I absolutely love this game. It is a very luck intensive game, but the variety is pretty fun. Each map you've played and each scenario is different from your previous games. If you go to the traitors tome and look up which scenario you're playing and you've already played it before you can just pick a different one that occurs in another room you've discovered(so you don't repeat). The time varies significantly from 30 minutes to 2.5 hours. It does take a while to get the hang of the game, and for the first two games you'll constantly be looking in and out of the rulebook. Also it is really easy to play with two players as well(just have each person have two characters and when a haunt occurs the person who controls the traitor transfers the non traitor character to the other person). I just love that this game is so different from any other I've played.

The only disappointment is the black stat markers as other reviews have noted. They are far to loose and will slip off when you move them on the card. There are several quick fixes to this. We saw this was happening and just used sticky notes with arrows pointing towards the number, moving the sticky pad as the stat changes transpired. You could also try paper clips. Or laminating the cards so they are thicker/write on them with dry erase markers.

Just an observation but you will need a very large surface area to play on(think dining room table not coffee table).

We've played 5 different scenarios. Here is a review of Each Scenario

1. Haunt #5- I was a teenage Lycanthropy - 5 stars- detailed review below
2. Haunt #9- Dance of Death/fiddler- 3 stars - There was no traitor and everyone lived and won.
3. Haunt #10- Family Gathering - 4 stars- The house was fairly big and managed to make this pretty easy to win with only a single hero dying.
4. Haunt #14- Stars are right- 5 stars- Came down to the last turn with the Traitor barely edging out the heroes who were 1 turn away from winning themselves
5. Haunt #47 - This was the first scenario we played and several of the rules were misplayed. It looks like if it was played correctly it would have been a lot of fun.

POSSIBLE SPOILERS!

Haunt 5 detailed Review

I loved this map. It looked so helpless from the start for the heroes, but it came down to the end. We didn't have the gun or the silver bullets and the Werewolf and dog were right next to the room where we could search for the revolver. We quickly headed to the basement and managed to unlock the room where the silver bullets were made, and passed the knowledge check for the silver bullets. We quickly handed them off to the flash who made a mad dash for the room where he could search for the revolver...unfortunately he failed! The werewolf and the dog quickly ran him down and bit him until he was bloodied and weak. He managed to pass his sanity check and search for the revolver...unfortunately he failed again. He hobbled out of the room and flipped over a new tile. It was the mystic elevator. He rolled the dice(a zero) fell to the basement and took two points of damage(1 die roll) which killed him. So instead of being a werewolf he died a martyr to the cause. We explored another room seeing as we had a little time and managed to draw the crystal ball. The werewolves were on our trail and in the basement. We took the mystic elevator around the house dodging the werewolf and the dog occasionally exploring a new room or two until we found the vault. We managed to acquire the revolver and combined them with the flashes silver bullets(his lifeless body was also on the trip with us ala weekend at bernies) so as the dog and the werewolf approached we lucky feathered our silver bullet out of our gun and into the heart of the werewolf...but wait ... the werewolf rolled an 8 and dodged. Then little zoey sacrificed herself so that Brandon(our hero with the gun) could shoot at them again. Brandon manages to take down the werewolf this time and retreat one more time to the basement. However the dog takes the slide down and manages to land in the basement with brandon. The dog attacks brandon, but he manages to defend himself and remain unharmed. Brandon then shoots the dog with the silver bullet to win the scenario.

If your friends are new to the board games, I can recommend this game.

I heard a gaming blog say that this is one of the largest board games out there. I wouldn't be surprised if that were true. We have to play this at the dining room table, as a standard coffee table would be far too small. The object of the game is to explore a haunted house and build the house. As you move through doorways on your turn, you randomly pick a room tile to represent the room that you are entering. Each room will have an Event (something good or bad that causes you to roll, draw an item, move to a different room of the house, etc.), Omen (usually an object that can help), or Item. There are rooms that can boost your character's skills.

The goal of the game is to explore the house, collecting items and improving your character before the "Haunt" starts. Once it does one or more of the players will turn "Traitor", leave the room, and read their individual objective in a different book. The remaining players will read their instructions. When the traitor comes back (with their individual secret rules), the game continues as a vs. game.

