Anthony and Frances, your playthrough was marvelous to watch. Thank you for the grand showcase. Your preparation sets Ant Lab Games apart. I spotted a few, small rule things that in no way detracted from the play; I will review those in the comments over the weekend. Side note: Boy oh boy are you players after my heart; not a tile was crooked or a piece misaligned! Sometimes I want to tear my hair out when my teenagers' player area looks like their bedroom floor...
I've had a chance to make notes while watching, and my rules comments are below. Anthony and Frances played a remarkably clean game; very impressive! Before specific rules observations, I'd like to make a few general ones: GENERAL 1) When the Builders' Market is refreshed (all the tiles removed and new ones drawn), the tiles that were removed are returned to the bag after the new market is populated. 2) For reference, Cassino is a card game played in the 19th century- en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cassino_(card_game). 3) On a few occasions (some noted), service didn't get refreshed. 4) New guests should be announced and shown to all players; thematically, local gossip is well informed about new personages associating with local families. RULES 1) 26:08-The first player marker is passed to start each season. Reacting to a new Courtship theme 1st in the market can be a distinct advantage. 2) 43:14-When the market is refreshed, tiles are sorted according to Prestige Rating so that more elaborate tiles are on the expensive end of the spectrum. However, I find that perhaps an interesting variant has been discovered? I initially ruled it out when settling on the market refresh rules, but randomly refreshing would REALLY incentivize players to refresh the market. Something I will playtest! 3) 56:27-Players receive one reputation every turn per monument even in they pass. 4) 1:06:33-As Frances later realized, players get one reputation per turn per monument. 5) 1:10:00-Players may take Special Actions when the reputation is at Max. Here, Anthony could refresh that footman (3 reputation) and still be at Max (from position 5 down to position 2). He could also trade away four reputation, still remain at Max, and get an additional £200 (worth 1 VP) or a refreshed market. For a player who gets to Max reputation before the end of the game, they have a powerful tool to be able to get money, service, and fresh markets for free. Once again, marvelous runthrough! So clean and well done! Thank you, Dan Hallagan Kayenta Games
One other small rule issue to point out that I missed 1st watch: 55:23-The first action during Courtship is to return the Fairchild love interest to Alderley Hall (the Round Track) and then score the Courtship. This has two effects for a player who has won consecutive Courtships: 1) A different love interest might be chosen (so, for example here, Anthony could have invited Charles to visit the young Cavendish lady for the next season), and 2) More importantly, the Fairchild love interest would go into the Active Hand for the beginning of the next season; this ensures they are immediately available (as the star/centerpiece of the next social season) to attend activities. Thanks! Dan
You guys are the reviewers I was most eager to see tackle this game, because it seemed like the type of game you're likely to enjoy, if it's good. Dan actually redesigned the art during the kickstarter and got a ton of backer input on it, so a lot of us backers felt involved, and it's great to hear how well it turned out. I distinctly remember Dan wanting to add artwork to the tiles, but struggling because the small size made it impossible for him to do so without sacrificing playability. Looks like he made the right choice! I'm 99% sure the people on the portraits are real photos of that time period that he then added a watercolor effect to (in fact, I think some lower-quality photos got discarded). The custom-shaped meeples were one of the final additions (based on backer dreaming) and I'm super excited to see them in person - they look so adorable!
Could this be the Downton abbeyish game everyone has been waiting for? Btw, I recommended you guys to Dan after he was having problems making his own video demo. Glad to see he took my advice.
I agree. I love the way Anthony and Frances describe the main points of the game, then do a playthrough with running commentary, and finally give really indepth thoughts about the game and discuss a game's strategies. They are also lovely people to watch and listen to. Best UA-cam game reviewers by far, IMO!
Another great Ant Lab walk-thru! You two are my fav reviewers (and the only ones my wife will watch when I’m trying to teach her a new game)! I was very excited to see you do Obsession. I’m one of the Kickstarter backers and have been waiting anxiously for it to arrive. Your video both helped but made me even more excited to play it! One thing, if you haven’t watched Downton Abbey, check out a few episodes - it will give you a more full picture of a footman and his duties ;) Thanks Frances and Anthony!!
Love this! Really helped me learn the game so I could teach it! I did notice one rule mistake. When you passed and choose to refresh the builders market, you don't put the tiles in order of how you draw them from the bag but in prestige order as outlined on pp5-6 of the glossary. There's lots to keep up with ;). Again, thanks for the great video!!
Screaming at my screen, “SPEND YOUR PRESTIGE TO REFRESH YOUR FOOTMAN!!!!” until I realize you can only refresh your servant. Why am I getting so intense about this game :P Must be a good sign.
Same here, though haven't played through it yet - just organized the bits. I'm watching this to help me get started - definitely a learning curve. I'll have to insist everyone tell stories as we go along as well.
