Launch Page for the September Kickstarter...Follow Along!
7 months ago
– Thu, Aug 28, 2025 at 10:21:46 AM
Obsession Rules Compendium, Victorian Big Box, and Playmat
Exquisite finishing touches for Obsession: a Universal Rules Compendium, stunning Victorian Big Box, and luxurious playmat.
Universal Rules Compendium
At last, SEVEN rules references over five games in the Obsession family have been consolidated into a single compendium. Extensive use of appendices and a comprehensive index means no rule clarification is more than seconds away! This compendium—with editing and layout by professionals—is gorgeous (we are Victorians, after all), with all new art by Janek Lipinski.
The Victorian Box
At 1/3 larger than the 2nd edition box, the spacious and decadent Victorian Box can handle inserts, playmats, sleeves, bling, even your cat. It is draped in original Janek Lipinski masterpieces, with an embossed Alderley Hall and new cardboard nesting boxes the same quality as the family boxes.
Obsession Playmat
As Belloq said in Raiders of the Lost Ark, "It's beautiful!" You may even melt when you see this extraordinary piece of artwork that is the backdrop for the blending of two round tracks, the supply board and Characters sideboard into one brilliant whole.
Details and sneak peeks will be revealed there (not on future updates here).
When the creator of my favourite game (Castles of Mad King Ludwig) joins forces with the fantastic Search for Planet X designer, I'm geeked out. When I see Obsessionfeatured in that game, I am really geeked out. When I learn that Obsession was THE FIRST GAME SIGNED out of hundreds to be in that game, every Obsession fan should join me in a geekout freakout!
Follow Obsession in The Game Makers and DO NOT SCRAP OUR GAME FOR PARTS (an agonizing decision you have to make over and over again). Scrap Catan...or Orleans, who beat us in GeekMadness boo, and build Obsession.
Dan Hallagan, Kayenta Games
Universal Rulebook Kickstarter Draws Near!
8 months ago
– Fri, Jul 25, 2025 at 10:51:20 AM
Not AI
Kickstarter Launch
I have a firm date in mind, but I will jinx myself if I publish it. I will risk saying that it will launch in September.
There are four components to this Kickstarter:
Universal Rules Compendium (URC): This is 90% complete. You will all see a PDF of the URC before the Kickstarter begins (via Update).
Deluxe Big Box (DBB): A box that is guaranteed to hold everything and anything Obsession (inserts, sleeved components, upgraded meeples, playmat, etc.).
Playmat: A playmat that fits elegantly inside the DBB.
Corrected Characters Expansion Punchboard: At no charge, of course.
EDIT: You will be able to back any one item or any combination of items.
Just wanted to keep you up to date. More to come soon!
Dan Hallagan, Kayenta Games
Universal Rulebook, Big Box, and Playmat
10 months ago
– Fri, May 30, 2025 at 03:39:55 PM
Even Your Cat Will Fit
Where Do Things Stand?
The first half of this year has been chaotic. I ran out of Obsession base games months ago, and it has been a scramble to get back in stock. A large number of games are being assembled now, and I anticipate worldwide resupply in July/August (depending on location).
Universal Rulebook
Now called the Universal Rules Compendium, this project is moving along nicely with the aid of two professional organisations (rule writing and layout). The layout is evolving, but I want you to see a sign of progress; here is the Table of Contents:
The first 3 sections are complete (I am auditing them as you read this), and the remaining sections are nearing completion.
I expect to have a PDF of the finished Compendium by the end of June, at which time the entire rulebook will be reviewed line by line by many talented eyes—including everyone who follows the Kickstarter project when it begins (the completed PDF will be available for review during the Kickstarter; I never cease to be amazed at what a large group of passionate fans can find, and I intend to use that magic to ensure an error-free Compendium).
Even accounting for the inevitable delays, I am feeling very good about a September Kickstarter.
Obsession Big Box
Despite my relentless efforts to prove that everything will fit in the 2E box...
...an even bigger box that will hold every blinged-out configuration in the known universe—including a 100+ page Compendium—remains the number one request. I fought against this because I am a stubborn (and pretty proud of my 2E box storage system), but...
I have surrendered.
Some notes:
This is NOT a deluxe edition. It is just a larger box.
I will be adding a number of additional storage boxes that will nest nicely and hold things like sleeved cards, premium meeples, playmat, etc.
There will be a pledge level where you can get the box itself, or the box with the Compendium inside (which will have the corrected Characters punchboard), or the box with the Compendium and the playmat inside (see below for info on the playmat).
