Classic horror game Betrayal at House on the Hill from Avalon Hill and Hasbro is back with a neat new third edition, and if you already own one of the previous releases, the question becomes whether it’s worth the upgrade. The third edition features a number of gameplay changes and a major visual upgrade, as well as 50 different Haunts to try out. While the gameplay and core episode remain, the updates to the winning formula, great artwork, and aesthetics are more than enough for me to recommend bringing the new version to your collection.
Betrayal at House on the Hill: Edition 3 brings back and further improves the main tenants of the base game, so old fans will feel right at home with the overall theme and flow. Players will still explore an expanding haunted mansion while laying tiles, and once Haunting begins, a traitor usually appears and shakes the game up so the heroes can achieve a certain goal.
While all of that remains intact, the scenario cards add new flavor to each game, as you now have a bit of story context about why you are and what you’re looking for. These scenario cards are also directly related to the Haunt, the Omen who starts the Haunt and the person who kicks them off are connected to this card. Since you can start the game with one of several different scenario cards (5 in all) and each one has 9 different nozzles at the back, your games should have some welcome variety to ensure you get a new, more important fun and experience, especially since some games can It continues to cooperate or involves a traitor, and the constant push and pull of the game centered around the traitor keeps players involved and always going.
Various Haunts games can range from involving dogs, monsters, and a house that wants to kill you, to cults, ghosts, and everything in between. The method for activating the Haunt has changed a bit but it shouldn’t be too annoying for previous players, although there will be some people who take a minute to adjust to takedown (at least in most cases) to steal items from enemies, which has helped you collect more Items during the Haunt phase. It’s still here, but only in specific situations the game imparts to you. Not really an impactful change to the game for me, although I see some regret having removed it. However, if the explorer dies, someone can pick up their horoscope and items, so that’s more or less balanced.
However, the biggest draw in the third version is the visual improvement from the previous version. The artwork of the second edition simply pales in comparison to the luster and depth of the third edition. The second edition carried with it an almost vintage quality to the tile and the overall aesthetic, but the third edition is simply gorgeous, with each tile featuring gorgeous details and colors that pop just right. Once you start putting them all together and building your own site, you can’t help but see the vast difference between the two versions, and even the event cards, items, and omen received a similar luster. The miniatures are on par with the course, but the artistic assets of the character panels also received a glow, providing a more immersive experience overall.
There are a few things to note when adding infidelity to your regular rotation. The first is that the game is deceptively a space hog, once you factor in the diverse way the mansion can expand, character boards, different floors, and the two volumes you need to keep track of (plus an optional counter), the standard schedule still struggles to keep up. On the challenge front, things can go badly very quickly, and if you don’t consider all of your options and act when appropriate, you may find yourself very frustrated. It seems like the guns could be a little more effective to help balance that out a bit, the saw even hits you with one death, but even those obstacles didn’t stop me from enjoying the experience.
Betrayal at House on the Hill 3rd Edition doesn’t rewrite the experience we’ve grown to love, but it easily delivers the most elegant and most playable version to date, and the dramatically upgraded visuals and unique scenarios are what really set this newest version up. the above. It’s not a must if you already own the previous versions, but if you haven’t jumped into the betrayal yet, this is without a doubt the one you should buy. If you already own these games but want a version that offers classic gameplay with some welcome improvements and more visual touches, then this will definitely fit that bill.
Rating: 4.5 out of 5
Posted by: Hasbro and Avalon Hill Games
Designed by: Dave Chalker, Banana Chan, Noah Cohen, Bruce Glasgow, Brian Neff, Will Sobel, and Jabari Withers
Art by: Henning Ludvigsen
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