Game: Haunting House, The

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Firemael — 2008-10-26T22:04:21+00:00

All the tiles, including expansions 2-4

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dagny21 — 2008-07-11T19:38:37+00:00

The short side of the box

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dagny21 — 2008-07-11T19:37:36+00:00

The long side of the box

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dagny21 — 2008-07-11T19:35:33+00:00

There are 8 different types of tiles.

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dagny21 — 2008-07-11T19:31:38+00:00

The 6 "screaming" pawns and the starting player marker

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dagny21 — 2008-07-11T19:27:22+00:00

The 10 cards each player gets

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dagny21 — 2008-07-11T19:20:45+00:00

The backs of the tiles

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Theryn — 2008-07-10T19:11:25+00:00

Life-sized Haunting House at Origins 2008 (the 7 year olds each won a game)

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whoami — 2008-06-14T00:32:43+00:00

Thread: Re: The Haunting House

sdonohue — 2007-10-18T02:45:07+00:00

I find that adding the second expansion typically reduces overall play time with adult players. The ghost tokens allow you to perform some pretty neat actions at will, which in turn makes the game go faster.

Thread: Re: The Haunting House

fsumarc — 2007-10-18T01:16:48+00:00

Not sure that I would call it a new game. It's over 3 years old. The 4th expansion is fairly new though.

Not a bad game but definitely closer to an abstract game then a theme filled haunted house game.

Thread: The Haunting House

seawolf — 2007-10-17T18:28:31+00:00

The Haunting House
From: Twilight Creations, Inc.
Reviewed by: Ron McClung
The Haunting House is a new tile board game from Twilight Creations, Inc..

The Haunting House is a tile board game where you are racing your friends through a so-called haunted house.

From the back cover:
“It's Friday Night.... You're bored... The Old Breitenstien place is just screaming your name!”

The game is fairly simple. For as large a box as it has, there is very little to it - cards, tiles and figures. Setup involves setting up the house tiles. Each tile has different hallway pictures, going in different directions, some with trap doors and others with ghostly images in the hallways. There is also an entrance and exit tile. When the house is laid out, the hallway tiles may mot match up perfectly but that is OK, it is supposed to be that way.

Each player chooses a pawn and matching 10-card deck. The cards are action cards. There are cards used to effect movement of your pawn - Move One Space, Move Two Spaces, Switch Places, Secret Passage, Trap Door, and Hall of Mirrors. There are also cards that move tiles - Rotate 90 degrees, Rotate 180 degrees, Switch Two Tiles, and Move Exit.

Oldest player goes first. A play round starts with a Random card round and then a Chosen card round. The goal is to get your pawn from the entrance to the exit before your opponents. The random cards are four random cards drawn from your own deck laid out in front of you. All players then perform the actions they have pulled. Following this, they then choose four cards and perform those actions. The Move Exit, Trap Door and Hall of Mirror can not be chosen however in the Chosen Card round.

Play is fairly easy but can be methodic. It can be frustrating during those random actions because your character can go way off target at times. Tactics behind the game is to simply slow your opponent down while giving you the shortest route to the exit. There is a considerable amount of back stabbing at times, misdirecting, and moving opponents, but that is the fun part. Your strategy is helped by predicting your opponents' moves and blocking them while helping yourself out. When I played it with three other friends, game time was longer than we expected as you meandered through the maze.

In conclusion, this is a cute little game, but I was left wanting a little more out of it. I think that was the intent of the designers because I found out that there 3 other expansions that you can buy. Of course there are!. I was hoping for a little more "supernatural" elements (aside from the moving halls and exits). There are pictures of ghosts on the tiles but they have no game effect. That was left for the expansions. I'd imagine that adding expansions, however, would increase the play time and complexity of the strategy.

For more details on Twilight Creations, Inc. and their new Tile Board Game “The Haunting House” check them out at their website http://www.twilightcreationsinc.com and at all of your local game stores.

