16.8.2019

Betrayal At House On The Hill is like a great jazz album. There's always something new and nuanced to discover. Although, unlike Jazz, it's actually interesting. And you can enjoy it with friends. And it doesn't sound terrible. Okay, subjectively, it's not a whole lot like jazz other than the constant shifting of tempo and electrical firing of your brain.•• Simple gameplay ••Traitor games are fun. The basic gameplay arc is broken into two phases: exploration and THE HAUNT.◘ Exploration: You start in the entrance of the house. You take turns exploring around, placing down tiles and fleshing the house out. Different rooms have events or omens that require your attention. Then, inevitably,someone at the table rolls horribly and initiates "THE HAUNT" phase of the game.◘ The Haunt: This is where the scenario kicks in. The rules determine which scenario you play. Someone might be a traitor. Maybe nobody is the traitor. Maybe you don't know who the traitor is. And the fun thing is, if you get a repeat scenario because of some staggering defiance of probability... you can just pick one you haven't played yet instead.Traitor based-games have become popular as of late, but this game continues to shine among them because of its staggering variety of scenarios and elegant simplicity of mechanics.•• Why does the game appeal? ••It appeals to many because it is problem solving, mystery, and most-importantly... shifting. The key to the replayability is the variety of missions. It seems like there's a steep learning curve due to the amount of content, but the mechanics are not overly difficult. There's no complex math; it's just simple dice rolling. Heck, you don't even need to use the proper tokens if you don't want; you just have to know what they represent.My point is, it's a joy to play from your first game to your 50th. Whether you know the rules like the back of your hand, or you barely know your booty from a grasshopper's uncle, it's still enjoyable.•• Rules, arguments, and complexity ••The rules are simple, but occasionally, there's room for interpretation.Some scenarios are not specific to every possible outcome. For example, you do your best to interpret whether or not the spirit can be harmed by the specific weapon you have, but the handbook's text may be a little vague. Googling goes a LONG way, as there are forums where people specifically discuss and argue their interpretation of the rules. If you still can't find a solution, create a house rule. After all, it's only one scenario, and you can always change it if it doesn't work out.Situations like these don't arise often, but they are inevitable due to the size of the game's literature. They rarely cause an issue, so don't be afraid to just "make a call" that seems consistent with the stated, overarching rules.•• Who is this game for? ••Admittedly awful analogy aside, it's a fantastic game. I have played it with a group of nerd friends who love board games, and it's one of our most-requested replays. I introduced it to a Mormon fella' who plays it with his gigantic, religious family. They LOVE it and play it over and over... and over and over at family gatherings. I've played it with my father-in-law who's idea of "games" is stuck on computer chess... and he likes to put it on easy to feel superior to the machine. He was daunted initially but quickly came to love playing "THAT BOARD GAME THAT'S REALLY FUN." /endquote•• How many players do I need? ••Different numbers of players make for different feels to the scenarios... but they're all still enjoyable. I've played it with as little as 3 or 4 (fun) to 7 (still fun). It's not a 2 player game at its core. I think 3+ is the sweet spot.•• Do I need the expansion? ••Don't buy it right away. The expansion is something you only need if you've played the game to DEATH and still aren't bored of the format. The base game has so much material, you could literally play 50+ games without exhausting the content.Realistically, you might want to add new items and scenarios after 10-25, but that's still a heck of a lot of gameplay.•• Conclusion ••It's one of my favourite games and an easy, "yes, you should buy it" if any of this sounded remotely appealing to you. Unlike many games that have gimmicks, this one lasts the test of time by providing more than enough variety to go around.Happy haunting. *diabolical laugh*

