Betrayal at House on the Hill

Betrayal At House On The Hill is one of my favorite games to pull out and play with friends or to introduce them to this type of exploration board game. I've gifted it several times and taken it to several friend's homes that have all loved the game play. ~~It is very easy to learn and teach~~ What makes this game so fun is that it is different every time. In addition to that, it has an unknown traitor once the haunt begins. With that said, even if you play the same haunt, it can be very different each time because each traitor and hero has a different play style and strategy. ◘ Exploration: The game begins with the adventurers standing in the entryway of the house. Like and good horror movie the group splits up to explore on their own, discovering omens, items, and events along the way. Some players may want to expand the house as large as possible before the haunt begins, and some may want to keep the house smaller. It depends on the group. For every omen discovered, a haunt roll must take place, the player rolls six dice and must roll higher than the number of omen cards on the table. With normal dice, this would be no problem. However, the dice for Betrayal at House on the Hill are not normal. Some sides are blank and it only goes up to 2. Once someone rolls less than the number of omen cards on the table, the haunt begins. ◘ The Haunt: The haunt is the meat of the game, the real objective of the game. Depending on who failed the haunt roll, where they were at in the house, and the last omen cared drawn, the traitor is revealed in the rule book that says "DO NOT READ." The traitor then removes themselves from the room to read about their new powers and objectives, while the heroes remain in the room to discuss their strategy to beat the traitor. •• Why does the game appeal? •• This game is so appealing I think because every time you sit down, it's a little different. Every character differs even from game to game. You might discover the same rooms over and over, but theyre never in the same order and they always have different rooms attached to them sometimes even false doors. It seems like a lot at first, but it doesn't take long to set up and the game can go on as long or as short as you want it to. On top of that, the traitor is different every time and it creates a fun dynamic for the group playing because sometimes its the most innocent person that turns into the traitor and you end up learning about their traitorous side. •• Rules, arguments, and complexity •• The rules are simple, but occasionally, there's room for interpretation, which can make it fun because then it turns into the house rules. The rules really aren't complex and I think the room they leave for interpretation allows each person that buys and plays the game to really make it their own. Some things aren't specifically said, like can this ghost use the elevator, well then the owner or the players can decide the likelihood of a ghost using an elevator or requiring the stairs. •• Who is this game for? •• The game really is for anyone that enjoys that sense of adventure. I've played it with die hard board game fans and they loved it and I've played it with people that are new to board games and usually only played games like Cards Against Humanity. It can be fun for everyone. •• How many players do I need? •• It really depends, I've played with 4, 5, and 6 players. I think the 6 player mark was my favorite. but 4 is a really good sweet spot. When there are 6 players, it begins to feel like there's a lot to keep track of, but it is fun nonetheless because there is so much going on and you uncover the board a lot faster! •• Do I need the expansion? •• Eventually, you could buy it. However, that being said, play the original as much as possibly before you start to get bored of it. In my opinion, that will take ages. •• Conclusion •• At the end of the day, this is usually the game I reach for when friends come over to play games. It has been my favorite for a while and I will always recommend it to people looking for new games.

My rats were almost invincible. Twice the heroes had tangled with them and run away, nearly dead and unable to brave the swarm again. More and more rats were pouring in to stand guard over the door to my pentagram chamber. My ritual was nearly complete; I was seconds from destroying my enemies and raising an unstoppable army of rodents that would swarm the world, all at my control. Then my son drew the Dynamite card. I rolled and rolled, but every rat necessary to my ritual perished in the fiery explosion and the eldritch power I was calling devoured me as their link severed. My almost certain win was destroyed with the drawing of a single card. Betrayal at House on the Hill has: 2-6 explorers, a house that builds slowly with tiles, a set of omen cards that draw the players ever closer to a haunting, and 50 scenarios in which the haunting reveals a traitor, his minions, and the winning and losing conditions for each side. In the first part, you all explore the house, drawing room tiles, encountering event cards that test you, the occasional item, and even more infrequently, an Omen. During this part of the game, no one can die, there are no monsters, and no need to attack other players. Nobody is the enemy yet. However, Omen cards add up; each time you find one, you roll dice to see if the second part of the game happens: the Haunting. The Haunting is when one character either openly or in secret (depending on the scenario) becomes the traitor, controlling the monsters and scenario that challenges the heroes (all the other players) while pursuing goals known only to him. The heroes, to win, have a set of tasks to perform. Sometimes the goal it simply to make it out alive. Sometimes to find a room and complete a ritual. The task is *almost never* as simple as killing the traitor. Sometimes the traitor character is removed and the traitor only controls monster tokens to achieve his goals. Sometimes, the traitor attacks simply to interfere with the heroes as they attempt to flee a ticking countdown. Sometime his goal is to flee the heroes, get to a certain place, perform a ritual of his own, or other nefarious things. In one scenario, sometimes he has only to move a counter and watch the heroes die on their own (my daughter and I actually won that one even with my son's attempted interference, although I died alone on my own without the possibility of escape she was able to complete the goals and so our side won. In any case, we've only played a handful of scenarios, and each one is unique. Sometimes sheer luck makes an easy win. Sometimes winning for one side or the other will be impossible. But all in all, the sheer variety of options, rooms, cards and scenarios makes it enjoyable and balanced, and the ratcheting tension of omen cards leading to a haunting roll succeeding and one of us becoming the bad guy is a fun mechanic. There are rules for playing alternate scenarios if you come up with the same one twice in a row or one everybody has played and want to switch, which is nice. Unlike some of the reviews here, the pieces in my game are sturdy, well made, and in no cases thin and flimsy. And those 1 star reviews pearl clutching at finding ghosts, demonic rituals, the undead, Satanic and/or Chthulic influences, and (gasp) a pentagram room in the game, what were you expecting from a game about hauntings, monsters, and betrayal? Did you not read the back of the box? Go back to playing Clue. Two caveats: lots of pieces so get some baggies to separate them and it requires at least a folding table to play on. A small kitchen or coffee table isn't going to do it.