The game can get tense and there are several of the objectives that have some unclear instructions. Be ready to "house rule" a few unclear items. It is not a deal-breaker - in a game this complex there is likely to be some errors that were uncaught by editors and play testers. To add to the game, get the Widow's Walk Expansion, but I have noticed that the haunts in the expansion are a little too intense for my 9 year old. For a more youth-friendly game try "Betrayal at Mystery Mansion", a Scooby Doo themed game that is similar, but less complex.

I will say that it is intended to be a cooperative game; however, players tend to get suspicious after a few games and don't really help out each other because of the risk that the person that they are building up will at some point turn traitor. The secrecy of the rules can cause some angst if you are not comfortable with the group you are playing with.

Despite its flaws, this is one of our go-to games for game night. We have not gotten through all of the possible haunts and even if you are at risk of repeating one, there are alternate rules that allow you to randomly select a haunt you haven't played.

Most of our games range between an hour (speed game) to an hour and a half, though you could get up to two hours, depending on how quickly the haunt starts and how complex the situation is. I would certainly recommend.

Let's start with THE GOOD NEWS: I'm personally a big fan of this game! It's basically like putting yourself in the middle of every horror movie you've ever seen or heard about. If you like horror movies, then you'll like this game! If not, probably give it a pass. I'm a pretty experienced board-gamer and like many aspects of its gameplay, especially the many ways in which the game is almost never the same each time you play it (see details below.) However, Betrayal is also a very detailed and complicated game that I wouldn't necessarily recommend for beginning gamers or children. Here are some highlights:

GAME DESCRIPTION: As I mentioned above, the game essentially places players into the middle of every horror movie that's ever been written. The game has two phases: 1- Exploring the House, and 2- The Haunt. At first, everyone works together while you play as a band of assorted characters who are exploring your way through a haunted house, revealing haunted room after haunted room. While exploring the house, players collect artifacts that make them stronger. Eventually, however, one player stumbles across an item that triggers the second phase, The Haunt. During the Haunt, you're trying to deal with whatever monster/spirit/other horrifying problem emerges to haunt the house (there are 50 different Haunts to play in the game, depending on how exactly The Haunt is triggered). Often, the player that triggers the haunt turns on the other players (i.e., becoming a werewolf or something) and the other players need to either band together to bring them down or be destroyed. The game ends when either "the haunter" or "the haunted" complete the task assigned to them in The Haunt!

VERY FUN FOR EXPERIENCED GAMERS: In my opinion the best part of Betrayal is the HUGE variability it contains. Every single aspect of the game changes from one round to another: you can choose different starting characters each time (who come equipped with different abilities [strength, speed, etc.]), the haunted house is never the same twice since you reveal rooms from a shuffled stack piece-by-piece, you discover different items each time, and the huge selection of Haunts makes it so that you almost never have to replay them (I've played this game many times, and have yet to repeat Haunts)! Also, the game is made all the more fun because of its immersive, creepy vibe. There are some Haunts that I like more than others, but the feeling of being stuck in a horror movie with your fellow players is pretty pervasive and entertaining. You'll love it!

NOT FOR BEGINNER GAMERS: As fun as this game is, I wouldn't necessarily recommend it to beginner gamers. The game is very complicated, and takes a close reading and re-reading of the rules to play it right. Also, it has lots of fiddly little pieces that, if lost, can really disrupt gameplay. My biggest complaint about the game is that the rules for The Haunt aren't always clear, and you kind of have to decide as a group what the "rules of engagement are" in situations where disagreements arise. This is exacerbated by the fact that only The Haunter is allowed to read their instructions, while The Haunted read their own. If you are a beginning player and want to give this a try, I recommend you find someone who already knows how to play and have them walk you through it. Or do a video tutorial!

NOT NECESSARILY FOR CHILDREN: Finally, because of the horror-based foundation of the game, I wouldn't recommend it for children. Some of The Haunts are pretty creepy, and I wouldn't want to be responsible for recommending anything that might cause nightmares! I'd say that the game creators' recommendation of "Ages 12+" is appropriate.

Bottom line: I'll return to play this game many, many more times in the future, and hope that you'll enjoy playing it too. Happy haunting!

a game great for those who love horror media and board games in general. no game is quite the same