11.2.2015

Having got this the other day (via the EXCELLENT Amazon locker system) me and a couple of friends sat down to play this for the first time last night and needless to say, we had a great time.This is a relatively straight forward game which would be easily accessible to a large number of people. Whilst me and my friends play quite a games (from the family friendly such as cash and guns and camel up through to the pure awesomeness that is twilight imperium) this is a game that I would feel comfortable bringing to the table to play with people who haven't played much beyond the classic games such as monopoly and cluedo.The game itself is quick to set up (we took less than 10 minutes)and just as quick to get in to. The rules are pretty self explanatory and definitely suit the game and also aren't overly complicated. The game starts with all the players exploring the house which is randomly generated by tiles as they go. The explorers discover new rooms, complete events, gather items and hopefully upgrade their character before a haunt is triggered.The haunt, for me, is the selling point of this game. Once the haunt hits, the whole game flips from an exploration game to a battle for survival. One played (in our game) became a betrayer, who was out to kill the others via a brilliant horror movie staple - which was executed fantastically. The only point i'd raise here is that the player who is the betrayer has to go off and read a special rules book with rules for each haunt on their own. For most players this wont be an issue at all, but there is a chance younger players or even some adults may not fully understand these and they can't really discuss them with the other players as most of this information is kept secret. The other explorers also consult a special rules book for the haunt which tells them how they can win but, as in our game, may be a bit vague about how to do so, requiring players to think a bit as well.Overall my group had a brilliant first game. Even the player who initially came to the game thinking he wouldn't like it and that it wasn't very well designed said he enjoyed it and is looking forward to playing again.The game itself has amazing re-playability. There are 50 different haunts that can be triggered. Yes 50. The house itself will also be different each time you play adding further fun to playing again. This is definitely not a game where once you've played it you know where everything is and how to win. For some people, this might be a negative, but for me it's the games biggest positive. In this one box you get up to 50 games (thats 50 - 100 hours!) of completely different game experiences.Positives -The board - the tiles are of excellent quality.The gameplay - something very different to other games, even other "traitor" games i've played and incredibly fun.Speed - quick to set up and just as quick to get in to. In a world where some board games can take an hour just to put on the table! Betrayal at house on the hill takes under 10 minutes. And that's the first time you play, having to punch out all the tokens. Future games will likely take less than 5 minutes.Negatives -The pieces - as with a few people a couple of my pieces were damaged. The models themselves are great and fun, but two were slightly bent. Still perfectly playable, but just not as they should be. However as they're more than playable they didn't spoil the game at all so I'm not knocking anything off here.Betrayal at House on the Hill is a fantastic game for a wide audience. It's a little more complicated than more luck based games such as monopoly, cluedo etc as it requires players to think and their actions determine whether they win as much as the roll of the dice. There is also quite a bit of text to be read, both in the multiple books and on the cards themselves. For some this may be a negative but for me it only enhanced the feel of an already great game.One i'd highly recommend to a very wide audience.

27.10.2010

What is this game about?You play an eclectic group of explorers who venture inside a spooky house. As you enter the creepy home, the lights go out and the front door locks. You then explore the unknown finding horror, humour and helpful items. Until...the betrayal occurs!!!Straight off view of the game:What a fantastic game!Why would you enjoy this game?If you like horror, comedy, monsters, exploration, surprise, randomness, co-operation, mystery, betrayal, and a simple core mechanic.Summary of the first play of the game:What other game can you play and have to run through a house pursued by tentacle suckers while you search for the creatures basement based head; discover you're the heir ofan ancient throne and be hunted by poison blade wielding assassins who leap out from behind curtains; have a alien spaceship crash into the house and the little green man abduct the group through mind control; and finally summon a ghost and lay it rest?!Play time:All of our games, which were our very first, took less than 1 hour to play, while most only took about 30 minutes.Value for money:Lots and lots of tokens! If you love tokens, you'll love this game. If you hate organising the tiny little things then prepare to lose 1 die of sanity points...The playing pieces for this game are...not great. They look a little...wrong. Now if you're feeling generous you could say this contributes to the feel of the game, but I just see poor figures.I would say for £40 this game is good value - if the feel of a game is more important to than the quality of the components.Problems with the game:The aforementioned playing pieces obviously. The talk of warped cardboard is entirely accurate. It is really only an issue with the one long room tile, but it is still evident to the trained eye on the single tiles also. Some of the black clips used to track your adventurers' attributes are very poorly made, some being useless at staying clipped on which can cause confusion.In terms of game mechanics the only real problem is in the balance of some of the Haunts. If you don't mind a game that is sometimes "unfair" and stacked against you, then this isn't a problem. But if you want a tactical balance, then this will be a problem. Personally our group likes the feel - horror is all about escaping by the skin of your teeth and being the prey not the predator, so this games feel for us was perfect.Final thoughts:If you love the idea of 50 games within 1 game - this is for you. I know my group are already pestering me to return to the House on the Hill. We've been ripped apart by tentacles, poisoned by assassins, brainwashed by aliens and driven insane by ghosts - and that is only 4 out of the 50 possible games!(Disclaimer: after buying the 2nd edition for my birthday, I grabbed a couple of my friends and we played Betrayal at House on the Hill. None of us had played the game before or heard of it before a week ago. So this review has no 1st edition nostalgia)

