplay Detail: An activity cannot take place without valid guests being available in the player’s active hand. As a result, players often begin their turn by consulting their active hand as a guide for what activities are possible.

As discussed in detail in the prestige rating Glossary entry (page 18), the family’s reputation (largest number on the player board) MUST BE greater than or equal to the prestige rating of all guests that attend (largest number on each guest card). In addition, if the guests require attention from a specific servant(s), players must have all the necessary servants in the Available Service section on their board (or have access to servants via special actions or by having the Servants’ Quarters tile in their country estate organiser).

Lady’s Maid

Description: The Lady’s Maid is represented by a short purple meeple and is used to provide personal service to visiting female guests.

Thematic Material: The Lady’s Maid was a female servant who attended to the needs of her mistress, whether that mistress was the lady of the house or her daughters. This servant helped with her mistress’s clothes and dressed her hair. Usually long-standing employees, Lady’s Maids often were a source of companionship and information. Visiting ladies who travelled without their maid would, as an expected courtesy, be provided a Lady’s Maid for the duration of their visit.

Gameplay Detail: The Lady’s Maid provides service exclusively to female guests.

Main Library

Description: The only essentials improvement tile that generates an activity favour.

Thematic Material: The Main Library in a Victorian country house often served as a family retreat, a favoured place to make private estate plans, examine tenant concerns, discuss county intrigue, and more. The unique favours granted by the Main Library reflect the special status that the library enjoyed in Victorian houses.

Gameplay Detail: Essentials tiles have a powerful benefit-number of guests. This can be seen in parties of 5, 6, 7, and more, a direct path to hugely favourable events. The Main Library, however, is a unique tile in that it is reserved for family and generates two unique favours: an objective card draw on the front side, and a victory point card draw on the back side.

The Main Library objective card draw differs from the draw(s) on the round track in that the player simply takes the top objective card (he does not look at two cards, keeping one). The victory point card draw also has the player taking the top victory point card and concealing it in his player area.

Monument Tiles

Description: Tiles representing prestigious capital improvements to existing rooms or spaces. Generally, these projects involve dramatic design elements.

Thematic Material: Style in Victorian England made a statement. Whether sporting au courant fashion from the Continent, hosting grand balls flawlessly, or proudly declaring ancestral titles, enhancing one’s image was highly desirable. For the country estate, dramatic decorative elements appealed to many aristocratic couples. Italian marble, exquisite fountains, and imported statues all made the sort of grand statement that generated conversation amongst the social elite.

Gameplay Detail: Improvement tiles represent rooms or spaces in and around the country estate where activities may be hosted. Monuments represent capital improvements to the estate such as marble floors, gargoyles, hunting trophies, and statues.

Although no activity is hosted using Monument tiles, these prestigious improvements enhance the family’s reputation, which is reflected by a large victory point value for the tile itself and an increase of one reputation each round after the Monument is acquired and placed in the organiser. The player also takes a reminder tile from the supply and puts it on her player board. At the start of each turn, the player increments her reputation marker by one position on the reputation wheel. If a player has more than one monument, her reputation increases each turn equal to the number of Monuments.

National Holiday (Round Track)

Description: An event on round number 14 on the round track (round number 13 in extended play) where players are able to host activities and invite guests beyond their reputation level (as if their reputation were at Max). This special round is marked by the British flag and pennons seen to the right.

Thematic Material: National Holidays are a time to set aside station and celebrate with family, friends, and staff!

Gameplay Detail: The National Holiday is an opportunity for a game-changing turn, and players should plan for a special activity on this Holiday. The normal reputation restrictions for hosting activities and inviting guests do not apply on the National Holiday. On all other turns, the family’s reputation MUST BE greater than or equal to the prestige rating of both the activity (improvement tile) and the guest(s) they are considering; this rule is suspended on the National Holiday. Players may host activities and invite guests during this round as if at maximum reputation.

The implications are profound. A player with a 3 reputation would be able to host a Ball (in the Great Hall, prestige rating of 6) and invite elite guests to attend, among others (as long as the player can provide service).

In this example, the extraordinary addition of the Marchioness of Easton, the Duke of Langford, and Lady Alexandra Suffolk to a Grand Ball (accompanied by Earl and Lady Cavendish and their daughter, not shown here) could mean as much as 10 victory points in VP cards, £800, more than one level of reputation (worth 9 VP for our struggling level 3 player), and a new prestige connection (on average, worth 4 VP).

Careful planning for the National Holiday might generate this player an additional 30+ VP (in excess of 25% of what qualifies as a solid end game score)! Note: A key strategy for a player who is struggling with her reputation is to purchase an improvement tile with a prestige rating of 6 for use on the National Holiday & refresh service the round before.

Objective Cards

Description: Secret objectives that grant victory points.

Thematic Material: Objective Cards represent the private passions of the family distinct from any public competition for a connection with the Fairchilds.

Gameplay Detail: Players acquire Objective Cards in four ways:

  • At the beginning of the game (draw starting cards)
  • During specific rounds (draw 2)
  • As a favour on the front side of the main library (draw 1)
  • As a VP card favour (draw 2, keep 1)

Players discard Objective Cards only one way:

  • At the end of each of the four courtship rounds, players discard one OC.
  • If extra cards are acquired as a VP favour or via the library, those represent additional scoring objectives.

Objective Cards fall into six categories:

Room Bonus: The room bonus is an opportunistic card. The chances of seeing a specific improvement tile in the market over the course of a game is often below 50%. However, it is a worthwhile card to retain through the first courtship, for such objectives represent an easy source of VP if, by chance, the tile appears in the market.

Guest Bonus: Guest bonuses are highly desirable, almost certainly providing potentially significant victory points as a result of the normal accumulation of guests.

