Betrayal at House on the Hill

[happyjosiah]

I have not played this board game, but it is one of the few I need to complete my Avalon Hill (Hasbro) collection. Unfortunately, it seems to be in pretty high demand right now due to halloween. If anyone has a copy they would be willing to sell or trade, please let me know.

[Hahnarama]

Originally Posted by happyjosiah

I have not played this board game, but it is one of the few I need to complete my Avalon Hill (Hasbro) collection. Unfortunately, it seems to be in pretty high demand right now due to halloween. If anyone has a copy they would be willing to sell or trade, please let me know.

Oh Happy J......GOOD LUCK finding a copy. Like a fool I gave my original copy to my nephew but I was lucky enough to receive a "miracle" copy from an UPSTANDING member of Scapers. HAS had them @ in there prize giveaway. From what they told me they were the last 10 copies they had in their warehouse. BatHotH is an AWESOME game that got over looked when it first came out. It's one of Rob's better ones.

I will make some inquiries and see what I can find.

[Ted]

I wish I could help you. This game is my favorite actual board game. I got it as a surprise gift for christmas and it was the best gift I got. For those of you who have not played it look into it and pick it up as soon as possible it is truely great.

breif summery:
In this game you start as simple people investigating the house on the hill. As you walk in the front door it shuts and locks behind you. You take turns investigating the house and you get to build the house as you play. You find items and have spooky events happen. Eventually one of the party will betray everyone else. You then read through the survivors guide while the bad guy leaves the room and reads the traitors book. Each group has a goal to win the game and does not know what the other group knows. When one of the victory conditions is met you get to read the “if you win” section. There are I believe 50 scenarios and I am waiting for them to come out with an expansion though I am not sure that will happen.

Buy this game.

[lonewolf]

I saw this game at TRU and picked it up about a month ago. They had it for $19.99, but when they rang it up it was only $8. I have only been able to play it once, but it seems pretty cool. I'll check back at the TRU that I bought it at and see if they still have them...would be cool if they were still $8 too.

[ej]

Originally Posted by lonewolf

I saw this game at TRU and picked it up about a month ago. They had it for $19.99, but when they rang it up it was only $8. I have only been able to play it once, but it seems pretty cool. I'll check back at the TRU that I bought it at and see if they still have them...would be cool if they were still $8 too.

If you DO get lucky enough to find a copy or copies, snatch them all up because they might go for big bucks on eBay.

[lonewolf]

Originally Posted by ej

If you DO get lucky enough to find a copy or copies, snatch them all up because they might go for big bucks on eBay.

Is it being discontinued?

[Hex_Enduction_Hour]

I just sold my copy to Ej!

[bad_calvin]

Originally Posted by ej

If you DO get lucky enough to find a copy or copies, snatch them all up because they might go for big bucks on eBay.

There are like 8 of them last time I was at our local toys r us. I have not been there in about a month or so though (been broke). If you really need a copy though I can stop up there and if they have it I can buy it. You would just need to pay me back. I will only charge you what they charged me and actual shipping. I won't worry about gas because I have to go past there anyway to take my daughter to her class.

[bad_calvin]

whoops.. ok nevermind.

thats cool you were able to get it!

[bunjee]

All the copies out are the original pressing. They haven't said anything about a second run as of yet.

The most important thing about this game. Get the Errata. Without the errata, you will be very frustrated very soon.

Headless Hollow has nicely formated pdfs of the rule books with the errata worked in so you don't have to risk reading the opponents errata once you trigger the haunt.
Edit: Here is the link that was supposed to be here. http://www.headlesshollow.com/freebies_games.html#bet
I really like Betrayal, I hope that Avalon Hill re-releases it with the corrections so the game gets "fixed" because it is fun, but very broken. (ps: poor poor Rob - see Elstree's upcoming post)


For a very very fun game with a similar, but not broken, feel, I highly recommend Last Night on Earth:The Zombie Game.

[Elstree]

Do y'all know the backstory behind this game? This is one that Hasbro acquired at a concept level of development from an independent designer. The project was then handed over to Rob to develop, who put much love into the game. Unfortunately this was about the time that Hasbro acquired Avalon Hill, and they were anxious to get some games out under that label and reestablish the brand. Betrayal was deemed an appropriate title to release under AH and was taken from Rob and handed over to Wizards on the west coast to finish.

From separate sources around here, I hear that the designers at Wizards were under tremendous pressure to get this thing out the door and had aspects of design ("50 scenarios" was specifically mentioned) dictated to them. The designers objected that there was no way they could have 50 scenarios playtested and still meet the deadline, but were told to do it anyway.

The result is what you get: An absolutely brilliant game that falls flat about a third of the time. I love Betrayal; it is one of my favorite games, but it still has some kinks to iron out. To me it plays like the beta version of what should have been one of the greatest games of the past decade.

The rumor I heard at Gencon was that there is no plan to reprint this, but that it was under consideration for an online/console version.

[lonewolf]

Originally Posted by Elstree

The result is what you get: An absolutely brilliant game that falls flat about a third of the time. I love Betrayal; it is one of my favorite games, but it still has some kinks to iron out. To me it plays like the beta version of what should have been one of the greatest games of the past decade.

This is great info Elstree....we only got to play it once and we ended up with the Frankenstein's Monster scenario and it was very lopsided and didn't seem fair at all. I was hoping that all the scenarios weren't like this. We will definitely keep playing this game based on what you said.

I stopped by the TRU where I got it at and they didn't have anymore left.