28.10.2013

"Betrayal at House on the Hill" is a thematic board game where 3+ players enter a haunted house and... well, something happens.Gameplay starts with each player picking a character. These character having starting stats - Speed, Strength, Knowledge and Sanity - which can be changed by events throughout the game. If any of these stats are reduced to 0, that player dies.The players take turns exploring the house - moving as many tiles as their Speed stat allows them to. As they enter a room, the player draws a card from the deck and adds it to the house. Some rooms hold events which may benefit the player, or impede on their progress.Some of the rooms have a crow tile. When this appears,the player must roll six dice. If at any point the number rolled is less than the amount of crows in play, an event called the haunt begins. This is a good mechanic as it prevents the haunt coming too early if the players are taking the game slow.The haunt is the selling point of the game. When it occurs, anything could happen. One player could become a madman, trying to kill the other players. Or maybe a giant blob may begin to consume the house, leaving the players to fight it - or be devoured. Perhaps all the players will be shrunk down and hunted by cats, or the house lifted up by an eagle... with only one parachute left inside.Many of the haunts are samey, standard horror plots: one character has lured the others into the house in order to kill them for [insert reason here]. There are 50 of these haunts, so there's plenty that could happen, but several feel a bit dry and uninspired.You don't decide the haunt; the game decides, based on what tile the player who revealed the haunt is on, and what card they picked up as a result. You match this combination to a grid, which tells you the haunt number you'll be carrying out. Once you know this, the good characters take the booklet to read their objectives - whilst the traitor(s), if there is one, take theirs to another room to read. The two teams will have a vague idea what the others are up to, but not entirely, meaning that you usually have the element of suprise by your side.Often, to win you either have to kill the traitor\good guys, obtain\destroy an artifact or pull some switch and escape the house, or something along those lines. Once this happens, the chase is on. The traitor is trying to prevent the good guys from getting away, whilst the good guys are trying to stay alive in the process. Considering five minutes previous you were all on the same side, it makes things pretty tense.Betrayal is a great game to play, just not too often; the similarities between haunts becomes apparent and some games just feel exactly the same as others. Sometimes the odds feel too stacked against one side too; this seems to come down to how many players you're playing with. It's a brilliant game to experience, especially if you like thematic games.

2.2.2016

Betrayal is a solid game with great re-playability. It's main mechanic is the traitor mechanic, whereby halfway into the game, one of over 50 different secret plots are revealed and one of the players is chosen to betray the others. They take their booklet to read this particular plot's objective and read it outside the room, while everyone else panics and flicks through their own survival guide for this particular occurrence. The replay value comes from the plethora of plots that can occur, along with the random nature of the house you're exploring, as you draw and place a random room tile as you explore it, making each playthrough unique.

26.8.2015

TL:DR Betrayal is a fun game for 3 - 6 players and can be learned with patience and practical examples. Its easy once learned and has tons of replay ability, and is built very well.Betrayal as we've come to call it, for ease due to the extensive use that it receives is a procedurally generated adventure game with a twist.One of the players is going to betray you. Why? Because they're insane.This game has received over 10 hours of use in the short time that I've owned it. (About a month) And that is due to a couple of reasons.1. Though it's a difficult game to learn for younger or less experienced players, it's still fun for them, and the more they play the better it will become for them.2.

30.1.2017

This is a great way to spend time with friends. You begin by selecting a character and exploring the creepy house together, by moving and drawing tiles, trying to avoid obstacles and hopefully discovering useful items. There are 5 things which can occur during exploration. Hazards, the house is essentially falling apart and there are many rooms which hurt your character mentally or physically. Omens, Items and events can occur should the room have a corresponding symbol, forcing you to draw the relevant card. Last of all is the big one. After triggering an Omen, the player must make a sanity roll. If successful, the game will continue as normal. If unsuccessful, that player will lose their mind and trigger the 'haunt'.

