Obsession (Digital Eyes)

It was the setting of Obsession that drew me in.

You control a country estate in 19th century Derbyshire, beginning with a house that may look grand from the outside, but which has clearly seen better days once you start looking inside.

While fortune has begun to smile on your family again, giving you enough money to restore the estate and return to high society, the problem is that rebuilding a country house is more complicated than just throwing money at it.

You need rooms suitable for entertaining in, guests worthy of an invite and servants available to make the whole thing work.

The estate is a collection of room and outdoor space tiles, each representing a different activity and a different combination of rewards.

To host an event, you choose a room, invite the required guests and provide the servants needed to run it.

The activity then provides its rewards, which include money, reputation, new guests or other benefits.

So choosing the right room at the right time can give you more than a handful of points.

It can increase your reputation and give you access to better opportunities in the future.

The guest cards do a huge amount of the scene setting and obsession.

Each visitor has a portrait, a name and a brief description, turning what could have been a functional collection of points and benefits into a convincing cast of characters.

Hosting an activity feels less like matching symbols and more like arranging a social occasion.

An unsavoury guest might be invited to a tennis match because they have some redeeming benefits which outweigh their negative traits.

You could easily be forgiven for thinking that obsession is Downton Abbey, the board game.

It was the setting of Obsession that drew me in.

You control a country estate in 19th century Derbyshire, beginning with a house that may look grand from the outside, but which has clearly seen better days once you start looking inside.

While fortune has begun to smile on your family again, giving you enough money to restore the estate and return to high society, the problem is that rebuilding a country house is more complicated than just throwing money at it.

You need rooms suitable for entertaining in, guests worthy of an invite and servants available to make the whole thing work.

The estate is a collection of room and outdoor space tiles, each representing a different activity and a different combination of rewards.

To host an event, you choose a room, invite the required guests and provide the servants needed to run it.

The activity then provides its rewards, which include money, reputation, new guests or other benefits.

So choosing the right room at the right time can give you more than a handful of points.

It can increase your reputation and give you access to better opportunities in the future.

The guest cards do a huge amount of the scene setting and obsession.

Each visitor has a portrait, a name and a brief description, turning what could have been a functional collection of points and benefits into a convincing cast of characters.

Hosting an activity feels less like matching symbols and more like arranging a social occasion.

An unsavoury guest might be invited to a tennis match because they have some redeeming benefits which outweigh their negative traits.

You could easily be forgiven for thinking that obsession is Downton Abbey, the board game.