Betrayal at House on the HIll 3rd Edition Review - The Haunts Work?

Avalon Hill greatly improved Betrayal at House on the Hill! Mostly! In this Shelfside review, we cover 3rd edition of this popular roleplaying halloween themed board game, a thematic dungeon crawler for 3-6 players, originating in 2003. You play as ameritrash minis who are investigators delving through an abandoned house, drawing tiles to randomly generate the modular tabletop map while playing. After a number of turns, haunts will trigger, which is the second half of the game, with one player revealed to be a traitor, and then players setup 1 of 50 different scenarios featuring all sorts of superstitious missions. The game is not only highly thematic, but includes team play, free-for-all, dice rolling, and co-op, filled with item card interactions. But were the changes to 2nd edition with Widow’s Walk enough to make 3rd edition great? The component tiles and tokens are pretty thin…
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Table of Contents:
Intro & Overview- (0:00)
What is Betrayal & How to Play - (2:36)
Pros - (4:25)
Cons - (10:48)
Recommender Score - (15:53)
Ashton's Personal Score - (19:35)
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#boardgames #tabletop #review

[@Shelfside]

Check out our written review here! www.shelfside.co/reviews-2022/betrayal3rded-review

[@AdamJorgensen]

Thanks, I greatly appreciate written reviews for video content.

[@KZsZs]

Once again, a great intro. Summarizes all the frustration and clumsy uniqueness this gaming system is all about. Loving the idea and hating the execution. Like a sloppy movie that is based on an amazing synopsis. With the perfect group at the perfect time in the perfect mood, it shines. Take one of those away and you have a mess, or even worse, a boring mess.

[@DeyaViews]

This intro was EXCEPTIONAL! The lighting was really well done! Honestly, based on the intros y'all make, I'd watch a Shelfside short film if there ever is one.

[@sebastienvivas9319]

Love you're reviews so much! Always makes my day to find a new one in my youtube feed!

[@Shelfside]

Cheers mate! -Ashton

[@IslanKleinknecht]

Wow, that tile warpage is reedonkulous.

[@MsGinahidesout]

I'm here for it! The tiles are SO much prettier. But I do wish they were better quality.

[@TheMath3uss]

That intro is basically how I see 99% of all horror movies

[@joncasso]

Just played this yesterday and saw all your criticism in my game play. I had fun with it.

[@Shelfside]

haha cheers, thanks for sharing! -Ashton

[@NATOnova]

great review and this is still a game I quite want to play but probably not shell out the time and money to play all the missions

[@bensecaur1690]

Good comparative review. You expressed well what I feel about both editions. For myself, I’m only going to play 3rd ed. 2nd ed was so inconsistent that I just never played it anymore fearing a horrible experience. That’s gone now and, good or just meh, now when I play it’ll be over in about an hour either way. Thanks for the video!

[@CharlesHepburn2]

Hilarious opening LOL You probably should have taken my class... you would have plenty of options besides relying on that pistol, that's always just out of reach! LOL Thanks for the laugh and teach.

[@adabriggs514]

couple months ago had a very late night research session between buying 2nd or 3rd edition...after a lot of input went with 3rd, but due to unforseen circumstances havent been able to play yet. but, the people i will be playing with have never even heard of betrayal, never mind played it, so i feel like i made the right choice. on the other hand, ive always loved the spook of 2nd edition, and now knowing thats not in the 3rd makes me sad, i will definitely miss it. (though i do have a friend who owns 2nd edition, so maybe its not a total loss lol) not quite sure why i decided to comment, just love betrayal and really enjoyed the video.

[@brockkelly4841]

I played second edition so much in school, I think we had the fastest game, I opened the first room and triggered a haunt where each turn I flipped room tiles over from basement going up, one round to end the game. So we played again.

[@fafum1272]

It's so wild to me that they can't find a way to knock this game out of the park. Misses the mark on production details and on game play issues. I think I'd like a game with half the amount of haunts in the base game for an attempted quality over quantity experience. Then they can work on expansions that come with new haunts, characters, tiles, etc. But I get it...this has to be a really tough game to find the right game play balance while having a myriad of haunts.