20.6.2016

So you have seen the movie. A group of people for no apparent reason head off to visit the creepy house that no sane person would ever venture into. The front door closes and you have to work out how to get out of the place! In true Scooby Doo style the party splits up. You travel through rooms revealing new room tiles as you go, looking for clues or items maybe you find a gun or a charm. Maybe you see something so scary you start to loose your sanity. Or maybe you find omens! Omens are the key to triggering the 2nd half of this game as once someone fails a dice roll after finding 1 omen to many the real reason as to why your there comes to light as one person suddenly becomes a traitor with

28.12.2017

Betrayal at House on the Hill is a great game, with a brilliant twist every time you play. The game has two phases, in the first phase each player picks a character and begins to explore a haunted house as a team. The characters are the usual unlikely mix of people who always seem to band together in 80s horror films to go an explore the creepy house. The house is built up by drawing tiles, so is never the same twice, and as players explore they also have events happen to them that can either negatively impact on their chances of survival or can benefit them by awarding them with useful weapons. After a certain point, however, the game changes completely,

12.3.2018

I'm not a games fan, but I can put up with this one. (which is high praise, believe me, I'm forced into family games ). Initially the one person being a 'traitor' was a problem,(panic and shyness ensued) but despite the amount of reading involved (probably not best played when drunk!) soon we were enjoying it and everyone wanted to be the 'traitor'.It was useful to have someone who knew the game to help us get used to it. The nice thing is the way that the game can have so much variety due to the way you pick the 'traitor' and all the different characters. so do persist with it. It's not as complicated as it first seems.I bought this as a present and was a little disappointed as the bottom of the box had been significantly dented.

7.12.2015

I only recently stumbled into the world of untraditional board games, I'm so glad I did and only wish I had done it sooner. Cludo, Monopoly, Cranium, these all pale now in comparison, don't get me wrong, they are still great in their own ways but Betrayal just offers a much more rewarding and satisfying experience for me.I introduced this to my friends as a new game which at that point I hadn't even played, we went through and set-up as we read over the basic rules and tried to follow as much as we could before we ultimately decided to just play and see how we get on. Now at first it all seemed a bit daunting with all the pieces and the amount of rules presented but in no time at all we were

31.12.2016

I picked this game out for a Christmas present for myself, and I haven't been disappointed- as a huge fan of horror movies and quirkiness, it's probably one of the most fun games I've ever played.The fact that the house is generated differently each time and you are unlikely to have the same hero find the same omen in any singular room each play through really helps for replay-ability.If you're not the attentive or reading sort, you may not enjoy this quite so much as though the rules are simple, they require the attention to pick up and put into practice- this game CAN be learned by simply playing, but I will admit if you're a fidgety sort,

3.6.2019

Was really excited about this game after I'd heard about it from Table Top on Youtube.When it arrived, however, I was very disappointed with the quality of the cheap, card pieces. I understand there are lots of different pieces due to the 50 scenarios available, so it's probably to keep costs down... but they could have put in a little more effort.As you can see from my photos, the box itself was badly damaged. It looks second-hand. The pieces are cut out in the wrong place, leaving off some of the lettering that was supposed to be on the tokens. The card is ripping and pulling apart at the edges, and the markers that you attach to the characters to keep track of stats are terrible.

7.1.2017

A great game, with simple rules and enough variability to last quite some game sessions. It has two parts, the first where the entire player group cooperates to explore a House on a Hill and the second where one of the characters is designated as an agent of evil (it betrayed the rest of the group by luring them to the house, hence the name) and he must compete against the rest of the players in an asymmetrical game, both in terms of abilities and knowledge. The betrayer is assigned depending on the room and the artefact found when the reveal ("Haunt") occurs, so no ones knows from the start who it will be and there's one different story, with slightly different mechanics for each room/artefact combination.

17.4.2017

I've played a few games now. It's a strange game as it can be sublime sometimes, and awful at others, depending on what happens and who you are playing wife. My wife hated the game, and my 16 year old son loved it. When we played as a group, we had to abandon the game as it relies to a certain extent, on everyone playing getting into the theme and 'spirit'.I almost sold it, but its the sort of game that gets under your skin and will no doubt be out every Halloween. My advice is to play it with dimmed lights, candles and creepy music. It has great components, and for someone who is not so much a fan of modular boards, this one works well. It's like 'Mansions Of Madness Lite', in a lot of ways,

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