Improvement Category Bonus: These bonus cards guarantee a modest number of VP, but it is rare for a player to purchase more than five of an improvement type in a standard length game.

Servant Bonus: All-or-nothing victory points awarded for specific types or combinations of servants.

Group Bonuses: These are difficult yet highly rewarding objectives-all-or-nothing bonus cards that require constant attention and the probable use of a Builders’ Market refresh or two. Top-end VP well over ten are available!

Miscellaneous: There are three miscellaneous Objective Cards-bonus victory points for achieving maximum reputation, for finishing the game with £1200, and for each monument in a player’s organiser.

Passing

Description: The action taken at the beginning of a turn where players can choose to forgo hosting an activity primarily for the purpose of reclaiming their discard pile.

Thematic Material: After hosting several elaborate events, the family and domestic staff must focus for a time on estate management. The house is undergoing renovations, creating logistic issues; tenants require attention; domestic staff turnover must be addressed; and plans for future events need to be made, schedules coordinated, and provisions purchased.

Gameplay Detail: Rules for Passing are covered in the Rulebook on page 13. Two additional notes will be helpful:

Manage Invitations Early: The timing and quality of invitations in the first four rounds will largely determine when you need to pass. While targeting early pound and reputation favours is attractive, early invitations permit a player to react to the incoming favours and script the timing of a first pass. Few actions are less productive than gambling on last-second invitations to avoid Passing.

Pass Productively: It is important to make Passing as productive as possible. Avoid the impoverished Pass. A productive pass might involve adding £200 from tenant rents to £400 already on hand, permitting a critical market purchase. If a player knows she is going to pass the next turn, she might refrain from buying a tile in a stale market, intentionally banking a significant amount of money; such a play enables the powerful wealthy market refresh, with valuable tiles (monuments/prestige) making an appearance.

Player Board

Description: A representation of a player’s country house, the player board is where improvement tiles are played, reputation tracked, and servants housed.

Thematic Material: None

  1. The family name
  2. The family crest
  3. A quick reference for the order of play
  4. An item that uniquely represents the family
  5. A quick reference for special actions
  6. Where an improvement tile is placed when a player hosts an activity
  7. Where the reputation counter is placed showing the family’s reputation level
  8. Where the reputation marker is placed showing incremental reputation within a level
  9. Where servants who have just provided service are placed
  10. Where resting servants are placed
  11. Where available servants are placed
  12. A description of the family’s unique bonus

Prestige Guests

Description: The 25 gentry playing cards identified by two fleur-de-lis in the upper left-hand corner of the card. These represent potential guests of the highest standing in Derbyshire society.

Thematic Material: Prestige Guests represent those acquaintances whose social standing and reputation are such that the family would be honoured to have them as guests. These guests are the high-ranking social elite in and around Derbyshire. Any of the families would be honoured to host such guests at their country estate; indeed, it is the very mark of improving family fortunes that respected and well-connected guests would choose to visit.

Note: A gentry deck comprised of family, casual, and prestige guests does not indicate people physically staying at the manor house. The deck represents the circle of acquaintances and friends-and friends of friends-who will be inclined to attend special events or adorn a prestigious soirée at the estate.

Gameplay Detail: Players do not begin the game with a Prestige Guest, although they have an early opportunity to invite one after successfully hosting Afternoon Tea. There are 25 such guests in all, ranging from Dowagers to Dukes.

Prestige guests are identified on improvement tiles and playing cards by two fleur-de-lis. When a new Prestige Guest invitation is extended by a family member, activity guest, or activity favour, it will reference two fleur-de-lis to distinguish which deck on the supply board should be used.

Prestige Rating

Description: The numeric designation on guest cards and improvement tiles that describes the reputation level of a person or improvement. This number is compared to a player’s reputation level displayed on his player board to qualify activities and the guests who may attend them.

Thematic Material: The social standing of members of the landed gentry in Victorian England was a central fact of daily life. The gentry consorted with those of like standing, generally disdained those below their station, and schemed for access to those above. The families Asquith, Cavendish, Ponsonby, and York are no different; they each possess a promising pedigree plagued by a distressing lack of wealth before a turn of good fortune began their Obsession.

Gameplay Detail: Prestige Rating is a critical statistic used on two different game pieces-gentry cards and improvement tiles. Players are routinely limited from inviting certain guests and hosting various activities because Prestige Ratings are too high for the family’s current reputation (the large number on the player board at right).

It is these three numbers that regulate what sort of activities the players can host and who may attend. Here is an example where the family Cavendish wants to host a recital and invite the Dowager Countess Holt, with whom they have a passing acquaintance. Can they? They cannot because the family’s reputation is too low for the dowager to be comfortable visiting.

Note that there is no relationship between the Prestige Ratings of the dowager and the tile (the blue arrow above)-the lady would have no problem attending a recital even though she has a higher Prestige Rating. The only connection between the Prestige Ratings on the improvement tile and guest card is to the family’s current reputation (the red arrows).

The family’s reputation MUST BE greater than or equal to the Prestige Rating of both the activity (improvement tile) and the guests that attend.

When the Cavendish’s reputation increases to 5, the dowager countess would be pleased to attend a recital.

Note: Cards representing family and the Fairchilds do not have a Prestige Rating. For purposes of gameplay, their Prestige Ratings may be treated as 1, although that does not represent their actual reputation. A family’s Rating is equal to the evolving reputation on their player board. The Fairchilds’ Prestige Rating would likely be high (4 or 5), but their romantic interest makes Charles and Elizabeth willing participants in any activity hosted by the family.