[@Shelfside]

If I had to guess, keeping the package contained to a smaller, cheaper box that can be found in Target is probably hurting it's potential quite a bit, cause I'd imagine that if the quality was kept up like 3rd edition but just scaled up to a phat box with more items, omens, rooms, and haunts for hilarious jank this would be a slam dunk. That or like you said, use the bigger box to suuuper flesh out a more limited number of haunts, kinda like Cthulhu Death May Die Scenarios -Daniel

[@tahubob]

I have 2nd Ed and Widows Walk and don't feel like I need to upgrade, the jank is part of the charm and honestly I've only had good games of Betrayal, plus the variability with the expansion realistically means you'll never see everything. Hoping I can play someone else's 3rd edition for the new haunts

[@salt_factory7566]

Having a haunt where the traitor just cleans house in 1-2 turns feels like a fitting story. Obviously this wouldn’t be fun to happen every time compared to nail biting 4+ turn haunt battles. Yet that occasional “uh oh, we’re screwed” feeling the moment the haunt comes down fits the theme of the game.

[@wmarclocher]

Thanks for the heads up Although I am a big fan of both and a H.P. Lovecraft Scooby Doo crossover sounds awesome, I think I'll be sticking with Nemesis for the scary theme.

[@dandeleon2764]

This review was exactly what I needed to justify my feelings about the 3rd edition. I've had multiple friend groups be introduced to modern board games with Betrayl (2nd) and when we decided to try out this 3rd edition, the Haunts all felt a bit stale in comparison. We've yet to have a Haunt that envoles the blend of campy horror of 2nd edition. (Spoiler Alert for 3rd edition: Our first scenario was that the real estate agent for the house we were all touring was trying to kill everyone with a demon. Basically the Haunt revealer was thematically killed and took over a demon, and there was really no special mechanics. And thats been a theme for many of the scenarios. The mechanics are streamlined, but it comes at the cost that many Haunts end up feeling similar. Also, the Characters are all pretty balanced; Oliver "Swift" is supposed to be 3rd editions Flash, but his speed is the same as 3 other characters at 5! And they got rid of the Crazy Man and Scared Girl Omens!

[@acerumble4991]

Great review, but would still get a like for the Calvinball reference alone

[@fufu1405]

Loved the intro

[@Shelfside]

cheers man! -Ashton

[@LPDani123]

great review! I also really enjoyed your Tainted grail video, are you planning on doing one on Destinies?

[@Shelfside]

Cheers! No plans to do anything on destinies, but man that game looked so good at the store! -Ashton

[@RocketSlug]

It's been a while, but I remember enjoying Betrayal at Baldur's Gate more than House on the Hill 2nd edition. While it lost the B movie horror vibes, I remember preferring the increased production values and less janky haunts

[@ANDIMRIGHTHERE]

can you break down that {1/1/2/2} part at 10:59 i understand the whole number of players variable concept but it's still pretty iffy. what i'm getting is that if you have the lowest player count possible (which is 3) then that mean after you heal all your traits, the highest you can gain in both speed and might is 1. therefore if there's more than 3 people playing, you instead gain two in both physical traits instead of 1......or am i wrong?

[@Shelfside]

for sure. So if you're damaged in any trait, return it back to the starting value. Then if you're playing with 3 players, gain 1 in might and speed. If you're playing with 5 people, then you'll gain 2 in both physical traits. Freaking betrayal, they made it more confusing than it needs to be :) -Ashton

[@moltenbullet]

Went straight up Bollywood drama at the front there. Hahahaha

[@mauliksharma]

Great review as well. For your next review, with Andor being amazing on Disney +, you consider doing a review of the Star Wars rebellion expansion that added rogue one stuff?

[@Shelfside]

Haven't gotten to watch any of the Disney Star Wars TV shows! I'll have to touch on SW Rebellion in the future -Ashton

[@LastBehemoth]

So.. Amazons says there is an expansion, Blood on The Moon. Do you think it would raise the score of 3rd ed or keep it the same?