Super fun game! Mixes Clue and DnD. At first reading of the rules the game might seem complex but give it a quick run through and what you do on a turn quickly makes sense. The game suggests 3 as a minimum but IMO 4 works much better. The tiles, tokens, cards, figurines and rule books are really well made. The only grip I have is the sliders for the player cards; some are looser then others, but its a small issue. There are 6 player cards but they are each double sided so there is really 12 choices. 6 pre painted figurines to go with the player cards. 44 room tiles that you build your mansion with as you go. 80 cards that have items, events or omens. 3 Rule books 1 to get you started and two that come into play when the event starts. One for the Traitor and one for the Survivors. Once you get the hang of the basic game things will go pretty smooth. Once the event starts things may get a bit more confusing. Each team will read from their book and try to figure out what to do and and at the same time guess what the other team is probably going to do. While there are a lot of different events that can happen and this makes the game really great for replay-ability. The Events are not as clearly hatched out as they could be. Sometimes things have to be assumed because the books are not clear. The Events give special abilities and its hard to talk to the other team and explain that something is a given ability and that you are not cheating. But at the same time without giving away what their rule book states. But with so many different events it makes it hard to play test them all I am sure. The game is fun, exciting, suspenseful and surprising. Like I said the replay-ability is awesome.

It’s a really good game that is just about always played whenever we have guests over. Highly entertaining for a long period of time. Was a little difficult to learn at first but easy to get used to. Have yet to play the same situation twice, but it says there are expansion packs for when that finally happens. Highly recommend for people that enjoy exploration and strategy games.

No doubts that this is counterfeit, so don't worry. Learning curve is moderate, prefer if someone who has played guides the group. If not, no worries. Game is a mix of strategy, adventure, horror, and exploration. Good story/lore elements to sink into the mood.

J'ai acheté ceci pour mon fiancé comme cadeau de Noël. C'est un jeu vraiment cool et divertissant !! Il existe environ 50 scénarios différents et même des extensions, ce qui est excellent car vous ne vous ennuierez pas rapidement. le jeu semble compliqué au début, mais une fois que vous avez compris, c'est très amusant! Je ne suis pas surprise que cela figure dans la liste des meilleurs jeux de société des États-Unis! Je recommande!!

Juego cooperativo durante gran parte de la partida, y luego se puede transformar en un juego asimétrico con un traidor. Muy divertido que gusta a casi todo el mundo: misterio, roleo, cooperación, mapa variable con losetas y 50 aventuras distintas. Un único inconveniente, está en inglés y hay que tener cierto nivel para ser capaz de leer la aventura. Cuando hay un traidor, este se tiene que ir fuera a leer solo la aventura que le toca jugar, por lo que hay que tener al menos un nivel medio de inglés. Se puede solucionar, y si hay alguien con un nivel bajo, este nunca podrá ser el traidor, no es lo ideal, pero es una solución si te apetece probarlo y en tu grupo de juego hay gente que no tiene mucho nivel.

This is a great game from 3-4 people although you can play it for up to 6. Fantastic fun as a party game, as partway through the game one of you becomes a betrayer and versus the rest of the players. Well balanced and lots of variety