Provide Service

Description: The fifth action in a standard turn that involves a player supplying mandatory service to both the activity and to the guests who are attending the activity.

Thematic Material: Proper service is exceptionally important in Victorian England. When hosting an activity, there are two aspects of service expected of an accomplished host: proper service for the actual activity and an appropriate level of personal service for individual guests as needed.

Gameplay Detail: There are two types of service for each activity:

Activity Service: This service is dictated by the improvement tile. Each improvement tile that can host an activity has an icon of the essential servant for that activity. All service is mandatory, and if a player does not have that servant available (or is unwilling to use a special action to acquire one), he cannot host that activity. In this example, a footman is required to host a Picnic in the English Garden.

Personal Service: The appropriate servant(s) to provide mandatory personal service for a guest is shown in the lower left-hand corner of the gentry card. Not all guests require personal service (in which case, the card will show a gray icon of a servant with a line through it). Place the servant inside the service frame on the guest card.

Note: A housekeeper may function as a lady’s maid only if there are no lady’s maids available. A footman may function as a valet only if the player possesses the Brushing Room service tile and there are no valets available. The underbutler may function as any male servant regardless of whether there is such a servant available.

Reminder Tiles

Description: A circular tile to remind players to take pre-turn reputation.

Thematic Material: None

Gameplay Detail: When players acquire monuments or the Servants’ Hall service improvement, they gain one reputation at the beginning of each subsequent turn (before rotating service). An optional circular Reminder Tile featuring a lion rampant is placed on the player board for the rest of the game to remind the player not to begin a turn without securing that benefit.

Reputation Victory Points

Description: The victory points (VP) awarded during end game scoring for a player’s reputation level.

Thematic Material: The Victorian gentry covet a sterling reputation. Reputation Victory Points reflect how well a player has restored the family’s reputation by renovating the country estate, hosting lavish social events, and forming advantageous connections.

Gameplay Detail: With as much as 28 points available (45 in an extended game), the family’s reputation is a substantial source of end game VP. A player’s reputation accumulates during gameplay, and the VP for each new level are added to all previous levels (a triangular number sequence).

In standard play, the maximum number of VP for a player’s reputation is 28, represented by the Union Jack tile. This tile is deployed as the final reputation tile when a player exceeds reputation level 6.

In extended play, the maximum number of VP for a player’s reputation is 45, represented by the same Union Jack tile. This tile is deployed as the final tile when a player exceeds reputation level 8. Note that reputation is still accumulated when the Union Jack is deployed, maxing out when the reputation wheel counter is at position 5. Those five points of reputation may then be used for special actions and then replenished.

Family Reputation LevelEnd Game Victory Points
11
23
36
410
515
621
Max28
Family Reputation LevelEnd Game Victory Points
11
23
36
410
515
621
728
836
Max45

Rotate Service

Description: The first action in a standard turn where meeples representing rested servants are made available for use in the current turn, and meeples used during the previous turn are moved to their quarters.

Thematic Material: Servants in 19th century England rarely took days off. Rotating service does not imply lazy servants in need of rest, but rather represents the logistic difficulty in pulling off major events one after another on a bustling country estate. The house needs to be cleaned, and there is turnover in staff. Repairs and renovations are ongoing with footmen and maids doing their part to move and store appropriate items. Plans need to be made, schedules coordinated, and provisions purchased. All these factors limit the ability of the family to entertain with unseemly frequency.

Gameplay Detail: Rotating Service moves servants who have recently been used to a new location on the player board. As a result, players do not Rotate Service in the first round (as no servants have yet been used). There are three spaces along the bottom of each player board to locate servants: Available Service, Expended Service, and Servants’ Quarters. The order in which the servant pawns are moved is critical. To properly Rotate Service, the player begins with any servants located in the Servants’ Quarters:

  1. Servants’ Quarters: All servants located here at the start of a turn have rested and now move to the right to the Available Service box; they may now provide service during the current turn.

  2. Expended Service: All servants located here at the start of a turn now move to the Servants’ Quarters to rest.

Available Service: Any servants located here are not moved; they are available to provide service during the current turn.

Round Track

Description: The board placed within reach of all players that is used to track round progression, hold theme cards and victory point cards, and provide a centralised location for courtship activities.

Thematic Material: Each square on the round track represents several weeks. Each group of four spaces ending in a courtship represents a full season, which could span many months or even a year. The intervals are not fixed, but represent periods of time that permit the design, funding, renovation, and construction of improvements, the planning and hosting of grand events, and the slow pace of courtship during the Victorian era. An entire game typically encompasses two or three years.

  1. A village fair takes place
  2. Players draw two objective cards
  3. The builders’ holiday
  4. A national holiday is celebrated
  5. When courtship is resolved
  6. Space that triggers end game scoring
  7. Where theme cards are placed
  8. Where victory point cards are placed

Sculpture Garden

Description: The most valuable capital improvement worth the highest number of victory points. The Sculpture Garden represents the improvement guaranteed to impress Charles and Elizabeth Fairchild.

Thematic Material: Charles and Elizabeth Fairchild grew up on a sprawling estate in Yorkshire. Their parents’ delight was an elaborate Sculpture Garden where the family often took their ease, a cultivated garden dotted with imported classical Italian sculptures presented tastefully in alcoves and hollows. Now in Derbyshire, the Fairchild siblings long for a similar elegant retreat. The family that constructs such a garden-a staggeringly expensive project-would capture the imagination and heart of both Charles and Elizabeth.

Gameplay Detail: The Sculpture Garden has a unique appeal to Charles and Elizabeth, resulting in the highest victory point value awarded for any tile- improvement or monument-in the game. As an alternative to the high-value Sculpture Garden (which is worth 10 victory points), Obsession offers a second estate tile, the Garden Maze (7 victory points).

