Betrayal at House on the Hill is a board game published by Avalon Hill in 2004, designed by Bruce Glassco and developed by Rob Daviau, Bill McQuillan, Mike Selinker, and Teeuwynn Woodruff.

5.0 out of 5 stars One of my favorite board game purchases of the last year. Lots of fun. Betrayal is one of my top favorite board games that I’m constantly trying to get my friends to play. It’s a fun, challenging game that’s really enjoyable with the right group of people.

Not difficult, but kids have a tendency to want to read the flavor text as well, which can slow things down. Usually we don’t play too competitively with the kids and just tell them to show one of the adults the card (except the Traitor) so that we can quickly explain what it is that the card does.

Betrayal at House on the Hill is one of the best horror board games of all time. No need to shiver with terror, though – once you know the basics of how to play Betrayal at House on the Hill, you’ll find it easy to jump into any of the haunts and focus on the fun of playing, rather than the rules.

Just want to put in a plug for Betrayal at House on the Hill as a good family game. The recommended age is 12+ but my 7 and 8 year old are getting a kick out of it. The game does require some decent reading skills and the cognitive ability to keep track of die rolls, and attributes, etc so my kids need some assistance.

Multiple Endings: The game has four different endings, depending on which path in the house you’re taking. However, the game has two “official” endings, which are only unlocked until after the four different storylines are completed.

* Monsters and traitors can both use the Elevator to go wherever they wish without rolling. However, the elevator may only be moved once during each entire traitor/monster set of turns, the first time a traitor or monster enters it.

Both the traitor and the survivors have their own objectives with which to complete the game. Betrayal at House on the Hill has co-operative play, player elimination, role playing, variable player powers, exploration, and dice rolling, making it the most mechanically complex game on the list.

Also remember, as per page 6 of the rulebook, the Mystic Elevator can only move once per turn. Which means if the hero moves it, but rolls an undesirable floor, they can’t try again until their next turn.

The first side (traitor or heroes) that completes its goals for the haunt wins the game. At least one hero must survive in order for the heroes to win. However, some haunts include goals that are written so that the traitor can still win the game after he or she dies.

Designed for 3–6 players aged 12 and up, this boardgame features multiple scenarios, a different lay-out with every game, and enough chills to freeze the heart of any horror fan.

The game features 50 possible haunts, which provides for a great deal of replayability.

This variant includes 25 haunts based on episodes from the show, features faster playtimes than previous versions at 25-50 minutes, and has five playable characters: Scooby-Doo, Fred Jones, Daphne Blake, Velma Dinkley, and Norville “Shaggy” Rogers.

Betrayal consists of a deck of room tiles (upper floor, ground floor, and basement); three sets of cards for Items, Events, and Omens; six different character plates, and a number of tokens to represent the players and various monsters or items.

Omen cards are often a factor in determining which haunt the players will experience. It’s too often the case in Betrayal at House on the Hill haunts that the main threat to the heroes is a collection of uninspiring minions who don’t do an awful lot, so it’s refreshing when you stumble across something different.

Avalon Hill released “Betrayal at Mystery Mansion”, a Scooby-Doo themed version of the game, on July 24, 2020.