Betrayal At House On The Hill Review - Still Worth It?

Join us as we take a look at the tile laying/hidden traitor game Betrayal At House On The Hill published by Wizards of the Coast.

[@Geminosity]

I even find the first part starts to lose it's luster after a good few plays because you've seen most of the rooms and events and it begins to dawn on you that there's no actual goal until the haunt starts. While everything you mentioned needs fixed, I also think having a pre-haunt goal would be nice (something you can try to race and complete before the haunt goes off to get a coop win) :)

[@danielmarlett1421]

I love this game despite it's faults. It got me into the hobby from RPGs. My group doesn't usually have trouble with the haunts but we are okay formulating house rules on the fly when required. Being primarily a RPG group we like this game for the story more than the mechanics.

[@jules153]

Fully agree. We really wanted to like this game and played multiple times but it just didn't work. This is the latest 3rd edition. The first part is OK but not too exciting and then the haunts either didn't make sense or got into a infinite loop and to be honest I just let my character die so we could finish and get onto something more interesting.

[@jonesfamilygamesnight1702]

I lost it at the fart analogy! Nice work.

[@BoardGameBollocks]

🤣

[@chimster1234]

same lol

[@adamg4912]

The first edition in 2004 (along with RISK 2210) was what got me into the hobby. It completely blew me away but this game has not aged well...

[@BoardGameBollocks]

Did the 3rd edition fix the issues?

[@troygillespie]

Are there any games that you would recommend that are very similar in mechanics (not necessarily theme), but aren’t broken? I like the idea of what they were trying to accomplish, like a family weight accessible RPG with a good storyline.

[@BoardGameBollocks]

Maybe Arcadia Quest will scratch that itch???

[@chimster1234]

We really like Arkham Horror 2nd edition although its pretty heavy and takes a few hours to get through. Probably not a good choice for anyone under 16 unless they have a really good attention span. My wife and I play it as a 2p and we enjoy it.

[@Sin4Profit]

This game made a good first impression with my family but it doesn't hold up to multiple playthroughs. The haunt was exciting while the traitor and survivors didn't have a clue as to what each other were trying to achieve, but literally in our second game we got the exact same haunt. On more playthroughs we fell into the other luck based traps that ruin the game like getting the haunt way too early. Also, i don't know if there's a newer edition out, but i'm surprised there was no mention of how garbage the components are. The tiles were so thin they would bend, and the clip on markers didn't fit tightly so everytime you go to change one stat you may bump another unintentionally. I'm curious is the legacy version fixed some of these issues but not curious enough to buy that version.

[@BoardGameBollocks]

They released deluxe upgrade pack with extra dice and ‘fixed’ player boards. We have betrayal legacy but haven’t played it yet as we can’t get the same group round every week.

[@wolvz7081]

Great honest open review as always. Got it myself and only played it once. Haunt is too complicated for non gamers and game isn’t taken seriously by my gaming groups. I might just dump it myself.

[@BoardGameBollocks]

That’s the exact problem we’ve had. We now just throw things in the air abs see how they land. If the game doesn’t care then why should we???

[@ferret901]

Any plans to look at Betrayal 3rd edition? Heard it simplified and added more explanation for the haunts

[@BoardGameBollocks]

We don’t generally buy games we already own. Sorry mate 😢

[@thoranderson2641]

i love your reviews, your voice is like butter

[@biznesstime83]

This has been on my shelf of shame for years. Partly because there are a couple of people I would be playing with that would never be willing to become the traitor, because they wouldn't want to have to learn new rules during the game. Is there any way to mitigate who becomes the traitor in order to avoid one or two specific players?

[@BoardGameBollocks]

My wife doesn’t like being the traitor so we now just roll a die and whoever gets the higher number becomes the traitor and swaps.

[@biznesstime83]

@@BoardGameBollocks I'll try that. Funny, it's my wife that I don't think would want to play the traitor as well.

[@BoardGameBollocks]

We played many time where she didn’t understand what to do because the haunt was broken so someone else took over. We now just swap her mini with whoever gets the higher roll. They game is silly enough that it doesn’t really affect anything in a meaningful way.

