Boardgame Review: Betrayal at House on the Hill

The 6 of us heard about this house; this haunted house. Apparently the last group of kids and their dog never made it out. Curiosity has struck these cats and we are going to check it out. Huge trees hung over the bumpy driveway and prevented any hint of the moon from shining through. A light fog swirled in the air to make the night seem even more eerie. All around us the sounds of nature echoed through the woods. The warped siding was a dull grey with no hint of the former color. Only a few rooms had any light coming through the cracked windows. Dead flowers drooped over the edges of clay pots sitting on the steps. Not a blade of grass grew in the yard. So this is the house on the hill.
Exploring the house room by room, we find interesting items and creepy, eerie, odd, and supernatural events occur; we come across a few bad omens when all of a sudden...a scream!!! Who was that? We split up, was is Zostra? Zoe? Darin? What are these other noises? What’s going on?!?

What do I think about Betrayal at House on the Hill?

So yeah. This game is a partial cooperative exploration when all of a sudden, something happens. One of you betray the others and try to, well, kill them; while they try to escape and/or kill you in return (clarification later).
I like this game and have still to play a full 6-player game with 5 other humans. I enjoy the interaction within the players, all trying to explore the house together, but also trying to make sure they can win the game when the “Haunt” begins.
So my one dislike of the game is with the character cards. Apparently the first edition had thicker cards so that the sliders had some meat to grip on to, but I have the second printing...they’re thinner. The slider markers just slide around and rarely stay in place; I've added clear tape to thicken the edges that the sliders will hold. Aside from that, the components are good quality; the figurines painted, and the rulebook labeled well.

So? What is Betrayal at House on the Hill?

The game is played with 3-6 players aged (according to the box) 12+, over the course of 1 hour (or longer if you cards and rolls work out that way).

Each players receives:
One (1) double-sided Character card
Four (4) plastic Sliders

Game Setup
Place the Entrance, Basement Landing, and Upper Landing tiles at three (3) different places on the table.
Set the Event, Item, and Omen cards to the side within reach; and the many tokens to the side in case they are needed.

Everyone places their figurine on the Entrance space of the House on the Hill. No one has betrayed anyone...yet.

The character has 4 Traits on it: Speed (movement), Might (attack), Sanity (survive), and Knowledge (puzzles/locks); they have other uses, but in general you’ll use them for that.

The first player has a Speed of 3, moves into the Foyer before heading into the darkness: a Room is drawn and placed door appropriate to the Foyer.
If there is an Event, Omen, or Item symbol; movement ends, draw a card and resolve it, then it is the next players turn.
If you should move into a room that is already revealed and has a card symbol on it, ignore the symbol and continue moving.
Basically, if you reveal a new room and you must draw a card, your movement ends; otherwise, keep walking.
If the card, or perhaps some room, wants you to do a “Test,” then you perform this as follows:
A Test will use one of the 4 Traits; Might 5+ for example.
Your character has a Might of four (4). You take one (1) die for each number of your trait; in this case four (4) dice and roll them. Each die has 2 sides with 2 dots, 2 sides with 1 dot, and 2 sides with no dots.
After rolling the dice, you add your total: 3. This is usually unfortunate and often results in some penalty for failing to make a successful target roll.

Play continues like this until a failed Haunt roll is made.
Oh yeah; I should talk about this major part of the game.
As you’re exploring rooms you’ll notice the Omen rooms with a Crow symbol in them. Every time you reveal a new one of the rooms you draw an Omen card and roll 6 dice. The target number you want to meet is: the total number of revealed Haunt cards or more; 6 Haunt cards revealed, 6 or more on the dice total is needed.

When, and it is inevitable, you fail this roll, well darn, one of you is a traitor. The “Betrayal at House on the Hill” begins. Until now, we’ve been playing a game called “Explore the House on the Hill” (OK not really, but you get the point) AND NOW the betrayal part comes in.

There are three (3) manuals in this game: the rules, the Survivor’s Guide, and the Traitor’s Tomb.
The first 2 pages of the Traitor’s Tomb has a chart to indicate what happens after a Haunt roll is failed. The room, the omen and voilà; the haunt scenario.
Whomever the traitor is takes the Traitor’s Tomb to another room (this is the main point where the age limit is reasonable) to read through the specified haunt; while the remaining players read through the Survivors Guide for the same haunt scenario.

To explain a specific haunt will deny you the pleasure of revealing it yourself one day, therefore, merely the main details.

From this point on, you can die and be eliminated from the game.
Both the traitor and survivors have a specific setup to meet and a specific goal to win the game. I do find most scenarios to be balanced within reason, however, the layout of the house and how many rooms revealed can severely sway the favour to one side or the other; but that’s the thrill.

You know? This game is pretty easy to play; the rules are a bit burdensome to peruse, but it makes up for it in the story text on every card.