Servants for Hire

Description: The location on the supply board where servants available for hire during the course of the game are located. These servants are limited.

Thematic Material: High quality service help was often in limited supply, particularly given the exacting standards of the social upper class in Victorian England. The starting servants for hire reflect this limited supply of qualified valets, lady’s maids, and footmen in that area of Derbyshire. Once the supply is exhausted, the only recourse for a discerning family is to make an offer to qualified servants at nearby estates who may be looking for advancement.

Gameplay Detail: Players begin with one of each of the basic servant types (valet, lady’s maid, footman). The Servants for Hire at the beginning of the game offers valets and lady’s maids equal to the number of players, and footmen equal to twice the number of players. Note: Although underbutlers are housed in this location, they are not for hire; underbutlers are acquired when the Butler’s Pantry service tile is purchased.

Servants’ Hall

Description: The Servants’ Hall is the service location where gossip amongst the domestic staff is unrestrained. This gossip produces results, allowing a player to steal one reputation at the beginning of each round.

Thematic Material: With the importance of honour and proper conduct in Victorian England, it is not a surprise that indiscreet or disgraceful behaviour would be carefully concealed, as public knowledge of such could damage the position of a family in good standing. Yet, Victorian culture was no different than any other society, where many took delight in exposing duplicity and hypocrisy for honour’s sake ... and for personal advantage. The role of servants in information gathering-often invisible in the background-cannot be underestimated, and many a lady’s maid had the ear of her mistress.

Gameplay Detail: The Servants’ Hall service tile appears randomly in the Builders’ Market and has a premium of £200 attached to the purchase price. When a player acquires this tile, it is placed under SERVICE in the country estate organiser.

At the beginning of a turn during Step 2, the player with the Hall may place any available servant-the source of rumours-onto the tile. The targeted player reduces her reputation by one, while the player with the Hall increases his reputation by one. The gossiping servant is then placed into Expended Service and rotated normally in future turns. Once Step 3 (Host Activity) begins, the player cannot use the Hall.

This action is NOT taken during a courtship round or end game scoring. Due to its powerful impact (particularly in a 2-player game), this tile is withheld from the initial population of the Builders’ Market, meaning it will only appear at the expensive end of the market later in the game.

Servants’ Quarters

Description: The Servants’ Quarters is the location where the domestic staff rests. This service improvement (renovated quarters) allows a player to use one servant meeple located in the Servants’ Quarters during a standard turn.

Thematic Material: A family devoted to the best treatment of its domestic staff-not always common or expected in the middle of the 19th century-reaps a benefit of lower turnover, a happier staff, and harder-working servants willing to go the extra furlong.

Gameplay Detail: The Servants’ Quarters service tile appears randomly in the Builders’ Market and has a premium of £100 attached to the purchase price. When a player acquires this tile, it is placed under SERVICE in the country estate organiser. During each subsequent standard turn (AFTER the player has rotated service), the player may choose to use any servant residing in the Servants’ Quarters area on the player board for either activity service or personal service.

Special Actions

Description: Actions available during standard turns that are not part of normal gameplay. They permit a player to exchange reputation for money, service help, and new improvement options.

Thematic Material: Special actions have a strong thematic grounding. There are three special actions available to players, all of which involve a decrease in the family’s reputation. Borrowing money from relatives or London moneylenders exposes financial weakness, a shameful position. Refreshing a servant represents issues with the domestic staff, an embarrassment that would be widely discussed. Finally, too much dickering with builders or searching for cheaper suppliers outside the county might be regarded as unseemly and beneath the dignity of a leading county family.

Gameplay Detail: Special Actions (SA) refer to a class of actions where a player may trade reputation for pounds, refreshed servants, and new choices in the Builders’ Market. Reputation suffers because SA reflect poorly on the family. SA are referenced on each player board, and the possible SA are:

Borrow Pounds (£): When borrowing, the family’s reputation decreases by two for every £100 borrowed. During a turn, a player may borrow an unlimited amount of money as long as reputation is available; the cost of this action is seen in an immediate reduction of the family’s reputation by decrementing the reputation wheel counter by two spots per £100 borrowed. This action may be taken at any time during the player’s turn. Note: Borrowed money is not paid back by the player.

Service Help: A player who seeks service help from outside sources (seen as making available a servant currently resting in the Servants’ Quarters) must immediately decrement their reputation by three. This enables the player to choose one servant from the Servants’ Quarters for use during her turn. There is no limit to how many times this SA may be used as long as reputation is available.

Refresh Builders’ Market: A family may negotiate with local tradesmen and builders to provide new and different manor house improvement options, or they may search outside the county for specialized builders (seen as refreshing the Builders’ Market). The cost of this action is a reduction by four in the family’s reputation on the reputation wheel. This SA can be done only once per turn; four reputation must be available.

Refreshing the Builders’ Market is a critical option in advanced gameplay. While the cost in reputation is large, the value of completing difficult objectives or locating a courtship monument cannot be overstated.

Note: If the initial population of the market is bizarre (i.e., 5 tiles with a 3 prestige rating) players have the option to redo that step, if all agree. However, redoing a SA market refresh is never allowed, no matter the nature of the new draw.

Limitations: It would be thematically nonsensical to refresh the Builders’ Market to eliminate options for another player. This is discouraged! As a result, this SA should never be punitive. For example, refreshing the market cannot be done after a player’s turn as a way to remove improvements from play (for example, a player with only £200 refreshes the market to stop the next player, who has £1500, from buying a Sculpture Garden currently in the market).

Refreshing the market should not be done if the current player lacks the resources or the desire to make a purchase from the market; since there is a qualitative element to this rule (SA for £ is always an option and desire is abstract), players are asked to honor the spirit of the rule.

