BoardGamesBot

Our Story
John & Katherine Smythe—the
Viscount and Viscountess
Wessex—had watched with envy as
a new energy swept Derbyshire.
Their Jacobean manor house, one
of the largest and oldest in the
county, had proved much more
difficult to maintain
during lean years. The
family had twice sold
large tracts of
productive Derbyshire
countryside to forestall
more drastic measures.

Meanwhile, craftsmen
streamed onto the
neighbouring
Ponsonby estate. The
viscount’s valet,
James, discovered that
Ponsonby had
inherited from a
wealthy uncle, and all
could see that the earl
was determined to make the most
of his new fortune.

But Viscount Wessex had a plan.
His strong-minded wife, who was
dearly attached to the estate, had
finally agreed to sell a strip of
fertile land along the river to a
wealthy duke, who intended to use
one of the larger houses on the
purchased land as a hunting box.

Soon the land would change hands,
and then the game would be afoot!
Rules for Family Wessex
The Wessex country estate is the
largest, and the family bonus is the
addition of a 2nd-level improve-
ment at the beginning of the game.

The player who selects the Wessex
player board has the choice to
include a Tennis Court or
Breakfast Room in her country
estate organiser along with the
standard START tiles at setup.

The advantage is significant. One
of the pressing concerns early in a
game of Obsession is to create a
path for hosting new activities as
the family’s reputation rises. A
player should beware of hosting a
single activity more than twice;
every opportunity should be taken
to acquire and flip improvement
tiles to achieve the largest score
for renovations.

The two additional improvement
tiles—an extra Tennis Court and
Breakfast Room—have a modified
START tile icon to show they are
for exclusive use with the
Wessex family player board.

When a player chooses the Wessex
player board, she chooses one of
these two tiles, puts it in her
country estate organiser, and
returns the other tile to the box. If
the Wessex player board is not
chosen, these two tiles with the
modified START icon are not used.

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Morning Room

In the base game of Obsession, the
ESSENTIALS category does not
have an improvement tile with a
prestige rating
of 1 (aside
from a START
tile). The
Morning Room
provides for such a tile, which gives
additional flexibility to players with
a low family reputation.

MORNING
ROOM
Planning the Day
1
1, 2, or 3 Gentry
ESSENTIALS
037

MORNING
ROOM
Planning the Day
1
1 or 2 Gentry
ESSENTIALS

The Morning Room is a sitting
room in a great house situated
to receive the morning sun;
this room was a favourite
location early in the day to
review menus and plan the
day's activities.

The Morning Room also introduces a
variable invitation, which helps
prevent unnecessary passing.

Retiring Room

The PRESTIGE category also lacks
an improvement tile with a prestige
rating of 1 (aside from a START
tile), which is now represented
by the Retiring Room.

The 'Retiring' Room is a
temporary designation for an
existing room set aside for visiting
ladies to repair damage to dresses
and appearances generally (a maid
would be on hand to facilitate these
repairs).

RETIRING
ROOM
Ladies' Repair and Relief
1 Lady
1
PRESTIGE
043

RETIRING
ROOM
Ladies' Repair and Relief
1 Lady
1
PRESTIGE
③

The Retiring
Room's single
female invite
can extend a
deck, supply critical reputation early,
and provide powerful flexibility in
the first two seasons. This tile is the
first tile where a lady's maid is the
essential activity servant.

Extended Solo Play: This expansion also adds six (6)
unique opponents for extended play Solitaire. These
opponents range from beginner to expert and enable
solo play on the Extended Play side of the Round
Track. Can you triumph against house Plantagenet?

Obsession
0
2
0
2
2
0
3
10
2
6
Plantagenet
(expert - EP)
0
4
13
7
6
187
0
4
17
11
9

Wessex Estate

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