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Upstairs, Downstairs: an Obsession Expansion

Created by Kayenta Games

A servant-focused expansion for the award-winning thematic Euro + 2nd printings of the sold out Obsession base game & Wessex expansion

Latest Updates from Our Project:

Giving Thanks
over 3 years ago – Wed, Nov 25, 2020 at 01:19:53 AM

Fun Fact: I had a few questions about the cover art for the Upstairs, Downstairs box. Here is the original photo:

This photo is of one of the actual kitchen rooms inside Audley End! (Guy Carpenter, Gullwing Photography).

Thank You!

While 2020 has been forgettable for countless reasons, I find myself grateful for all of you who made this project a success. I would argue (and easily win the argument) that this community tops the list of great board game communities worldwide. There is a unique level of passion behind Obsession, and that passion was the fuel to take this project from an ugly duckling prototype in 2017 to inside the top 700 games of all time (and climbing).

It is not the slightest exaggeration to say that these results would be impossible without this community. Thank you! Please help a small publisher by rating the game on BoardGameGeek if you haven't already; the voices of individual gamers is the great leveler with the big publishing houses.


Notes

I continue to work on game content. 

  • New Solo Opponents: I have started posting Print n' Play solo opponents here on BoardGameGeek; if you're a solo player, please head over there, print the new opponents as they get posted, and provide feedback!
  • New Videos: I continue to post videos, including one moments ago, on my YouTube channel. I highly recommend you subscribe as I won't dedicate updates to videos in the future. You won't get bombarded; it is about 1 or 2 a month.
  • My To Do List: I have many things in the works, including a Variant Catalogue, a revised rulebook PDF, a FLGS program, and distribution of the game outside North America. This last area has been a severe disappointment; it is absurd that a game set in Derbyshire is not yet commercially available in Derbyshire. The current global environment along with some failed negotiations have created delays. I hope to have this resolved by the end of the year.
  • Remember the Kayenta Games customer service policy: Perfection. Your game must be perfect. If it is not, contact me at  [email protected], and it will be made so. Never a pence will leave your pocket. Let me take this one step further...if you have accidentally damaged a component or would like extra components for some reason, email me. I have a large supply of parts, and they are lonely. We'll work something out.

Thanks again and Happy Thanksgiving to my stateside friends!

Dan Hallagan, Kayenta Games

RESOURCES (one stop shop for most questions)
over 3 years ago – Thu, Oct 01, 2020 at 03:18:47 AM

Several weeks into fulfillment, I have finally realized that it would be wise to gather into one Update all the best resources along with answers to the most frequently asked questions. I am listing the contents of this longer post up top, so you can navigate efficiently. Before you navigate, I wanted to offer a friendly reminder to please rate the game on BoardGameGeek; this is the second most powerful way you can help a small, independent game developer (you already did #1). Thanks!

Contents

  • Kayenta Games customer service policy
  • PDF with Rule Clarifications and a Few Errata
  • New to Obsession, play the base game first, or I will be mad (video)
  • Setting up for a game with all expansions (video)
  • Integrating the expansions into your copy of Obsession (1E or 2E)
  • How to store everything in the main box (video)
  • Player Aids and Organisers
  • Useful playthroughs (videos)
  • Status of future videos, and where are the ones you promised me, lazy developer?
  • Expert Variant, Cooperative Obsession, other variations...where are they?
  • Retail after the Kickstarter

Kayenta Games Customer Service Policy

Perfection. Your game must be perfect. If it is not, contact me at [email protected], and it will be made so. Never a pence will leave your pocket.

PDF with Rule Clarifications and a Few Errata

This is a living document. I skimmed comments here, at BGG, and sent to me via email to create this document. Please add to it or correct grammar or other errors. Once all have had a chance to add to the document, I will finalize it.

New to Obsession, Playing the Base Game 1st

Note: Please consider Wessex as part of the base game. It was developed at the same time as Obsession 1E and employs all the base game rules. Here are the four simple steps for adding Wessex:

  • Add the casual and prestige guests to your Obsession decks
  • Store the extended play solitaire cards with your Obsession solitaire cards
  • Add the Morning Room and Retiring Room tiles to your Obsession tiles
  • Add the Wessex family (four gentry cards, two Wessex START tiles) to your Obsession family boxes and the Wessex player board to the others in the main box.

Now...you haven't played before, and it is time! You are listening to the developer and playing just the base game. This video is for you! 

Setting Up for a Game with All Expansions 

You've played the base game. You're ready for Upstairs, Downstairs!

Integrating Expansions into Obsession (1E or 2E)

As has been explained, a production error (me) resulted in the integration instructions being omitted from the Upstairs, Downstairs production run. I apologize. The silver lining is that those instructions were rather sparse. I've taken my penance to heart and crafted very thorough integration instructions, available here:

How to Store Everything in the Main Box

Here is my original video:

Player Aids and Organisers

There are six families in Obsession 2E + Wessex + Upstairs, Downstairs (and six beautiful family boxes), but...

  • There are only four player aids in the 2E box
  • There are five player aids specific to Upstairs, Downstairs in that box
  • There are a total of five organisers in all the boxes

What gives with the Player Aids? As a player, I generally don't use player aids; at most, I scatter a couple around the table for others. So I failed to see the elegant symmetry of having aids for each family storage box. I are dumb. Mea culpa.