Standard Play (Round Track)

Description: A game of Obsession where there are twelve rounds in which players host activities (or pass) and four courtship events.

Thematic Material: None

Gameplay Detail: A Standard game of Obsession is 16 rounds: twelve spaces for hosting activities (known as standard rounds), and four spaces that trigger a courtship event. The final space-the wedding bells in the middle-marks end game scoring.

The maximum numerical reputation is 6, which is followed in sequence by a tile with the British flag for a score of 28 victory points; only four of the five available reputation counters are used (1/2, 3/4, 5/6, and the flag/Max).

Starter Guests

Description: Guests without negative traits representing dear family friends who are combined with a player’s family cards to create a starting gentry card deck.

Thematic Material: Starter Guests represent intimate family friendships at the beginning of the game. These are the closest and most loyal friends, those who will always gather in support of the family, whether it be afternoon tea in a gazebo in need of renovation or a game of cards on a rainy afternoon in a shabby parlour. These are the Starter Guests; close friends without blemish, loyal to a fault.

Gameplay Detail: There are fifteen Starter Guests, which can be identified by the crown in the upper left-hand corner of the gentry card just below the prestige rating frame. Starter Guests do not possess the negative traits of some other casual guests.

Each player begins the game with two randomly dealt Starter Guests, with the rest of the Starter Guests being shuffled with the 35 casual guests and placed on the supply board on the location with the single fleur-de-lis. Starter Guests have an equal distribution of the basic favours available: £100, one or two reputation, or an invitation to a casual guest.

Starter Guest Draft: For players who believe that an unbalanced Starter Guest draw is a significant obstacle to victory, they may instead draft their Starter Guests.

Create a random deck of cards two times the number of players plus two (2 * # players +2). Whoever is last in the player order reviews this starter deck and chooses a first guest. The deck is then passed counterclockwise, and the next player chooses a guest. When the deck gets to the starting player, she chooses two guests and passes the deck clockwise back to the players who've already picked one guest. After the last player has chosen a second guest, the leftover two guests are shuffled into the casual guest pile and placed on the supply board.

Strategy Guide

Description: A first round strategy guide.

Thematic Material: Players can win the hand of a Fairchild in many ways: a concerted focus on renovating the country estate; becoming well-connected in the best social circles; constructing the beloved Sculpture Garden; raising the family’s reputation to an elite level; or accumulating great wealth. There are many paths to victory-which to choose?

Gameplay Detail: Obsession is an open-ended game; players are free to host a wide variety of activities with little guidance. This is most easily seen at the beginning of the game, where choices are numerous and decisions difficult to make. This Glossary entry represents a short guide on the cost/benefit of each available action in round one; there are five available actions, each driven by an improvement type:

Resource Strategy: There are two village icons on the round track. Hosting Village Fair Planning in the Study will grant a pound (£) and reputation benefit from both village fairs. Playing the tile on turn 1 or 2 ensures the player £600 and 4 reputation over the course of a game, which is significant. Not playing the tile makes it more likely the player will win the first courtship when an ESSENTIALS theme card has been revealed, because victory points decrease from three to zero with the flip (village fairs may help with your reputation in the local village, but not with gentry). Either play this tile early and lock up the benefits from the Village Fairs or else preserve the 3 VP in the event of an ESSENTIALS courtship.

Servant Strategy: The starting five servants are inadequate for hosting frequent and elaborate activities later in the game; sooner or later, a player will need to hire more servants. Hiring servants early costs a player the opportunity to secure Village Fair benefits (both require the butler and the first village fair happens at the beginning of round 3). Yet, early additions to your service staff will address a footman shortage and allow much greater flexibility in hosting events in the first two seasons; also, having 1 victory point on the backside of this tile can be critical if a SERVICE courtship is in play.

Prestige Guest Strategy: Accumulating prestige guests is a powerful way to supercharge later activities and amass victory points. Yet these connections are not easily found. Each player has the opportunity to invite one such high-level guest early by hosting Afternoon Tea in the Gazebo. This is a one-time benefit (the reverse side invites casual guests), and because this guest, once invited, will not likely attend an activity in the first season (he or she demands a high reputation, which the player does not yet have), players often wait on this tile. However, a player could secure the lead if the first courtship event reveals ESTATE, so a Gazebo play may give a courtship advantage.

Reputation Strategy: There are 28 victory points (VP) available to a player who maximizes his reputation (45 in extended play). Purple PRESTIGE tiles increase reputation, and hosting Whist in the Parlour early in the game puts a player on the track to winning the reputation battle as well as taking the lead in a courtship that yields PRESTIGE. This courtship play is doubly effective if a player purchases a PRESTIGE tile in one of the three first rounds, thereby securing the positive front-side VP to add to the 2 VP on the back of this tile.

Building Strategy: Green SPORTING events are all about pounds. Early hosting of a game of Bowls usually is driven by a player identifying a valuable tile in the Builders’ Market, either because it helps with an objective or because it has significant intrinsic value. Monument, PRESTIGE, or ESTATE tiles have positive front-side VP that help win courtship events, and the Servants’ Hall SERVICE upgrade puts a player in control of gossip that can be worth two levels of reputation over the course of the game.

Study Tile

Description: A START improvement tile that, if used, allows for increased money and reputation during all future village fairs.

Thematic Material: Often rural villages resided on the ancestral lands of the gentry. Seasonal village fairs were anticipated events that prospered with the attentive patronage of the landowning family. Each family is faced with a decision whether or not to invest extra time and effort in the local village fair. Those who do gain revenues from various sponsored events and an increase in their reputation amongst the local population. Those who do not are focused on improving the family standing with the social elite.