The Haunting House
From: Twilight Creations, Inc.
Type of Game: Tile Board Game
Game Design by: Kerry Breitenstein
Developed by: Kerry Breitenstein
Cover Art by: Dave Aikins
Additional Art by: Todd A. Breitenstein
Number of Pages: Type Number
Game Components Included: 38 Board Tiles, 60 Cards, 6 Custom Sculpted Pawns
Retail Price: $ 22.99 (US)
Number of Players: 2-6
Player Ages: 10+
Play Time: 30+
Item Number: TLC 3100
Website: www.twilightcreationsinc.com

Reviewed by: Ron McClung

Thread: Gantrell's Regimented Review

gantrell — 2007-09-06T05:22:10+00:00

Title – The Haunting House
Age Range – 10 and up
Players – 2 to 6
Maker/Publisher – Twilight Creations Inc.
Designer – Kerry Breitenstein

The Components:
36 cardboard hallway tiles
1 cardboard entrance tile
1 cardboard exit tile
60 cards
6 player pawns
1 starting player marker
1 rules page

The Concept:
You and your friends have decided to bet each other to see who can make it through the local haunted house first.
At its heart, House is a roll and move game, you just use cards instead of dice. Despite appearances of it being a tile laying game, the house is “built” by laying out all the tiles in setup and the game is really just trying to get to the exit square. With minimal exceptions, there are few obstacles to keep you from doing this.

The Good:
The tile artwork is nice and they do a good job of portraying a claustrophobic “dungeon crawl” feel.
The rules are laid out well and easy to follow and understand.

The Nitpicky:
First off despite it giving all the appearances of being a tile lying game, it isn’t. The floor plan is laid out in setup and the tiles are rotated or swapped on a limited basis throughout the game, making a very dynamic-looking board actually be very static.
Next, there are no “events” of any kind that made the house feel haunted. The players get the same handful of cards each round and those cards dictate movement and switch tiles. There is no logical storyline or “reason” the cards do what they do. They just do it because the card says “switch 2 tiles”
Thirdly, much like having no “events”, there is also nothing to do. No interaction, no exploring rooms, no combat, just monotonous walking.
Lastly, the game just turns into an exercise in futility as every player has a “move the exit” card that can be played once a turn. So, you trudge toward the exit (at a snail’s pace), and suddenly the exit disappears only to reappear clear across the board. That can happen every turn.

Overall:
I disliked just about everything of this game. Unfortunately I was expecting way too much before I played it. I was expecting a cross between Carcassonne and Betrayal at House on the Hill and House couldn’t be any farther from those two if it tried.
I was truly disappointed in this game. I think the game has huge potential but the boring mechanics and lack of anything interesting to do make the game fall very flat.
I will be hard pressed to play this ever again, unfortunately.

The Score:
The Score Per The BGG Scale:
1 – Defies description of a game, clearly broken
2 – Extremely annoying game, won’t play this ever again
3 – Bad, likely won’t play this again but could be convinced
4 – Not so good, it doesn’t get me but could be talked into it on occasion
5 – Average game, slightly boring, take it or leave it
6 – Okay game, some fun or challenge at least, will play sporadically if in the right mood
7 – Good game. Usually willing to play it
8 – Very good game, I like to play it. Probably I’ll suggest it and never turn down a game
9 – Excellent game, always want to play it
10 – Outstanding, always want to play and expect this will never change

That’s my .02
Gantrell
“KMG365”

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fractaloon — 2007-07-01T03:39:45+00:00
Six decks of player cards. Each player gets the same set of 10 cards.

Thread: Re: Much fun and laughter

Scrat — 2007-05-27T07:59:46+00:00
Thanks for the comments Marc. I was particularly pleased to pull a new game out for the kids that didn't take days of preparation before we could think about playing.

As you say the theme is rather pasted on to an abstract concept, but to young eyes (and mine being young at heart) it made for lots of fun.

Thread: Re: Much fun and laughter

fsumarc — 2007-05-27T06:40:24+00:00
Great review! This game gets a bum rap I think due to the theme pasted onto what is basically an abstract game. It can drag on sometimes if folks are able to successfully block each other well by just focusing on that instead of exiting. We've enjoyed this game every time we bring it out.

Thread: Much fun and laughter

Scrat — 2007-05-27T04:16:27+00:00
I've just completed a game of The Haunting House with my two eldest children.

This is the first time we have played and I was a little dubious about how it would be received, given some of the negative reviews posted here.

I was pleasantly surprised with the experience. My daughter is 8 years old and tends to bore quickly, she was going to be the canary in the coalmine for this session. My son is nearly 12 and is more flexible about what he is playing. They both liked the theme of the game.