Great to see a full run through with thoughts on decisions. I just traded for this game and am waiting for it to arrive in a few days. There are meeple upgrades out there but cost as much as the game , sigh.
Cool runthrough. Really glad this game turned out so well for Dan Hallagan. I think it's his first game as a designer and must have worked hard on it. How close were the scores in your previous game? I'm wondering if games are usually close or if one player could dominate an aspect of scoring like Anthony did with the Elizabeth Fairchild card. Or maybe his extra solo plays gave him a tactical advantage?
With hundreds of plays under my belt, I can tell you that games are more often decided by 25 points would have swung from Anthony to Frances (as she would have won one courtship, accumulated more reputation with a Fairchild card, and quite possibly won the overall courtship). I do not shy away from luck being a factor. I embrace it! I believe it is very thematic (if one enjoys the literature of that era), and I also designed this game to encourage "casual" (pun intended :) ) gamers in my life to come to the table. Those gamers do not want to play chess with Bobby Fischer. They want to immerse in a beloved theme and be in the hunt. Some of my most fulfilling wins have been when I have been at a severe disadvantage, and manage to muscle to victory with a bold gamble. One time I lost every courtship and won the game working American Heiresses in conjunction with prestige guests to purchase all but one of the PRESTIGE tiles from a constantly refreshed market. Obsession has luck, AND it has tools to combat the luck.
Thanks for the reply Dan and congrats on a great game. I agree the luck in the game adds to it and embellishes the narrative. I think a lot of Jane Austen novels are based on a comedy of unforeseen or coincidental events. It wasn't so much the luck I was inquiring about, more that I was wondering if Frances was picking tiles based on how cool they were or imagining how they fit into her country estate rather than picking the optimal tiles for the guests in her hand and discard pile. Anthony having a few more plays had an advantage of how everything fit together maybe, along with a bit of luck. It's good that there's so many options for how a game turns out. I don't want people to think I'm one of those AP prone, min-maxer types though, I play casually for fun and usually lose. I guess I'm fascinated by the puzzle of it like Frances said.
Thank you and understood! Luck is a tricky question. My original design had random evens on the Round Track that resulted in inheritances, illnesses, death, fire, etc., and my playtesters strongly informed me I had taken luck too far. It's one thing to draw a scoundrel as a guest, it's another for your State Room to burn down just after your Earl died! So the question is a very good one and balance is the solution. I think now there is a game within the game (as discussed eloquently by Anthony and Frances): mitigation. You need your Spidey-sense on the lookout for a turn of luck, and players must be nimble enough to switch a plan B to counter the bad variety.
Henrik, there is a two part answer to that question. My Shopify site will go live at the end of fulfillment (end of September), which will see games for North America ship from ShipMonk (Florida and California) and ROTW from Spiral Galaxy Games in the UK. I have a long term intention of support FLGS, but that is still a work in progress. I would expect to have such distribution in early 2019.
I would say it's "Dar bee sher" - where "Sher" is "her" with a "shh". Strictly speaking "shire" would be pronounced like "higher" with a "shh", but you would only ever hear that in a comedy posh voice these days. 😃
Alex Ngui There was a corrupt portion of the video resulting in very poor quality resolution during the first 12 minutes or so. New version is being uploaded now.
A link to pre-orders is available on my website. My Shopify site will go live after KS fulfillment in mid to late September. www.kayentapublishing.com/
“Derbyshire”?! “Viscount”? “Paddock”? Please learn to speak English before presenting games like these! At least you got “valet” right most of the time. Hehe, nah, I am of course joking, thanks for showing the game off so well! I’ve been enjoying your channel after stumbling across it a couple of days ago. Thanks for the entertainment and I’m going to enjoy watching more of your older playthroughs!
Anthony and Frances, your playthrough was marvelous to watch. Thank you for the grand showcase. Your preparation sets Ant Lab Games apart. I spotted a few, small rule things that in no way detracted from the play; I will review those in the comments over the weekend.
Side note: Boy oh boy are you players after my heart; not a tile was crooked or a piece misaligned! Sometimes I want to tear my hair out when my teenagers' player area looks like their bedroom floor...
I've had a chance to make notes while watching, and my rules comments are below. Anthony and Frances played a remarkably clean game; very impressive! Before specific rules observations, I'd like to make a few general ones:
GENERAL
1) When the Builders' Market is refreshed (all the tiles removed and new ones drawn), the tiles that were removed are returned to the bag after the new market is populated.
2) For reference, Cassino is a card game played in the 19th century- en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cassino_(card_game).
3) On a few occasions (some noted), service didn't get refreshed.
4) New guests should be announced and shown to all players; thematically, local gossip is well informed about new personages associating with local families.