Gameplay Detail: The ESSENTIALS start tile is the Private Study, and it has a unique function. The Private Study is a location where family members gather to plan and manage the estate. One such effort is planning for the annual fair in the village located on family property.

If the Village Fair Planning activity does not take place, no added revenues are enjoyed by the family and their reputation in the local community is not enhanced. If a family plans for successful fairs, then at the beginning of the turn featuring the village icon (seen above), the player’s reputation increases by two (the reputation wheel marker is incremented by 2) and revenue of £300 is gained (three £100 coins are taken from the supply). Fairs take place twice during a standard game (the village fair icons on the round track) and three times during an extended play game. The Study tile can be used once; when the activity is hosted, it is flipped to reveal this permanent benefit, which applies to all future village fairs.

Suites Expansion

Description: Three improvement tiles that introduce bedroom guest suites into the base game of Obsession. This was a Kickstarter stretch goal.

Thematic Material: Exceptional sleeping arrangements increase the likelihood that an elite guest would consider an extended visit to a country estate. For the unveiling of the Lionheart Suite, servants travel ahead of their master or mistress, eliminating the need for the family to provide personal service.

Gameplay Detail: The Suites Expansion introduces new mechanics. All three Suite tiles permit the invitation of a single guest to a country estate and the doubling of some or all of the favours of that guest (e.g., the money of an American Heiress, the VP cards of a duke or marchioness, the reputation of a Fairchild, etc.).

The following tiles are part of the Suites Expansion:

Heritage Suite: This Suite is a modest upgrade of a guest suite. It permits the invitation of a single casual guest where all favours of that guest are doubled (including negative favours). This tile may be reused; it is identical on both sides.

Queen’s Suite: This Suite is an elegant upgrade of a guest suite with the best local furnishings. It permits the invitation of a single prestige guest where one favour of that guest is doubled (player’s choice). This tile can be used for this action only one time, as the tile converts to a monument once used.

Lionheart Suite: This Suite is a spectacular upgrade of the largest guest suite with exquisite furnishings purchased from Paris. It permits the player to invite a guest not currently in her gentry deck to stay at the estate. The player selects the top prestige guest from the supply, who is then invited to stay in the Lionheart Suite; all favours of this guest are doubled. The player does NOT have to provide service to this guest.

This tile can be used for this action only one time, as it converts to a monument tile once used. This new guest then is placed into the player’s discard pile.

Theme Cards

Description: Cards revealed during a courtship event that describe new information learned about the interests and passions of Charles and Elizabeth Fairchild.

Thematic Material: The courtship of Charles and Elizabeth Fairchild is intense; many eligible young ladies and gentlemen are vying to be noticed, befriended, even admired. Theme cards represent intelligence-acquired in the form of gossip and quiet conversations-about the likes and dislikes of the new arrivals, Charles and Elizabeth.

Theme Cards always reveal an improvement type- ESSENTIALS, SERVICE, ESTATE, PRESTIGE, SPORTING (the categories seen in the country estate organiser below)-but the revealing of this card is much more than a construction strategy. The goal is not simply to build a certain type of house; it is an insight into the personality of the love interest that is far more than capital improvements. For example, an ESSENTIALS Theme Card reveals that the Fairchilds not only enjoy elegant libraries and refined dining, but that they are lovers of tradition, of the classic manor houses of the 18th century and the social structure that dominated early Victorian times. A suitor is therefore not only eager to display a renovated library, but also finds common ground respectful of Tradition.

The same could be said of the Theme Card that revealed SERVICE. Victorian and Edwardian England saw a gradual decline in the size of service staffs at the great family manor houses. A card revealing service indicates more than brushing rooms and pantries; it refers to a lady or gentleman opposed to this decline, someone eager to maintain or even expand the domestic staff so that a certain style of living might be enjoyed.

Gameplay Detail: There are ten Theme Cards, two of each type. The combination of the four revealed courtship themes creates a unique profile of the interests of Charles and Elizabeth Fairchild. Examples are provided in the Glossary entry on Courtship, page 9.

Tile Sorting Number

Description: Improvement tiles represent an effort to renovate and improve a player’s country estate. Some projects are more involved, expensive, and prestigious than others. The Tile Sorting Number (TSN) is a numeric ranking of all tiles relative to each other.

Thematic Material: None

Gameplay Detail: The six spaces in the Builders’ Market hold improvement tiles offered for purchase. When multiple spaces in the market are filled at any one time (i.e., initial population, market refresh, multiple tiles purchased on a builders’ holiday), the tiles need to be placed in rank order, lowest value to the left, highest value to the right. Other than START tiles, which will never appear in the market, each tile contains a number that reflects its relative value. When multiple tiles are drawn from the tile bag, they are placed into the market in numerical TSN order (indicated by black arrows below).

Underbutler

Description: The Underbutler is represented as a tall black meeple and is used to provide service in place of the butler, valet, or footman. The underbutler may be used even if those servants are available.

Thematic Material: The Underbutler, sometimes alternatively referred to as the First Footman, was an assistant to the butler, a jack-of-all-trades filling in where needed in male service roles and performing the duties of the butler when he was away. At times, the Underbutler was a butler-in-training, learning his trade from the butler himself.

Gameplay Detail: When a player purchases the Butler’s Pantry service tile, he takes one of the tall, black meeples from the servants for hire area on the central supply board and places it in the Expended Service section of the player board for orientation. When the Underbutler becomes available, he may be used in any male service role regardless if one of those male servants is available. Note: The Under- butler cannot be recruited.

Valet

Description: The Valet is represented as a short green meeple and is used to provide personal service to gentlemen guests.