I was very impressed with the contents of the box on opening. All the pieces are of a very high quality. The cards are well finished, the floor tiles too, and all have attractive thematic artwork, and are pre-punched. The figures are nicely detailed. I was thinking some variation in poses would have been nice, but it works fine the way it is. Rules are fairly well laid out and I could easily quote sections to the kids as we encountered cards for the first time.

Comment has also been made about how large the box is for the small components within, but with the expansions available, the whole game can be stored in the original box. Serendipity or good forward thinking on TCs behalf, either way... Tick VG

I know there is a FAQ document on the TC website but it's not been updated since 2005, and perhaps could bear some revising to cover more recent questions posed in the TC Yahoo Group.

Our game took around 45 minutes, allowing for getting the kids used to the cards and referencing the rules and FAQ. I did make a hasty exit but the kids were chasing on my heels very adeptly and dogging each other and me with card attacks whenever possible.

I felt the random hand/ chosen hand mechanic was a good idea. As it is a 'Haunted' house, I think it is better that you don't have total control over your movement. You are being 'played' by the house some of the time.

All in all, a very entertaining time for all, and unanimous vote to play again ASAP. Simple and fast, it makes for a great filler. Those seeking more depth in their gameplay should probably look elsewhere.

I had purchased the master game, the second story, and the Attic, but the second story is on backorder so we were tied to playing the master game only. We're looking forward to playing with the expansions, although we were very satisfied with the master game.

Thread: Re: The Gateway Game To Convince People To Not Be Gamers

Geosphere — 2006-08-31T14:13:28+00:00
robartin wrote:
It's so random that there's no point in even playing it.

It makes a fine children's game.

Well, it makes a passable children's game.

Well, my daughter likes the ghost pictures.

She also likes putting cherries in her mac & cheese, so her taste may be in question.

Thread: The Haunting House and Multiple Intelligences

sdonohue — 2006-08-29T16:55:52+00:00
Components
38 Board Tiles, 60 Cards, 6 Custom Sculpted Pawns, 1 starting player pawn

Game Play
The game starts by laying out 36 tiles in a xix by xix grid, then placing the entrance in one corner and the exit in the opposite corner. Each player then chooses a pawn and takes the 10 cards of the same color.
The game is played with two different rounds each turn. The first round is random with each player choosing 4 cards randomly and then following the directions one at a time. The second one is programmed with players choosing 4 cards out of 7 and again following them one at a time. Once all the players have completed both rounds, then the next player becomes starting player.
The game ends when one player manages to escape the house.

Intelligences
This review is part of a series of reviews I’m doing as I evaluate games my wife may use in her classroom or that I’m using with my Boy Scouts. Apart from the normal review, I try to identify the kinds of intelligence that the game will use. For an explanation of multiple intelligences, see: my blog post at: http://www.boardgamegeek.com/article/786097

Logical-Mathematical
The game relies on planning and programming your next moves in advance and so logic is key.

Spatial
Moving through the maze is very visual. Being able to visualize the layout of the board based on your card plays is very helpful.

Interpersonal
The game can be played either to win or to keep others from winning. Having some negotiation skills can help to keep people from blocking you.

Age Appropriateness
I have played with children as young as 6, although I don’t recommend that. I’d suggest playing with kids 8 and up. The game could be handicapped by making one player use more or less random cards.

Overall
The game is fun, but the random phase can make it seem like it’s playing you sometimes. This can be frustrating to serious gamers who feel like they aren’t controlling their own fate. It can also be difficult for younger kids who may be frustrated at their lack of progress.

Thread: Re: The Gateway Game To Convince People To Not Be Gamers

robartin — 2006-08-23T00:53:39+00:00
Paul is right - the game is just plain bad. It's so random that there's no point in even playing it. Combine that with the fact that there is ZERO theme and it completely falls down. It's short enough to be a filler, but there's just nothing to it.

Thread: Re: The Gateway Game To Convince People To Not Be Gamers

Geosphere — 2006-08-21T16:48:56+00:00
The base game is so mediocre, I can't see spending much to add an expansion.

Thread: Re: The Gateway Game To Convince People To Not Be Gamers

sdonohue — 2006-08-18T21:24:55+00:00
While I think some of your points are valid, I don't think the screw you factor is any higher than in many other games. When you pick your actions, you have a choice to either try to screw your opponent or advance yourself, a mechanic that's present in many games.

