Upstairs, Downstairs: an Obsession Expansion

More Homework! Box Bottom Discussion
over 4 years ago – Mon, Sep 23, 2019 at 01:56:57 AM

I'm back! Shocked, I admit, to find that my university-aged children consume alcoholic beverages. 

I can barely beat them in board games; I win maybe 1 out of 3 tries. It's humiliating. (I guess I'm the punching bag!)

I have serious homework for you all. The Box Bottom stretch goal is coming on fast, and this is a premium feature in the early stages of development. Now is the time to speak or forever hold your peace!

Please watch this video and provide your insights in the comments. Thank you.

Dan Hallagan, Kayenta Games

'Till Sunday
over 4 years ago – Fri, Sep 20, 2019 at 08:27:41 PM

All, a quick note that I will be heading on the road to visit my three children for a parents' weekend at a local university. I will be able to check in from time to time today and hardly at all tomorrow. I will be back at 'em Sunday afternoon, at which time I will start to expand the stretch goals and hopefully give more detail on the box bottom goal (which is a little vague).

Homework assignment for sleevers! 

Please measure your gentry cards in their sleeves and report back in these comments (or the main comments); I need to ensure that the box bottoms I am developing accommodate sleeves.  TILE SLEEVERS also exist, and I would ask for those measurements as well.

In the interim, I ask that you visit a true gentleman of the Bingley variety over at A Universal Truth, a Regency Era romantic strategy game. Let's show some love for an original Obsession backer and one of our own, Patrick Einheber.

Thanks!

Dan Hallagan, Kayenta Games

Stretch Goal #3
over 4 years ago – Thu, Sep 19, 2019 at 10:44:40 PM

As Sarge says in Toy Story: "He's really excited about this one!" 

I do most of my creative work behind the wheel of a car before the sun is up. Inspired ideas lurk just out of reach, usually for a while, and then rush into form easily, an exuberant feeling. The miles fly by while I talk to myself, gesticulating wildly. (Fortunately, it's dark outside.)

Clunky ideas—and I have lots of these—remind me of when my wife and I go to a restaurant recommended by a friend, and in the middle of the meal we both silently know the food is wretched but we keep trying to find something, anything positive to say—"the tomatoes in the salad are fresh"—so as to not consign the evening to the dumpster. Then we get home and 10 minutes later we look at each other and say, "That was horrible."

About three weeks ago, I was driving along, racking my brain for a unique tile idea for a stretch goal. Sixty miles later, the hybrid tile had been playtested over and over in my head, and I was grinning like a fool. 

These babies are new, and so I've continued to tweak them. Even though they have a prestige rating of 2 and 3, there is only one of each. The flower side (which is the lower-ranked side) is the side that enters the market (they may appear in the initial market), and that is the side that shows in the organiser when purchased. The flower also reminds players that these are unique tiles, worth a peek at the reverse, if unsure, along with a review of courtships to date.

After the tile is used, it must be flipped and placed in the new organiser column, and there is no limit to it's use. I also can see one of these tiles being a frequent last turn play to situate the organiser for final courtship.

I love the tension of having these tiles as the courtship evolves. I always feel it is a step backwards to replay a tile, unless that tile enables a truly special gathering. I think players will be tempted to use this tactical tile repeatedly to chase courtships...only to find themselves playing catch-up late in the game. 

Decisions, decisions!

Stretch Goal #2
over 4 years ago – Thu, Sep 19, 2019 at 12:28:56 AM

:)

Another one falls! 

There has been a very vocal group of 'small card haters' who have battled in Victorian London back alleys against the noble 'small card lovers.' Tom Vasel is their leader and is purported to be a dead-eye with a pepperbox. The 'small card lovers' are led by Maricel Edwards, who counts yours truly in her ranks (we'll get those bouncers and bug hunters!)

Upstairs, Downstairs will supply you with LARGE courtship cards.

These cards are actually the same size as the Objective Cards. The small courtship cards will be in the 2nd printing of Obsession, so no worries for our side. However, these Upstairs, Downstairs beauties will feature TWENTY theme cards to allow either the John Weber Dual Courtship or any other variant your mischievous hearts might desire.

Also, this stretch goal supplies four revised monument tiles (Essentials, Estate, Prestige, and Sporting) with reduced VP values for less courtship impact. This is an important option. I intentionally designed powerful monuments that can dramatically swing a courtship—and a game (Victorian Fate!). These monuments reduce the impact on courtship while still supplying the reputation each turn, a more strategic option. Also, they feature strongly in Tableau Obsession (more on that one later).

Enjoy! (I will unlock the stretch goal a little later when I get home.)

Dan Hallagan, Kayenta Games

FUNDED!
over 4 years ago – Wed, Sep 18, 2019 at 06:29:52 AM

Wow. It is humbling and rewarding to see this project so well received. Thank you, all!

When you get a text "Happy Birthday," that's nice (and sometimes accompanied by a hilarious GIF), but it's not the same as a thoughtful present. So instead of just saying thank you, I want to give a gift and, at the same time, clean up my shipping mess.

All shipping that has been tacked onto your pledges is less than the shipping in the table at the bottom of the KS page (reproduced here).

For all geographies (except ROTW), those shipping fees will stand as the only shipping fees you will pay.  There will be no shipping collected in the Pledge Manager (unless you have chosen to relocate to the Aland Islands). This is flat rate discounted shipping and an immediate average savings of from $5 to $15 for all backers except Alanders. 

That's a thank you!

For those in ROTW, message me and I will do right by you. However, with some ROTW shipping fees in triple digits, I have to handle those one and a time offline. For bulk buys, rates are negotiated separately as always.

Thank you from Kayenta Games! Some of you Alanders might want to pack your backs and head home (except for the $1 project watchers).

Dan Hallagan, Kayenta Games

Note: Rest of Asia includes Japan, South Korea, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand, and Vietnam.

Note: I plan on revising the top stretch goal.