Thematic Material: The Valet was the personal servant of the master of the house, maintaining his wardrobe, helping him dress, setting out and caring for his shaving equipment, and performing tasks as needed. Valets often were a source of companionship and news. In Obsession, Valets provide service to gentlemen guests travelling without a personal servant.

Variations

This section describes four Obsession game Variations along with two minor rule Variations. Each game Variation is named after a 19th century British figure. Some Variations may be combined-for example, a Brontë/Dickens combo results in a seasonal market with a variable courtship, which applies intense market pressure.

Variation #1: Jane Austen (closed courtship)

A more romantic game that captures the tension and uncertainty of the Austen classics.

Description: A rule modification where theme cards are revealed only when the round track pawn reaches the courtship space at the end of each season.

Thematic Material: How often in the classic Jane Austen novels is the true nature of the love interest a mystery, only discovered after the passage of time and learning of secrets?

Gameplay Detail: The difference between the Jane Austen Variation (closed courtship) and the standard rules (open courtship) is when the theme card representing the interests of Charles and Elizabeth Fairchild (information gathered via gossip and rumour) is revealed.

A theme card is revealed at the beginning of each season in an open courtship. For the Jane Austen Variation, the theme card is revealed when the round track pawn reaches the courtship space at the end of a season. In a closed courtship, each season begins with a disconcerting lack of information about the love interest. Players must guess at the interests of the new arrivals, and protect themselves by jockeying for a leadership position in one of the five improvement categories.

Note these rules for a Jane Austen game (closed courtship):

  1. When the round track pawn reaches a courtship space (the space with the icon of the Victorian couple), a theme card is revealed.
  2. Scoring and rewards for that theme card proceed immediately (rules are outlined in the Rulebook courtship instructions, page 13).

Note: Even though the current season’s theme is not revealed until after the season, previous season’s themes are known and will be rescored during final courtship. A sound strategy is to work towards a dominant VP position for known themes in anticipation of winning the final courtship.

Variation #2: Emily Bronte (seasonal market)

A game with a renovation focus that seasonally turns over the Builders’ Market.

Description: A rule modification where the Builders’ Market is refreshed at the start of each new season.

Thematic Material: The seasons in Emily Brontë’s prose are starkly variable with frozen, brooding winters. This Variation supposes that the building trade suspends work during a stretch of inhospitable winters, beginning anew each spring.

Gameplay Detail: The only difference between the Emily Brontë Variation (seasonal market) and the standard rules (normal market) is that the Builders’ Market is refreshed immediately after each of the first three courtships (before the start of a new season). Note: The tile reserve is never affected by a seasonal refresh.

Note the rule for an Emily Brontë game (seasonal market):

  • When a courtship is complete, the builders’ market is refreshed. This does not apply to the final courtship.

Note: This Variation places a premium on acquiring valuable tiles (for objectives or courtship) that will soon be gone.

Variation #3: Queen Victoria (building boom)

A game with a renovation focus that creates a dynamic Builders’ Market by removing the cheapest tile at the end of every round.

Description: A rule modification where the tile in the least expensive position in the Builders’ Market is removed at the end of each round.

Thematic Material: Queen Victoria’s reign ushered in the Pax Britannica, a period of growth and prosperity for Britain, especially during the middle of the Victorian era.

Gameplay Detail: The only difference between the Queen Victoria Variation (building boom) and the standard rules (normal market) is that the least expensive (left-most) position in the Builders’ Market is removed at the end of each round; the remaining tiles are moved to the left, and a new tile is drawn and placed in the most expensive position (right-most). This variation does not affect the tile reserve.

Note the rules for a Queen Victoria game (building boom):

  1. When a round is complete (one square on the round track, before the pawn is advanced), the tile in the left-most £300 position in the Builders’ Market is removed and set aside.
  2. The remaining tiles are moved to the left (all become less expensive by one position).
  3. A new tile is drawn from the bag and placed in the right-most position (or the appropriate reserve, if applicable).
  4. The tile that was removed is returned to the bag.

Note: Duplicate tiles in the leftmost space are both removed, set aside, and, after drawing, returned to the tile bag.

Variation #4: Charles Dickens (cliffhanger)

A game that introduces a great deal of courtship uncertainty.

Description: A rule modification where the timing of each courtship is determined by roll of a dice at the start of each season.

Thematic Material: Charles Dickens was perhaps the most prominent Victorian author who employed serialization in publishing many of his works, leaving readers hanging as they awaited the next serial publication.

Gameplay Detail: The only difference between the Charles Dickens Variation (cliffhanger) and the standard rules (open courtship) is that the timing of the four courtship events is indeterminate. Note that the revelation of a theme that describes the interest of the Fairchild siblings is the product of gossip and discussion around Derbyshire; the Charles Dickens Variation simply opens up any of the rounds in a season as the significant round where news concerning the Fairchild siblings becomes common knowledge to the players.

Note the following rules for a Charles Dickens game (cliffhanger):

At the start of each season, the 20-sided solitaire dice is rolled to determine on which round the courtship will take place.

Standard Play-There are four rounds in each season (see Standard Play Glossary entry, page 21, for details).

  • If 1-5 is rolled, the theme card is revealed immediately (as in an open courtship).
  • If 6-10 is rolled, the dice is placed on the second round of that season. At the beginning of that second round, the theme card is revealed.
  • If 11-15 is rolled, the dice is placed on the third round of that season. At the beginning of that third round, the theme card is revealed.
  • If 16-20 is rolled, the dice is placed on the last round of that season, the space with the Victorian couple (courtship round). The theme card is revealed and courtship proceeds for that season as if it were a closed courtship.