What gives with the five organisers? Six-player Obsession was a late stretch goal, and the only officially sanctioned version is cooperative teams. Given that I didn't anticipate this highest player count would be a frequent thing and that the additional organiser would have required I change the dimensions of one set of storage boxes (I designed the gap for 5 organisers), I decided to let the integrated organiser step up to the task in six-player games.

Useful Playthroughs

Some of these videos were made for 1E, but are nonetheless great videos covering the basics.

JonGetsGames 1E video:

New Solitaire Video Using the Upstairs, Downstairs Servants:

Tableau Obsession Playthrough:

Want to better understand Objective Card discarding and scoring, watch this (cued up):

And visit and subscribe to my YouTube channel for many other videos!

Status of future videos, and where are the ones you promised me, lazy developer?

Fulfillment and retail setup has overwhelmed me, but I am getting a handle on it now! I plan on starting up videos soon! Subscribe to the YouTube channel because I will be dialing back these Updates after this monster (and won't be doing Updates for video postings).

Expert Variant, Cooperative Obsession, Other Variants

Retail after the Kickstarter

  • I will have US retail on Amazon within the week.
  • I will have distribution in Canada through Bosco and BoardGameBliss, and preorders are open.
  • I am in negotiation to have retail for Europe and the rest of the world by the end of the year. I will have an Update for that when it happens.
  • I am out of steam.

Dan Hallagan, Kayenta Games

Quick Reference and Solo Video
over 3 years ago – Wed, Sep 23, 2020 at 11:43:41 PM

Just because.

Quick Reference (Rules Summary)

I have a massive Update that's sitting in drafts—it gathers together all the resources a new player might need—but some fool (me) is holding up the publishing of that update. While waiting on that fool to write up a PDF, backer Elizabeth Nugent uploads to BoardGameGeek a sublime Quick Rules Summary. IT IS A MANDATORY REFERENCE FOR ANYONE NEW TO OBSESSION. In Hamlet, Polonius said that "Brevity is the soul of wit," which therefore means Elizabeth is exceedingly witty, and I am as far from wit as that mountain above is from my camera.

New Solo Video

This video shows a playthrough of the original solo mode in Obsession with the addition of 2nd edition rule changes, the Upstairs, Downstairs servants, and promotional cards and tiles. It's long, fun, and I stagger to the finish line with several highly-entertaining forgetful errors! Consume:

Enjoy brevity and tediousness in the same Update!

Dan Hallagan, Kayenta Games

Integrating the Upstairs, Downstairs Expansion with Obsession, 1st Edition (PDF)
over 3 years ago – Thu, Sep 10, 2020 at 08:01:39 PM

 This picture from Glacier National Park has no relevance to this update.

Integrating the Upstairs, Downstairs Expansion, Part 2

Here is link to another exhaustive PDF that details everything you want to know about integrating the Upstairs, Downstairs expansion into the 1st Edition of Obsession.  

A few observations:

  • As mentioned before, I chose a text PDF to be used in conjunction with the Upstairs, Downstairs rulebook contents so that you could print these instructions without consuming a ton of printer ink.  
  • There is a download icon in the upper right corner when you follow this link. It will allow you to download the PDF rather than work with the document in a browser.
  • NAGGING: If you have not played Obsession and you are organising your games, please play the base game 1st before tackling Upstairs, Downstairs.  
  •  Here is a reminder link to the PDF for integrating the Upstairs, Downstairs expansion into the 2nd Edition of Obsession.  
  • Thank you all for finding some errors in the first PDF. If you notice anything that needs fixing in these two downloads, please email me at [email protected]. I will upload these two the BoardGameGeek files section this weekend.

Finally, here is the video that will help you organize your all-in-one game box.

Thank you and good luck!

Dan Hallagan, Kayenta Games

I have new social media accounts, thanks to my daughter. Follow me @kayentagames on Twitter and Instagram.

Integrating the Upstairs, Downstairs Expansion with Obsession, 2nd Edition (PDF)
over 3 years ago – Mon, Sep 07, 2020 at 08:19:41 PM

This picture from Glacier National Park has no relevance to this update, but it gives me peace as the largest stage of the fulfillment unfolds. 

Integrating the Upstairs, Downstairs Expansion

Here is a link to an exhaustive PDF that details everything you want to know about integrating the Upstairs, Downstairs expansion into the 2nd Edition of Obsession. For those with the 1st Edition of Obsession, I will have a separate document posted in my next update (probably tomorrow). I apologize for the dedicated updates, but I think this info is critical for everyone to have.

A few observations:

  • I chose a text PDF to be used in conjunction with the Upstairs, Downstairs rulebook contents so that you could print these instructions without spending more on printer ink than you spent on this campaign. Note that page 5 of this document does, by necessity, contain a picture of all the Objective Cards in the Upstairs, Downstairs expansion (and you may not want to print that).
  • There is a download icon in the upper right corner when you follow this link. It will allow you to download the PDF rather than work with the document in a browser.
  • If you have not played Obsession and you are organising your games, please play the base game 1st before tackling Upstairs, Downstairs. Yes, I know, I've nagged endlessly, but I have been fielding email inquiries from backers who've done it both ways, and it validates my nagging. 

Thank you and good luck!

Dan Hallagan, Kayenta Games

I have new social media accounts, thanks to my daughter. Follow me @kayentagames on Twitter and Instagram.