You are right that without the random phase it would be pretty much "solved".

I have found, strangely enough, that adding in the Second Floor expansion actually makes the game play faster and a bit more strategically. The addition of the disks, which can be used at any time, really makes it possible to better control your own actions.

Thread: The Gateway Game To Convince People To Not Be Gamers

Geosphere — 2006-08-16T13:15:29+00:00
This is a game that would be a great gateway game for people who don't game, really don't want to spend too much time thinking about strategy, and want a fair chance at winning. But they probably wouldn't really want to play many other games after this. Its more like a close the gateway game.

The components are fairly snazzy enough, in a fairly small box that's too big.

Tiles lay out the floor plan of your haunted house. Haunted means that there are some nifty ghosts drawn onto some of the tiles. Each player gets their own little action deck.

Rounds are done by placing 4 cards from your action deck face down. Then everybody turns over card 1 and does what it says (each player in turn, not simultaneously), then card 2, and so on. So your actions are planned out, four in a row.

Cards allow you to rotate tiles, switch tiles, move your little scared token guy one or two spaces, lose a turn, or the real doozy - move the exit that is the goal of the game.

OK, so wacky problem number one is that move the exit thing. See, you really can't be sure where you have to go to win. Tough to race through a maze when the exit keeps randomly jumping away.

Now, the "quirky mechanic" kicks in.

You only get to choose your four action cards every other turn.

That's right - a full 50% of the game, you get your actions randomly determined for you.

Ha ha - what rollicking fun, ho ho. I get to carefully plan my trip through this maze only to have a completely random draw between me and my opponents end up having me lose turns, and move the finish line of the race several times. Whee. To tell you the truth, I think playtesting must have shown that the game would otherwise always be a draw or something, so they came up with this mechanic.

You kind of have to hope that on the turns when you actually get to choose what's going on, that you can edge a bit closer to where you want to go before the random turns show up and completely mangle the concept of the word strategy.

The more players, the more random annoyances will happen. With two players, maybe you can kind of mitigate the randomness. With four, perhaps you should simply fling the tiles across the room into a container for points. I suggest something like a garbage can.

Its a pretty good children's game, being mostly random and all, but with a pretty high screw you factor, followed by the rounds of screw everybody.

Thread: Re: WINNING WITH THE SECRET PASSAGE CARD

zombiegod — 2006-08-07T15:19:39+00:00
duckweed wrote:
Unless Rob is the designer or developer of the game, then I must strongly disagree with his answer.

From the game designer Kerry Breitenstein...
Yep, you can win with the secret passage taking you out of the house.

Take care,

Kerry

Thread: Re: Tips

duckweed — 2006-08-02T22:19:22+00:00
I agree with Rob's tips. And to add a few of my own-

Try to keep your opponent(s) sequestered near the center of the house, where it will take them many moves to reach a corner.

Try to maneuver yourself to a corner, then wait to move the exit there.

If possible, get to a corner with a 4-way passage tile (your opponent won't be able to rotate it)

When your opponent is on an outside wall or otherwise nearing a corner, focus your energy on thwarting him or her rather than yourself, or at least balance this thwarting effort with your own progress (depending on how close they are to an actual corner)

Thread: Re: WINNING WITH THE SECRET PASSAGE CARD

duckweed — 2006-08-02T22:15:36+00:00
Unless Rob is the designer or developer of the game, then I must strongly disagree with his answer. The designers have said that the language on the cards should be followed EXCACTLY when there is a question, and the card plainly specifies a HALLWAY. Besides, it would be too easy to win if you could simply play a secret passage card during the chosen card round and escape.

Thread: Re: WINNING WITH THE SECRET PASSAGE CARD

zombiegod — 2006-05-20T17:45:46+00:00
Yes you can move through a wall to the exit.

Thread: WINNING WITH THE SECRET PASSAGE CARD

giotelamon — 2006-05-20T12:00:10+00:00
Can you win with the secret passage card by moving through a wall to the exit tile?

The 1 wall only rule is met. But the manual says "Move your player figure through one wall to a hallway

Thread: Re: Do you have to move 2 spaces when you play a Move 2?

sdonohue — 2006-01-30T13:02:06+00:00
Having been instructed by the designers in my shortcomings (nicely), the answer is you must do EXACTLY what the card says if it's possible. If it's not possible, then you do nothing.

