Obsession Board Game: 2nd Edition Wessex Expansion

You may have noticed an empty box nestled into your larger box of Obsession bearing the Wessex family name and crest. Until recently, I used this box to store some of the base game tokens before realising I should use the box for the purpose it was always intended for and before I knew it the Wessex family (and a few additional extras) had been integrated into the Obsession box as if they had always been intended to be there. However, it was not included in the main game and now there is a new family in Derbyshire.

I’m going to make a broad assumption you either own, or have played Obsession, otherwise what are you doing reading a review for an expansion you don’t own! So let’s dive deeper into what we have here and if it’s worth purchasing.

First and foremost we have a new addition in the Wessex Family, as if the name of the expansion wasn’t a giveaway. This brings another choice to play with and they come with their own unique asymmetrical power like all the other families in the base game. Here the Wessex family have a larger estate than the other families, offering the choice of one of two additional opening tiles to immediately add to your existing estate given that they live in the largest estate in the area. So from the beginning of the game, if you choose the Wessex family to play with you can add a tennis court or breakfast room to your estate giving you an early game boost.

On top of the new family, you’ll also find some new starter, casual, prestige guests and solo cards that can be integrated straight away into the main game whether you are playing as the Wessex family or not. All the components and art are to usual exceptionally high standard too that you find in the base game.

What I particularly like about this expansion is that there are no new rules to learn so everything included in the Wessex expansion seamlessly integrates into both the existing Obsession box but also means its easy to add for new and old players alike. If I was to level a criticism at the expansion its that given that their is the space in the main box of Obsession already for the family, why wasn’t it included in the main game? I guess this is probably down to costs, and would have made the base game a lot more expensive but you’re not going to be opening the huge amounts of additional content (and a new family) that you would get in the Upstairs, Downstairs expansion.

Would I recommend adding this to Obsession? Absolutely! But there is a caveat there, in that I feel the larger Upstairs, Downstairs expansion offers more value for money, with not only a new family to play as but also a host of other new goodies included new types of servants, updated rules and a stack of new cards to really build upon the base game. However if you do already own Upstairs, Downstairs then I absolutely recommend Wessex, also if you are very happy playing just the base game and hate the thought of learning new rules then this would also be for you. For me, I’m really glad I own both expansions as they add a layer of richness to a game I am still obsessed with (sorry for the rubbish pun).