The outside of the box will have new, original art from Janek Lipinksi, the artist who has been creating watercolour pieces for my new game (a trick-taking Victorian tableau builder) for the last 3+ years. Pieces such as this:
Alderley Hall
Flower Room
EDIT: This art is for the new game, Parlour, and not for Obsession tiles. I will be evaluating whether or not this art will look good squished down onto those tiles in 2026. I am not optimistic. If it is possible, I will provide a replacement set of tiles so that no one has to replace their whole game.
Playmat
I love playmats, and I hate storing playmats. The prototype I am designing (the art is also a Janek Lipinski original watercolour) has a height dimension similar to the main Supply Board, allowing the rolled up mat to fit inside the box. I have conceived of a tube that holds the mat that fits into a rectangular box that nests perfectly within the big box.
That sentence is like a bad Dr. Suess sentence.
The playmat will combine the Round Track (both standard and extended play), Supply Board, and Characters Sideboard.
I am running long. I will be back at the end of June with an update. Thanks for your patience!
Dan Hallagan, Kayenta Games
Universal Rulebook Update
about 1 year ago
– Thu, Mar 27, 2025 at 03:37:26 PM
I know you missed your cat updates, so here are many cats.
Universal Rulebook (UR)
The UR is well underway, but there have been logistic challenges. Some were unfortunate (and now resolved), but one issue you will not be sympathetic with, which is that I have a vacation to Italy for 2 weeks in late April/early May. That journey will knock out 3+ weeks (when you consider pre-trip planning and coming back to a work backlog with no employees back home keep things going).
I now expect to Kickstart the UR in early June. My apologies!
However, I am more excited than ever for the UR because I have two professionals working on this project now: a rules writer and a layout artist. Rulebook amateur hour (me) is over!
REMINDERS
If you do not want a spiral-bound physical copy of the UR, it will be available as a PDF at no charge.
To refresh your memory about my plan to replace the thin punchboards tiles (those tiles are heading to print right now), see this update.
Characters & Coins
I hope everyone is enjoying their Characters expansion and thick coins! Sadly, I am still struggling with delivering the last pledges to Brazil, but I now expect to have a good news update that I will share with those backers via email next week.
Cooperative Obsession
If you haven't tried the cooperative mode, I do recommend it. The Co-Op mode is not slapped together; it is a robust game!
Below the lovely family portrait of the Sneyds is a game report from J. Sebastian Pagani, who is the only player I know to have won multiples games against the dastardly Sneyds. It takes very careful planning.
Sneyd Soundly Beaten!
My friend Joseph and I got together again to play the Obsession coöperative game against the Sneyds and gloriously defeated them. Final Score: Wessex & Ponsonby: 241, Sneyd: 225.
Game Setup
Extended; All Expansions (Wessex, Upstairs/Downstairs, Characters); Open Courtship and Emily Brontë (Seasonal Market) as per the rules. Distinguished Charles Fairchild.
PROMO TILES*
I have included five promotional tiles in the bag, chosen carefully to include favours on the front side that would be of benefit to Sneyd, one in each category of the Estate Organizer, as follows:
ESSENTIALS: Private Family Chapel
SERVICE: Ice House
ESTATE: Manor Aviary
PRESTIGE: North Tower
SPORTING: East Lawn
PROMO CARDS*
I also included three of the promotional gentry cards: two prestige guests: 1. Sherlock Holmes, and 2. Margaret, Dowager Countess Fairchild (this is the aunt of Charles and Elizabeth, with whom they live at Alderley Hall, and a thematically rich card that has made our games more fun), and one casual guest: Thomas Fuller. (For details on these cards, see the attached photograph.)
[*RAW (Rules-as-written) specify that the Coöperative Game is not compatible with the promo tiles and cards. We have discussed this with Dan Hallagan, and resolved that they may be, so long as one chooses them carefully, so as to be sure that they are tiles/cards that are useful to Sneyd as well as to the players.]
STARTING FAMILIES & DRAFTS
Ponsonby (£300 + Footman; DFM Lady & Daughter) and Wessex (Tennis Court & Useful Man; DFM Lord & Heir).
Obsession has become our favourite game, and the coöperative scenario vs. the Sneyds may have become our favourite way to play. I continue to play the standard base game at the Victorian Boardgaming Society and sometimes on BGA (Boardgame Arena), but when we have time (on the weekends) Joseph and I continue to get together to try to defeat Sneyd again. I do hope the Coöp game will eventually become an option on BGA.
