Family game night usually consists of something like Scrabble, Sorry, Monopoly, or maybe even something a little more complicated like Settlers of Catan. But for those who are bored with the traditional roll and play board games, try your hand at Betrayal at House on the Hill. This game is a whodunnit game with a traitor and some survivors.
The game starts as the players place their character pawns in the entrance hall of an abandoned house on a hill. Players move spaces based on their speed stat and can either move into a new room to end their turn, or traverse through the rooms and halls of the house looking for items, omens, or events. After every player finishes a turn, they must roll four dice, each numbered zero, one, or two, to initiate the haunt. The haunt is started when the total of the dice roll is higher than the total number of omen cards currently in play. At this point, a player is randomly selected to be the traitor while the others are survivors.
The survivors need to work together to complete a task to thwart the traitor in order to win the game, on the other hand, the traitor needs to either complete their special task, or kill off all of the survivors. For their specific task or goal, the traitor must refer to a booklet while the survivors do the same together. The traitor leaves the room in order for the survivors to be able to confer in secret.
This game was a little confusing in the beginning of play with my family. It was a little slow at the start, but we started to get into it quickly and it became very fun as soon as we understood the ins and outs of basic play.
For those who aren’t a huge fan of a board game that requires too much thought, this game might not be for you. But for those who get really into board games that are very intrusive, this is a hit. I love this game because of the variability of the possible scenarios and situations one can be put in.
I’m giving Betrayal at House on the Hill a three and a half out of five spartan heads. This game in my opinion is very very fun, but most people would get confused or lost while trying to figure out this game, killing the momentum. Because this isn’t a universally adaptable game that anyone can pick up and have fun with, I gave it a lower score. But for the niche target, this game is a ton of fun, and I recommend going to Target and picking up a copy for yourself.