RULES
1) 26:08-The first player marker is passed to start each season. Reacting to a new Courtship theme 1st in the market can be a distinct advantage.
2) 43:14-When the market is refreshed, tiles are sorted according to Prestige Rating so that more elaborate tiles are on the expensive end of the spectrum. However, I find that perhaps an interesting variant has been discovered? I initially ruled it out when settling on the market refresh rules, but randomly refreshing would REALLY incentivize players to refresh the market. Something I will playtest!
3) 56:27-Players receive one reputation every turn per monument even in they pass.
4) 1:06:33-As Frances later realized, players get one reputation per turn per monument.
5) 1:10:00-Players may take Special Actions when the reputation is at Max. Here, Anthony could refresh that footman (3 reputation) and still be at Max (from position 5 down to position 2). He could also trade away four reputation, still remain at Max, and get an additional £200 (worth 1 VP) or a refreshed market. For a player who gets to Max reputation before the end of the game, they have a powerful tool to be able to get money, service, and fresh markets for free.
Once again, marvelous runthrough! So clean and well done!
Thank you,
Dan Hallagan
Kayenta Games
One other small rule issue to point out that I missed 1st watch:
55:23-The first action during Courtship is to return the Fairchild love interest to Alderley Hall (the Round Track) and then score the Courtship. This has two effects for a player who has won consecutive Courtships:
1) A different love interest might be chosen (so, for example here, Anthony could have invited Charles to visit the young Cavendish lady for the next season), and
2) More importantly, the Fairchild love interest would go into the Active Hand for the beginning of the next season; this ensures they are immediately available (as the star/centerpiece of the next social season) to attend activities.
Thanks!
Dan
Thank you for the clarifications.
You guys are the reviewers I was most eager to see tackle this game, because it seemed like the type of game you're likely to enjoy, if it's good. Dan actually redesigned the art during the kickstarter and got a ton of backer input on it, so a lot of us backers felt involved, and it's great to hear how well it turned out. I distinctly remember Dan wanting to add artwork to the tiles, but struggling because the small size made it impossible for him to do so without sacrificing playability. Looks like he made the right choice! I'm 99% sure the people on the portraits are real photos of that time period that he then added a watercolor effect to (in fact, I think some lower-quality photos got discarded). The custom-shaped meeples were one of the final additions (based on backer dreaming) and I'm super excited to see them in person - they look so adorable!
Yes, Mariya, they are indeed real photos. It was a fascinating journey into preserved 19th century photographs!
Could this be the Downton abbeyish game everyone has been waiting for? Btw, I recommended you guys to Dan after he was having problems making his own video demo. Glad to see he took my advice.
Fantastic play through review as always. A delight to watch you both play and hear your opinions. Been looking forward to this game for a while now.
I agree. I love the way Anthony and Frances describe the main points of the game, then do a playthrough with running commentary, and finally give really indepth thoughts about the game and discuss a game's strategies. They are also lovely people to watch and listen to. Best UA-cam game reviewers by far, IMO!
Great job guys. Love your playthrough plus review format. So excited for this game. A solo player's dream indeed. Glad I backed it.
Another great Ant Lab walk-thru! You two are my fav reviewers (and the only ones my wife will watch when I’m trying to teach her a new game)! I was very excited to see you do Obsession. I’m one of the Kickstarter backers and have been waiting anxiously for it to arrive. Your video both helped but made me even more excited to play it! One thing, if you haven’t watched Downton Abbey, check out a few episodes - it will give you a more full picture of a footman and his duties ;) Thanks Frances and Anthony!!
Love this! Really helped me learn the game so I could teach it!
I did notice one rule mistake. When you passed and choose to refresh the builders market, you don't put the tiles in order of how you draw them from the bag but in prestige order as outlined on pp5-6 of the glossary. There's lots to keep up with ;). Again, thanks for the great video!!
Very excited to get this game. Thanks for the video guys, top quality as usual.
Screaming at my screen, “SPEND YOUR PRESTIGE TO REFRESH YOUR FOOTMAN!!!!” until I realize you can only refresh your servant. Why am I getting so intense about this game :P Must be a good sign.
The s in Viscount is silent and the i is a hard i. It sounds like Veye-count.
I just received my kickstarter version today. Loved your play through. I like how you play up the theme and tell a story as you played.
Same here, though haven't played through it yet - just organized the bits. I'm watching this to help me get started - definitely a learning curve. I'll have to insist everyone tell stories as we go along as well.
Thanks for posting. This video sealed the deal for me and I’ve decided to back the new kickstarter.
Barrister - is he a barista at Starbucks?;))))) Lol! Barrister is a lawyer, I believe ;)
Lol Anthony, you should have dressed up!!!