Coöperation
Over the last four games our collaboration has continued to improve. I had mentioned in an earlier post that there can be no selfishness or stinginess among players, if Sneyd is to be defeated. That had meant that servants and money were to be loaned whenever required by another player, but we have since discovered more subtle ways to coöperate. Consider these points surrounding . . .
Objective Cards:
► You may want that Business Room, because it's fun, and it came out early, so it will help you to have a lot of money by the time you get to the Builders' Holiday, BUT the other player is holding the Objective Card that requires the Morning Room & Business Room. So, you do not purchase it, but instead let it go, that your ally may acquire and make use of it.
► You avoid buying powerful tiles, but instead buy something less expensive, in order to shift the tiles in the market to the left and make the needed tile less expensive for the other player.
► You carefully avoid buying those tiles that the allied player needs to complete any sets on his Objective Cards.
Reverend Grantly:
is a powerful resource in the war against the Sneyds. When there is no need to invite the Dowager or the Constable, be sure to summon Grantly on the pass. I think that in this game we may have done so on every pass but two. Once I took the £200, and once Ponsonby summoned the Dowager. On all the other invites, Ponsonby continued to acquire a Fiery Sermon (and we also had one as a result of a scandal). There were times in the game when we had two fiery sermons ready to block Sneyd and save a tile if we needed to.
We succeeded in denying Sneyd any monument (except for the Lionheart Suite, which he is guaranteed to acquire in the Extended game) or any other important tiles that we needed to complete our objectives. This limited Sneyd to only 12 points on his personal Objective Cards. We were not able to keep up with him on tile purchases and he still ended up with the Largest Estate (a 9VP Objective for Sneyd).
Grantly's Pile of Objective Cards:
Being able to see what Grantly holds in the way of Objective Cards, allows players the opportunity to plan in advance, acquiring tiles or servants to complete objectives before they even obtain the Objective Card from Grantly. Knowing what he holds is an essential component of a long term strategy. In this game we did very well on our Objective Cards goals, racking up 46 points to Sneyd's 12.
Pony-and-Trap / Hansom-Cab Tile
We made more use of this Service Tile than in any other game. Service was the first Courtship Theme, and Sneyd would have bought the tile. So, as the starting player, I purchased it from the Reserve on round 1, in order to deny Sneyd the 3 points on the back-side of the tile, but my reputation was not enough to flip the tile, and would not be, until later. Sneyd won the first Courtship.
The Pony-and-Trap Tile is so much fun. Eventually, Ponsonby had the second of these two tiles. We used them a lot, boosting each other's prestige, and it was so much fun that, in the 4th season I felt some sadness, when I had to take care to flip some of my remaining tiles, and so, could not use the Hansom-Cab again. Here are some coöperative highlights of how we used this Tile:
Defeating Sneyd
Sneyd built a fearsome prestige guest engine this game. He won the first and the second Courtship. There was a moment mid-game, when we thought there was no way we were going to win it this time. He acquired two of those Prestige Guests that include Victory Point Cards among their favours.
We managed to stick him with -12 points in unsavoury guests that he had to pick up on Birds-of-a-Feather rolls. Ponsonby had a small gentry deck, but I was able to find many casual and prestige guests that also provided new prestige-guest invitations. We ended up with a 45-point average on gentry cards to Sneyds 24, and this is with most of those points on cards in the Wessex-Family Deck. Knowing that Ponsonby was far behind, and knowing that the final score would be an average, I applied myself to acquiring as many of these as I could, and as fast as I could.
Ponsonby and Wessex tied for the 3rd Courtship, giving us each an additional VP card, and Wessex won the Final Courtship. That took careful collaboration on our part.
One ingredient in our victory had been the hosting of large events using victory-point-card-granting prestige-guests, then passing to get them back for a subsequent event. Margaret, Dowager Countess Fairchild, was great thematically. We spent good time with her on the National Holiday in Ponsonby's West Saloon to discover how she could allow Elizabeth to spend another season at the Sneyd estate, with all the indiscretions, embarrassments, improprieties, and unsavoury characters surrounding him and his useless profligate son. This worked, she gave us a VP-card for the information. We invited her again for continued planning, and for the Wessex heir to declare to the aunt directly, his own interest in courting Elizabeth. This all brought another VP-Card from the aunt. Wessex went on to win the final courtship, saving the girl, defeating the Sneyds, and giving the story a happy conclusion.
Thank you, Sebastian!
You need more cats
Thank you all once again for a great project, and there will be more to come before I leave for Italy.
