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Obsession: Pride, Intrigue, & Prejudice in Victorian England

Created by Kayenta Games

Victorian England, 1840. You are the head of a respected but financially troubled family estate; rooms are closed off to save on upkeep and heating, outside grounds have gone to seed, and the façade is in desperate need of restoration. It is far from the glory days of the estate, but you have new hope. A significant inheritance has made possible the restoration of the grand old manor house and rehabilitation of the family's reputation in the county of Cambridge! Obsession captures the experience of Regency and Victorian England—the beloved world of Jane Austen & Anthony Trollope—in a way that transports family and friends to that unique time and place.

Latest Updates from Our Project:

All This Gaming Excitement, What About Eastern North America??
over 5 years ago – Wed, Sep 12, 2018 at 12:13:42 AM

Greetings, backers! I need to address the sad elephant in the room.

Bob, Eastern North American Backer
Bob, Eastern North American Backer

Western North America, the UK, and EU are all nearing completion of fulfillment, the ROTW had all their games loaded on planes today, and 314 of our friends in Eastern North America are sadly waiting for their Obsession goodness. My apologies! The Conti Makalu was a day late docking in Miami, and my efforts to correct the horrific shipping practices of my US fulfillment partner has added a couple days of delay.

The good news? The eastern wave will be shipped in more appropriately sized boxes and wrapped in bubble wrap. It was a necessary step, I believe, to ensure each game arrived in perfect condition. There was only one damaged game in the western wave (that was replaced), but the packaging was absurd. 

I am please to report that Spiral Galaxy for the UK/EU and ROTW has been doing a fantastic job; thanks to backers Kevin Moore, Claire Eastaugh, Steven Crane, and PlanBee for warning me off my first choice and to Jamey Stegmaier for the recommendation of Spiral Galaxy. 

All Eastern North American backers will ship this week. I will send out a very brief update confirming this along with how backers can get tracking information.

Obsession Making Noise

Obsession is now ranked on BoardGameGeek (BGG) with a relatively small number of reviews very tightly clustered around a rating of 9. Thanks, all, who have enjoyed the game so far. I would ask everyone who has an account with BGG to please rate the game (you click the stars next to "My rating" and then click "Edit" to add a comment). This is so critical for a small developer like me to gain exposure. Thanks!

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I also want to strongly encourage folks to visit the forum at BGG. There is an enormous amount of discussion regarding rules, variations, and a new promotion as well as some excellent player aids being added (thanks Bill Buchanan). It's a dynamic forum and worth your time.

Reviews, Videos and More

Most everyone is aware of the excellent playthrough from JonGetsGames:

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As a prep for playing your first game if you need it, I highly recommend watching the first 20 minutes or so if you want a great feel for how standard turns are played (the first 50 minutes will cover a whole season and courtship). Jon is the best in the business at this, I think!

Tom Vasel did an unboxing of Obsession, which is usually done in advance of a review.

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Pictures, Please!

I also would love for players to submit to BGG pictures of your game nights. I find it particular interesting to see huge National Holiday plays, end game photos of organizers that show an incredible estate, top scores, and more.

Canadian Customs Issue

Backers and pre-orders in Canada are having to pay COD for customs taxes and handling. Advice that I received about Canada-friendly shipping was incorrect. I will reimburse all who are charged such fees. If and when that happens, please just email me a copy of the receipt, and I will reimburse you.

Thanks, all!

Dan Hallagan, Kayenta Games

JonGetsGames Playthrough and Shipping Update
over 5 years ago – Fri, Sep 07, 2018 at 05:29:45 PM

Greetings! A brief update today, but great content.

JonGetsGames

I don’t want to promote the shirking of work duties, but the brand new three player runthrough of Obsession by JonGetsGames lasting a brief 2 1/2 hous (!!!) is now out. It is fantastic. It showcases my two favorite variants along with several elements that didn’t factor in the Ant Labs playthrough (such as Service tiles, Study tile consequences). Jon is one of my favorite playthrough gamers; I think he is eloquent and faithfully explores each tactical decision with great insight. Please visit his site, ask him questions in the comments (he always answers quickly), support, and subscribe!

https://youtu.be/62cHHe624QU

Let me know your thoughts on how that three-player game went!

