Avalon Hill Betrayal at House on the Hill, Green

Best game ever

I really, really want to like this game, but Im having a difficult time enjoying it. It seems like we spend more time trying to understand each haunt scenario that it takes away from the enjoyment of the game. The rules and instructions are very confusing and just when you start to understand one haunt, you get a completely different haunt the next time you play. So, for those who have never played the game, here is brief overview. The first part of the game is basically a setup. Players set the scene, by exploring the house, discovering new rooms (on the main floor, upper level, and basement), acquiring items, and increasing trait points. All of this is in anticipation of the haunt, which happens when a player rolls a haunt roll less than the number of omen cards collected. This part of the game is fairly easy to understand. After the first or second time youve played, it usually goes off without a hitch. Once a haunt is triggered, one person in the game becomes a traitor. At this point, the traitor leaves the room, with the traitors tome guide, the remaining players stay in the room, with the secrets of survival guide. Each learn about the specific haunt (there are 50 of them) as it relates to their role (traitor or heroes) and how to kill/defeat the traitor (or how the traitor kills/defeats the heroes). This is where the confusion sets in because the rules are very hard to follow. If the traitor has never played the game before, they dont really have anyone to help them decipher the tome guide. If youre not a traitor, you at least have the other heroes to help you figure out the rules for that specific haunt. What usually ends up happening is that the heroes and the traitor consult each other and talk their way through the haunt just so they can get through the game. Its so frustrating. Its almost like you need a facilitator thats only there to answer questions about game play. I dont know. Im going to give it a few more tries, but until then, Im going to look for something else similar to this game, but without all the issues. If anyone has a suggestion, I would love to hear it.

So first off: this game is fun. This game is like two games in one. The first half of the game-play is fun exploration, and the second half is totally different player vs player(s) experience with lots of variations. The traitor mechanic is done really well, and creates TONS of replay value (there are 50 different scenarios and different people being the traitor can cause them each to play different ways). I enjoy the strategy within confines aspect of the second half of the game quite a bit, as well as the mystery of not knowing what the other side is doing (or sometimes, even who the other side is). So, the game-play is pretty awesome. You do get the tiles fairly memorized after a bit, but they are configured differently every time and they arent what youre there for in the end. The rules are well written and explained, though occasionally there can be minor conflict between them (pretty easy to sort out, and the book even encourages a simple consensus if its truly not covered in the written rules). The scenarios are also well-written where even if one side has the worst possible deck stacked against them, they usually have tools or caveats against the other team to try to make it pretty fair. My only two minor quibbles both relate to the manufacturing of the game. For the most part its really solid, the tiles and thick and dont snap together so their edges wont get worn down over time. The small paper pieces are thick enough. The mini-figures are nothing too special, but they are fairly detailed and solid enough to stay whole with normal play (no dangling bits just waiting to get snapped off). One figure in the game I received was fairly bent over, but the piece still stands upright and weve just nicknamed her Swag Lean and went on with our game (quibble 1). The only piece of the game that does not work at all is the little black plastic indicators meant to be slid up and down the sides of the character tokens to indicate their changes in stats. They just dont grip well enough to even stay on let alone stay on the correct number (quibble 2). We made paper copies of the character scales and give everyone pencils, which works well enough, but it would be a lot more elegant if the original pieces just functioned a little better. Also, would be nice if a separate indicator for the turn counter was included, but the game has enough pieces that something else is usually available to do the job. Overall though, your takeaway should still be: This game is fun. Its not too gory or spooky, and it is really, really fun to play over and over again.

We really enjoy this one and love sharing it with new friends. The different scenarios and characters give players an opportunity to role play a little bit. Loads of fun for 3-6 players who like their fun a little dark! Unfortunately, the black plastic clips are an embarrassment. We had to swap them out for paperclips, so I took a star for that.

I asked for this game for Christmas because I heard great things about the novel gameplay. The theming of the game was much darker than expected, practically occult. The whole time playing I felt so weirdly creeped out and anxious that my friends and I didn’t even finish the game. Betrayal at House on the Hill was not fun at all and I would not recommend it to anyone.

Thank you

Ive played the original version with some friends a few years ago and wanted to play it again with the family. I just received the package yesterday. Mom was out with her girlfriends, so it was game night with the kiddos. My 12 and 9 y.o. girls are my play-testers. We started off well, most of the ground floor tiles were out and had a quite a few omens before the haunt started. I ended up being the traitor, luckily. The haunt wasnt too complicated. But they lost. Oh well, maybe theyll do better tonight. Set up is okay. All of the chits are hard to sort through; Ill have to put them in little baggies. Clean-up wasnt too bad. The kids had a great time, thats what was most important.

The game was not very balanced, but overall, its very enjoyable for me and my family. Everyone loved it.

My daughter played this game at a friends and asked for it as a gift. Her and friends,(older teens), love this game and are hooked.

Excellent game!! Arrived here within a week, brand new just as ordered. I recommend this game for people who enjoy clue.