Extended Play-There are five rounds in each season (see Extended Play Glossary entry, page 11, for details).

  • If 1-4 is rolled, the theme card is revealed immediately (as in an open courtship).
  • If 5-8 is rolled, the dice is placed on the second round of that season. At the beginning of that second round, the theme card is revealed.
  • If 9-12 is rolled, the dice is placed on the third round of that season. At the beginning of that third round, the theme card is revealed.
  • If 13-16 is rolled, the dice is placed on the fourth round of that season. At the beginning of that fourth round, the theme card is revealed.
  • If 17-20 is rolled, the dice is placed on the last round of that season, the space with the Victorian couple (courtship round). The theme card is revealed and courtship proceeds for that season as if it were a closed courtship.

Note: No matter when the theme card is revealed, the courtship is only resolved on the courtship space (the last round of each season).

Minor Rule Variations

Starter Guest Card Draft: For players who believe that an unbalanced starter guest draw is a significant obstacle to victory, they may draft their starter guests.

Create a random deck of starter guest cards two times the number of players plus two (2 * # players + 2). Whoever is last in the player order reviews this starter deck and chooses a first guest. The deck is then passed counterclockwise, and the next player chooses a guest. When the deck gets to the starting player, she chooses two guests and passes the deck clockwise back to the players who've already picked one guest. After the last player has chosen a second guest, the leftover two guests are shuffled into the casual guest pile and placed on the supply board.

Intensive Service: One of the more tactically fascinating aspects of the game is upgrading the domestic staff (servants) abilities. Service in Obsession is critical, and the usefulness of trained servants profoundly reinforces the theme. When playing with two players, it is possible (and not all that rare) that only one or two service tiles make an appearance during a standard length game.

To emphasize service, try the following:

  • Select the Butler’s Pantry, Barn, and Brushing Room as three of the six tiles used in initial population of the Builders’ Market during setup.

Note: For experienced players, choose any three service tiles (excluding the Servants’ Hall) or increase the number of service tiles to four.

Victory Point Cards

Description: Cards containing a choice between a favour and victory points for use in end game scoring.

Thematic Material: The Victory Point Card represents a distinct moment of real progress in the rehabilitation of the family’s reputation and standing. This might include a successful courtship or perhaps the visit of an elite, highly prestigious guest during a spectacular event hosted by the family.

The benefits that accompany the victory points on these cards represent the increased influence and flexibility that a reputable house on the rise has in the area of hospitality, investment opportunities, and choices that others lack.

Gameplay Detail: Victory Point Cards are drawn when:

  1. A player wins or ties a courtship event, or
  2. An elite guest grants a favour after an activity.

There are eleven types of Victory Point Cards, all of which offer players a choice between a variable amount of VP and a benefit that players can take at any time. The benefits are:

  • Reputation
  • Pounds
  • Prestige Guest Invitation
  • Objective Card Draw
  • Unlimited Market Purchases for 1 Turn
  • Hire/Recruit 1 Servant
  • Refresh the Builders’ Market
  • Refresh All Service
  • Refresh a Guest from the Discard Pile

Victory Point Cards are examined and then kept secret from opponents, placed face down next to the player board. The player does not have to make an immediate decision on the use of an optional favour; that card remains a source of end game VP while it remains face down, but the player always has the option to reveal the card, forfeit the VP, and claim the optional favour at any time before end game scoring begins.

Example 1: A player whose reputation is at level 6, position 4 on the reputation wheel (on the player board) may play a card immediately before end game scoring that forfeits three VP and increases his reputation by two. This move would allow the player to increase his reputation level from 6 to Max, netting four extra VP (7 for Max reputation - the 3 VP surrendered).

Example 2: A player might refresh the market when she has substantial wealth and is in search of a monument.

Example 3: A player could take a free servant favour to gain a servant from the supply to fulfill a valuable objective card before end game scoring.

Most favours are self-explanatory (gain reputation, invite a guest, etc.), but a few deserve comment:

Choose to either gain 4 victory points or refresh the entire service staff (the same refresh that takes place when a player passes). Move all servants to Available Service on the player board. These servants can be used immediately.

Choose to either gain 4 victory points or draw an objective card. The player takes two objective cards from the supply and keeps one.

Choose to either gain 5 victory points or refresh the Builders’ Market (example 2).

Choose to either gain 5 victory points or take one servant from the Servants for Hire section of the supply board (example 3). The player may not take an underbutler. This servant is placed in Expended Service to be oriented to the household.

Choose to either gain 3 victory points or make as many purchases from the Builders’ Market as resources allow. This favour works the same as the Builders’ Holiday round on the round track.

Choose to either gain 5 victory points or refresh one guest; the player selects any guest from the discard pile and places that guest into his active hand for immediate use.

Victory Point Distribution

Description: A discussion of victory point sources.

Thematic Material: None

Gameplay Detail: Every well-designed tabletop board game has multiple paths to victory, and the experienced player knows and understands those options. Naturally, the player with the highest victory point total wins a game of Obsession, and there are seven ways to accumulate those points. While there are seven sources of VP, only five typically form the basis for a winning strategy: Improvements, Gentry, Objectives, Reputation, and Courtship.

Servant VP, while representing the fourth highest source, usually do not differ enough between competitors to generate an advantage; all players have at least five servants-10 VP-and rarely have more than ten servants-20 VP. The difference, however, is more often two or four points between players for this category.

As the data show, wealth appears to be an insignificant source of VP. However, one caveat: it can be an interesting wild card. While the usual delta between players is small, a player who, for example, makes an American Heiress/prestige guest combo play late in the game can finish strong with £1200 or £1500 in wealth, which would most likely represent a significant advantage in VP over competitors.