"I don't have enough women!" I completely sympathise and empathise with your plight.
I really like "season servants"! I'll be using that from now on!
Great to see a full run through with thoughts on decisions. I just traded for this game and am waiting for it to arrive in a few days. There are meeple upgrades out there but cost as much as the game , sigh.
Bought this after seeing this review ;) Subbed ;)
Cool runthrough. Really glad this game turned out so well for Dan Hallagan. I think it's his first game as a designer and must have worked hard on it.
How close were the scores in your previous game? I'm wondering if games are usually close or if one player could dominate an aspect of scoring like Anthony did with the Elizabeth Fairchild card. Or maybe his extra solo plays gave him a tactical advantage?
With hundreds of plays under my belt, I can tell you that games are more often decided by 25 points would have swung from Anthony to Frances (as she would have won one courtship, accumulated more reputation with a Fairchild card, and quite possibly won the overall courtship).
I do not shy away from luck being a factor. I embrace it! I believe it is very thematic (if one enjoys the literature of that era), and I also designed this game to encourage "casual" (pun intended :) ) gamers in my life to come to the table. Those gamers do not want to play chess with Bobby Fischer. They want to immerse in a beloved theme and be in the hunt.
Some of my most fulfilling wins have been when I have been at a severe disadvantage, and manage to muscle to victory with a bold gamble. One time I lost every courtship and won the game working American Heiresses in conjunction with prestige guests to purchase all but one of the PRESTIGE tiles from a constantly refreshed market.
Obsession has luck, AND it has tools to combat the luck.
Thanks for the reply Dan and congrats on a great game. I agree the luck in the game adds to it and embellishes the narrative. I think a lot of Jane Austen novels are based on a comedy of unforeseen or coincidental events. It wasn't so much the luck I was inquiring about, more that I was wondering if Frances was picking tiles based on how cool they were or imagining how they fit into her country estate rather than picking the optimal tiles for the guests in her hand and discard pile. Anthony having a few more plays had an advantage of how everything fit together maybe, along with a bit of luck. It's good that there's so many options for how a game turns out.
I don't want people to think I'm one of those AP prone, min-maxer types though, I play casually for fun and usually lose. I guess I'm fascinated by the puzzle of it like Frances said.
Thank you and understood! Luck is a tricky question. My original design had random evens on the Round Track that resulted in inheritances, illnesses, death, fire, etc., and my playtesters strongly informed me I had taken luck too far. It's one thing to draw a scoundrel as a guest, it's another for your State Room to burn down just after your Earl died!
So the question is a very good one and balance is the solution. I think now there is a game within the game (as discussed eloquently by Anthony and Frances): mitigation. You need your Spidey-sense on the lookout for a turn of luck, and players must be nimble enough to switch a plan B to counter the bad variety.
33:23 you forget to move your servants 1 place along the board.
I can’t find this. Anyone have this same problem? If not where did you get yours?
ohhh i want this game! love the old history game!
When will this game be available in retail stores?
Henrik, there is a two part answer to that question. My Shopify site will go live at the end of fulfillment (end of September), which will see games for North America ship from ShipMonk (Florida and California) and ROTW from Spiral Galaxy Games in the UK.
I have a long term intention of support FLGS, but that is still a work in progress. I would expect to have such distribution in early 2019.
I’m Just about to get this game with its expansion. So exciting.
It’s pronounced Darbee sheer
I'm English and I pronounce it Darbee shuh
Duncan Russell Suppose it’s a regional thing, I live in Leicestershire about 45 minutes away.
I would say it's "Dar bee sher" - where "Sher" is "her" with a "shh". Strictly speaking "shire" would be pronounced like "higher" with a "shh", but you would only ever hear that in a comedy posh voice these days. 😃
@Antlabgames I watched partial of Newton last night. It's gone? What happened?
Alex Ngui There was a corrupt portion of the video resulting in very poor quality resolution during the first 12 minutes or so. New version is being uploaded now.
The Downton Abbey board game obviously.
I want this game!!!!!!
Hmmm, is there a link to the game?
A link to pre-orders is available on my website. My Shopify site will go live after KS fulfillment in mid to late September. www.kayentapublishing.com/
It's pronounced Daarbyshirr. I live an hour away from it.
I like the way Anthony says 'I've played this solo twicccce...' with a cheeky look at Frances like he cheated on her with Lady Mary from Derbyshire.
“Derbyshire”?! “Viscount”? “Paddock”? Please learn to speak English before presenting games like these! At least you got “valet” right most of the time.
Hehe, nah, I am of course joking, thanks for showing the game off so well! I’ve been enjoying your channel after stumbling across it a couple of days ago. Thanks for the entertainment and I’m going to enjoy watching more of your older playthroughs!