REVIEW – Betrayal at (the) House on the Hill

Dying in a creepy, old house at the hands of untrustworthy strangers has never been so fun!

The concept of Betrayal, or BAHOTH, is simple: A bunch of random people show up at a crumbling, old mansion, and one of them secretly wants everyone else dead. SO secretly, in fact, that the player doesn’t even know it themselves. This simple, critical element keeps the replayability high and the frustration low. Well, mostly low. More on that later. Get ready to live your slasher flick fantasy!

GAMEPLAY

BAHOTH is tile-based, so the house is different every time. (Score!) There are dead ends, false doors, and secret dangers, and blah, blah, blah, find out for yourself. Most rooms contain Items, Events, and Omens, which create tiny pockets of story that gradually flesh out the game’s atmosphere, ramping it up from a subtle unease to a sprawling terror-scape as the game rolls inevitably towards…

THE HAUNT

BAHOTH’s contains 50 Haunts, each oozing with delicious glee (the writers clearly had fun with this). Haunts represent a turning point in the story, when the traitor is revealed, their endgame is defined, and all hell breaks loose, giving a beautifully plot-driven mega-tweak in gameplay that carries you through the end. The Survivors and the Traitor are given secret instructions in separate booklets and then… all bets are off. The Traitor could be a zombie; an alien; a mad scientist; a ravenous mound of melting flesh (I’m not even kidding) – and the Survivors are… well… in a great deal of trouble.

The strongest and weakest elements in the game happen in The Haunt.

CONS

First: BAHOTH is not for casual gamers, unless there is a well-seasoned player to sherpa them through the details. With a horde of tiny pieces to manage during The Haunt, those details can be an avalanche of annoyance for anyone unprepared to deal with them. That said, if you’re mentally braced for this and don’t mind sifting through a pile of tiny, near-identical tokens, you’ll do just fine. Second: Given the multitude of endings, and that many of the goals are hidden from your opponent(s), there is healthy opportunity for rules lawyers to have their day, and ruin everyone else’s in the process.

PROS

The same secrecy and detail that can be its downfall leads to some of the most fun in Betrayal. Sometimes the Survivors will be handed an impossible task and inevitably destined to suffer until they die. However, the storytelling here is so delightful that I’ve often enjoyed my helpless doom, even after games of an hour or more. If you have a good group of players, you can easily get a few games in before people have the bravery ground from their souls.

FINAL JUDGEMENT

BAHOTH is just plain fun. The design is full and textured, but approachability is somewhat low. Even with a repeat Betrayer to help, keep that rulebook handy. Also, the little stat markers on the character boards are just about the worst things ever, but don’t let that stop you from slaughtering your pals with a smile.

4 out of 5 stars overall.

Recommended for seasoned groups. Not a beginner game.