[@andrewhannagan2019]

Great review thanks

[@squidracerX]

Its older so i wouldn't hold my breathe, but would this game be fixed if they made a new "Haunt" book like the guy on GameGeeks? If they ever do a newer edition or something?

[@BoardGameBollocks]

Maybe the legacy version is better. We have it but haven’t played it yet.

[@janhenrik7721]

@@BoardGameBollocks you have a link for this new "haunt book" ? so many documents for this game on boardgamegeek..

[@BoardGameBollocks]

It’s for widows walk expansion...

[@nairvivek4959]

Wow, he sounds lot like Liam Neeson.

[@stevebrown5253]

Have you tried Horrified? It looks lighter than House, but it’s definitely a Halloween game. Cheers, Steve

[@BoardGameBollocks]

Not played it. Almost picked it up for Halloween but prices got inflated so I didn’t bother. Any good?

[@stevebrown5253]

@@BoardGameBollocks yes it’s a lot of fun... we got our bums handed to us a few times.

[@somethingirreversib]

Its pretty nice though, each time you get a different mansion and most likely another story. People who like haunted horrors will have a positive feed-back. Some stories have flaws, they are either weak or extreme impossible to finish depending on the random outcome when the haunt begins. I often felt, the haunt begins too early, you end up wandering around without necessary weapons. I also think they pumped in too many stories in one game without proper testing. But its a fun game playing with the kids.

[@jonlatino9964]

can this be played solo? Great review! Love your style! Subscribed !

[@BoardGameBollocks]

No. Both hero’s and traitor have hidden information

[@jonlatino9964]

@@BoardGameBollocks Got it ! Thanks !!!

[@vinclash7763]

I have this game and Dungeons And Dragons Baldur's Gate. I like Dungeons And Dragons Baldur's Gate better. The games are ok. They're a little fun. Great review. I watched you and your family play it live. That was a good video as well. Cheers! Happy Friday!

[@BoardGameBollocks]

We struggled with the haunt on that playthrough but we enjoyed the house exploration. Pot luck what haunt you get I guess...

[@vinclash7763]

@@BoardGameBollocks 🙂

[@crimsonstudios680]

I love this game!

[@aresx666]

i still have fun bringing this game out but a 2/5 seems about right overall. i've played many games since this one and it's hard to go back to this as a "real' board game, you know? i think betrayal at baulders gate is a bit better, but a lot of the same issues are there still

[@BoardGameBollocks]

There’s a few videos online that slate baldursgate more than this. Never played it myself. Got the legacy version of this but haven’t played it.

[@BritishLegion666]

Just subbed. Cool review 😎.

[@BoardGameBollocks]

Cheers geez

[@Potacintvervs]

Your eyes remind me of a spice-addicted Mentat.

[@BoardGameBollocks]

coke and e's were my thing about 30 years ago but never touched the spice

[@galgamekthegreatlord4823]

This guy sounds like Gaz from call of duty 4 ,"hello soap".

[@BoardGameBollocks]

I actually turned down the voice over job. The bloke wasn’t hard enough for me…

[@galgamekthegreatlord4823]

@@BoardGameBollocks what do you think of Betrayal at: Baldurs Gate? Is this better or would you say it's in the same boat as BaHotH?

[@BoardGameBollocks]

I’ve not played it but I’ve heard it’s a bit of a mess.

[@chimster1234]

This game is a broken pos. If they would've just play tested the damn thing it would be a good game.

[@BoardGameBollocks]

Agree with that. The first bit has us coming back year on year on the hope we get a playable haunt.

[@chimster1234]

@@BoardGameBollocks I think we may have stumbled on a decent haunt once or twice but its just not worth the effort anymore. Its been replaced by Arkham Horror 2nd ed and we're much happier

[@BoardGameBollocks]

Have you tried AH 3rd Ed?

[@chimster1234]

@@BoardGameBollocks no I havent. I traded Jamaica for AH 2nd...thats how ended up with it. Have you tried ah 3?

[@BoardGameBollocks]

Wow that’s a great trade! Not played 3rd Ed. Seemed like a cash cow plus we have all the Eldritch Horror stuff so not sure we need any more Arkham.