[@Shelfside]

oh interesting! I don't think that it would change the overall score at a glance, but might bump my personal score! -Ashton

[@TheSpinser]

Dungeon synth connoisseurs rejoice!

[@TheErnieforss]

But how is it compared to legacy? Should i buy it if i have legacy

[@symmetry_eternum]

Just got the game yesterday, played a few rounds, did Haunts, 9, 40 and 50, those were relatively easy to understand, but when i looked at number 34 that one was more confusing

[@Shelfside]

yep, sounds like the Betrayal experience :D -Ashton

[@tasujturlaj5272]

Haha, what a intro! Total ROTFL :-D

[@drew8235]

I was excited to see a new edition of this game, being that 2e is still not as good as the game COULD be, but the warping tiles and removed content is a massive deal breaker. =( I'm not big on the idea of having to buy a game 3-4 times before I'm happy with it. Betrayal is starting to wear on my patience.

[@user-ss4ms7pk6g]

13:20 i have the first edition and the tiles quality was top notch, no springs (yes im writing this for u to envy me😁😝😌😏

[@Eric_Shaun]

Just saw on Amazon that 3rd edition exist and was intrigued if it was in fact "better" than 2nd edition Thanks for exactly clarifying what I was looking for. For me its then a hard pass, because, like you, I really enjoy the dark and mystic vibes, the irresistible greed to roll the dark dice, etc. :D

[@Shelfside]

Glad this helped! I saw 2nd ed at the store the other day -Ashton

[@bananerz3167]

I love that they added ur dad to the game

[@AugmentedAugust]

i've always really wanted to like betrayal, but man the hidden information has never worked for my groups. I've played the original and legacy, and every game besides the first of Legacy has been held back by people not being able to understand the rules and not really being able to ask for help without spoiling the game. For me, it was often the opposite of sleazy players taking advantage of the hidden information. We'd finish a haunt that was pretty easy and then once we were all able to look at the tome, we realized the traitor should have been more powerful but missed something. Doesn't really sound like they fixed that totally, unfortunately. Great review tho!

[@svachalek]

Yeah that’s especially a problem because of how the game otherwise is at a weight that’s easy to pull in non-gamers for a round. But then you have to give them a rulebook and have them figure out what they’re allowed to do and how to use that without being able to ask questions. It can easily fall apart at that point. Good that they worked on the readability though, seems like that should help somewhat.

[@Shelfside]

heyo cheers! Definitely feel ya on the experience there. So many 'cheaters' that just try to get their way! -Ashton

[@carlosmelendez8317]

Can this be played single player?

[@bossman4799]

I never had 2E and picked up 3E finally over the summer for cheap (like $22 bucks I think). I got to play two 4 player games with my friends before we played our yearly A&A 1940 global game. We had a lot of fun with the ridiculous stuff that happened and I’m glad I bought it.

[@Shelfside]

Awesome! Yeah it's a fun little game that works great as an opener or ender to a more serious game night -Ashton

[@epictube51]

How were you able to get it for $22 ?

[@bossman4799]

@@epictube51 It was on amazon. I think it might have been during a prime day or with a coupon for 50% off when i bought something else from a list. I don’t remember the price exactly but it was definitely under $30 ($22-30).

[@DaddyRatchet23]

Damn what stores are you in that have widow's walk laying around on the shelves? 👀

[@Shelfside]

Crazyyyy right? But it has been almost a year since this review, probably won't be on the shelves anymore haha -Ashton

[@marianrys316]

Dark dice are bone-white :) LOL 😁

[@Shelfside]

love those dark dice! -Ashton

[@jupiterloner999]

Any alternatives for this game that you can think of?