Shipping Update

Western North America—All orders have shipped from the California warehouse and most have delivered. ShipMonk did NOT ship the games securely, but fortunately the game, which is very robust, did not suffer. Eastern North America is sad Panda because they are getting fulfilled last, but your silver lining is that the packaging issue has been fixed.

Eastern North America—The Florida warehouse is receiving, counting, and prepping for what I believe will be the start of shipments on Monday. 

UK/EU/ROTW—Games are steadily arriving to backers in the UK and EU and the rest of the world is close behind. Spiral Galaxy has been doing a great job.

SUMMARY: I am hopeful that everyone will have their games within the next 10 days!

Thanks as always!

Dan Hallagan, Kayenta Games

Shipping Details, 9/1
over 5 years ago – Sat, Sep 01, 2018 at 11:29:19 PM

Greetings! 

Shipping Update

Games have started to arrive to many backers west of the Mississippi, which is good news! However, I have now learned that my North American fulfillment partner has done a poor job choosing shipping boxes appropriately sized for the games inside. Furthermore, these games are not packed snugly for protection. So far, no one has received a damaged game, but I am nonetheless disappointed in this development. 

A couple thoughts:

  • Kayenta Games has a policy of 100% satisfaction. Anyone who receives a game that has damage and does not meet the highest quality standards should contact me ASAP via email ([email protected]), and I will resolve any and all concerns.
  • I am actively working with ShipMonk to correct the issue so games that ship next week to eastern North America are properly protected.
  • I have also reached out to Spiral Galaxy to ensure proper packaging for the ROTW fulfillment, but I expect no issues here as SG is a specialty game distributor.

The feedback about game quality (and soon, I hope, gameplay) has been universally glowing, which is gratifying. The purpose of this communication, however, is to make it very clear to all backers that I am aware of the issue of oversized boxes, and that if any damage occurs, I will set things right very quickly.

Shipping Timing

Eastern North America: Games are en route to the Florida ShipMonk warehouse and are due to arrive on 9/6. After the inventory is counted and stocked, fulfillment will begin. 

ROTW: Spiral Galaxy in the UK has already inventoried their games and will begin shipping on Tuesday. UK orders will take about two days, EU orders between 3 and 5 days, while ROTW orders will vary depending upon location.

Thanks for you patience!

Dan Hallagan, Kayenta Games

Shipping Update
over 5 years ago – Fri, Aug 24, 2018 at 06:30:25 PM

Greetings! A very quick update this Friday morning.

Shipping Begins

The process of getting games from a container sitting on a ship in port to a truck to a warehouse into actual inventory is much more torturous than I could have imagined.

So 13 days after the ship arrived in California, the inventory is "live." :( 

Fulfillment does begin today, however, with everything Western North America expected to ship no later than Monday! And I should hear from Spiral Galaxy today that they are receiving the UK/EU/ROTW inventory into their warehouse. This leaves only the largest shipment of games—over two tons—on the Conti Makalu, which is currently in port in Houston, five days out from Miami.

 Thanks for everyone's patience! Additional updates early next week.

Dan Hallagan, Kayenta Games

48 Hours until Address Lockdown
over 5 years ago – Mon, Aug 13, 2018 at 05:41:52 PM

Greetings, all! It is an exciting time. The project that 810 of you backed is ready to start fulfillment, and I am truly eager for feedback from all of you on how Obsession plays.

This notice is to inform you that on Wednesday at 4pm, addresses will be locked down.

At 4:01pm on 8/15, your address in the BackerKit database will be the location where your copy of Obsession ships. Each person has received an email with a link to your shipping information, so please ensure that information is correct. 

It's time to play!

Thank you! 

Dan Hallagan Kayenta Games