[@Shelfside]

We like Mansions of Madness 2nd ed a lot! It's still spooky, the app takes care of the fluff, and has semi-coop elements! -Ashton

[@TheProgenitor]

Have you guys ever done a review of Betrayal at Balder's Gate? Your perspectives on 2nd and 3rd edition seem to echo myself and many others, and I'd be curious as to what you thought of the Balder's edition

[@Shelfside]

A friend has a copy of Bladders's Gate betrayal. Heard its good, hope to play one day, maybe a quick review? -Ashton

[@TheProgenitor]

@@Shelfside My Friend group tends to prefer it over 2nd Ed. There are a lot more cooperative "haunts" but due to the more high fantasy setting of DnD it feels a lot more natural. There are only 2 floors but that means the explored map tends to be significantly more sprawling and that can really change strategies on a triggered haunt

[@Snipfragueur]

Aw yeah, good stuff

[@Spoutnicks]

If you're looking for a hidden gem to review, let me recommend Battle For Biternia. It is a tabletop MOBA designed for a casual play, unlike say Skytear which is much more competitive oriented.

[@Shelfside]

Hey thanks for bringing this to my attention- noted! -Ashton

[@user-ss4ms7pk6g]

22:13 so like i kinda mentioned if u take only 50% of everything from the new edition and keep 50% of everything from the second u get the best of both worlds...😏😏😏

[@EfrainRiveraJunior]

It seems that most 2nd Edition fans didn't like this one too much.

[@the117man]

2nd edition is superior hands-down 🔥 Only get 3rd if looking for more kid-friendly haunts or less luck variation

[@rileymcphee9429]

I'm really glad they stripped out the clunky/ confusing mechanics. Too many games are bogged down with overly complicated mechanics that don't work or are only fun under certain circumstances.

[@user-ss4ms7pk6g]

if im gonna buy this its only for the components i think to mix it up like variation w the other versions and try to take the best from each and put together,, not so much for the haunts i guess...ok maybe a little

[@CV-lm7pv]

No other game has let me down so many times than Betrayal. One will think that you'll stop trying after a while, but the idea is so great. I only wish they get it right one day

[@Shelfside]

The idea works REALLY well sometimes! Sometimes! Both really positive and negative experiences bahaha -Ashton

[@ravenkey708]

Oof, those warped-ass tiles alone make this one a no go for me

[@Shelfside]

they work ok in the stack if you orient them in one direction, but man are they sticking up while playing a LOT -Ashton

[@user-ss4ms7pk6g]

yeah this whole franchice is basically a very old cool vintage looking car w terrible breaks and wheels😝😝

[@williammcneil2045]

best movie ever :P

[@Shelfside]

ahaha cheers man :D -Ashton

[@35raksO]

You know what other game is great for Halloween… Disney Villainous 😏

[@luxordeathbed]

I ditched my copy of 2nd because the traitor/player books were too confusing for non-gamers. 3rd, well looks cheaper quality and doesn't sell me to get it again. To the burn pile...

[@exodusventures373]

Yeah -No! I am going to stick with 2nd edition. I do not like that they just didn't make a migration pack for 2nd edition. For all your cons I canceled my order for it and the werewolf addon. I enjoy the complex of 2nd edition. I didn't lchess only to play checkers. Thanks for helping me with this decision.

[@BorgBunnie]

Eh I’d still play it

[@user-ss4ms7pk6g]

yeah this Franchise is an ever developing project that might never be the great game one day it has potential to be and should be, but maybe one day, meanwhile we just have to put these different editions together also w the first one like a Frankensteins monster "puzzle" to "maximize" the experience of the core of the game, haah😅😅

[@Zilong09]

This game will always be wonky at best and I think you should always treat it as something that is full of wack, antics , and unbalance. I never take it seriously. I know it is a POS game mechanically. It is full of jank. Idk if I would get 3rd edition especially since I have the expansion and some deluxe components. I play with enough experienced players that are cool with house ruling the jank. For those looking for more Betrayal, try it's Legacy version. I personally love it.

[@wow1371]

Not really interested in what 3rd edition did, there are a few rule changes that can easily be implemented into 2nd edition to improve it and that is basically all you need. The other changes to 3rd edition are not interesting at all.

[@deepspaceexplorer4265]

I dont like this edition at all. It seems like they dumbed it down for the sake of balance. Also, its too bright. Too colorful. Not atmospheric like second exition. I'll stay in the past...

[@jaykarhunen6568]

3rd edition looks pretty trash to me