Thread: Re: Do you have to move 2 spaces when you play a Move 2?

zombiegod — 2006-01-30T12:18:46+00:00
If the card is a 'Move 2' you Must use the full quota. Even if it means returning you back to your original square. You may not only use 1 point.

As for the Secret Door. You must also use it whenever possible. you are not given the option to decline.

Thread: Do you have to move 2 spaces when you play a Move 2?

plezercruz — 2006-01-30T09:47:42+00:00
We played Haunting House today and an interesting dispute arose. One player had played a move 2 when he was one space away from the corner. He promptly moved 1 space (to the corner) and declared his move 'done.' We protested that he has to move a 2nd space (either back to his original starting point or around the corner). He said the rules didn't say he had to.

The rules don't specify. I pointed out that when movement is optional the rules typically use the language "up to 2 spaces." He remained unconvinced. Further, if the "up to" language was sufficient, could a player playing a Move 1 simply refuse to move at all?

On a related note: If you play a secret door and find yourself in a unforeseen position, is using a secret door optional, or are you compelled to pass through some wall if at all possible? This is particularly annoying if someone plays a "switch places" on you, and you find yourself in a position where the only "single" wall is in the exact opposite directs.

In both cases, we ruled that you are compelled to carry out your full move if at all possible (as in RoboRally). But those decisions came with a certain amount of whining and I'd like to know what you guys think.

Pete

Thread: 2006-01-24 Tuesday Night Game: Haunting House + Second Story

nsparks — 2006-01-27T01:04:42+00:00
Players: Brandon, Chris, Ed, Nick

About The Game:

Take some RoboRally, add some Switchboard, add some Munchkin, and then some more random stuff, and you come up with The Haunting House played with The Second Story expansion.

So, with the base game, you make a 6 x 6 grid of tiles, randomly laid out. You also have an entrance tile and an exit tile that you place outside the 6x6 grid on opposing corners. The goal is to be the first to get from the entrance tile to the exit tile.

When you add The Second Story expansion, you get rid of the entrance tile and replace it with a stairway tile. Then, you build a 5 x 5 grid for the second story. But, you mix all the tiles together first because the expansion includes tiles that auto-rotate when you land on them. You also put little discs (face-down) on each of those rotating tiles. These discs can be collected and used at a later time to trade cards with opponents, cancel cards, prevent tile rotation (on auto-rotating tiles), and switch the discs on the board. There are also discs that are ghosts that make certain routes impassible unless you switch discs around.

So, everyone has their own deck of cards that do various instructions (move X spaces, rotate tiles, switch tiles, etc.). Each round consists of two phases. On the first phase, you hand your deck to the person on your right. They lay out 4 random cards in front of you. You all reveal simultaneously, and whoever has the black marker in front of them for the round goes first. Then, everyone reveals the next card and etc.

After you do the random round, you remove the white bordered cards from your deck and choose 4 actions to do. Again, everyone reveals simultaneously, starting with the person who has the black marker. When this chosen card phase is done, the black marker moves to the next person.

Memorable Moments:

For me it was mostly when Brandon, sitting to my left, kept pegging me for what move I was going to do and thwarting me. But then, I had the misfortune to bend one of my cards in half (guess I'm gonna have to buy some card sleeves now). And Brandon said something to the effect of, "you know I'm gonna plan my next move accordingly if I see that card." On the next round, I quickly tossed the instruction booklet over my cards until such time as I had to reveal the cards.

The Winner:

Chris made it to the exit first. No one else was really close. Brandon was still on the second story if I remember correctly. And some of us (especially me) were making stupid moves because we were getting tired for the evening. I like this game and I'll play it again sometime, but the amount of time it takes to play does seem to be pretty random.

Thread: Re: Ghosts Added

goelvis — 2005-11-17T18:02:47+00:00
I've seen it, but don't have it... This was merely a method of taking the original and adding an element to improve its game play. Thanks, Tod

Thread: Re: Ghosts Added

zombiegod — 2005-11-15T15:32:43+00:00
Why not try the official 3rd expansion, which actually imcludes roving ghosts.

I believe they actually kill players, or scare them to death.

Thread: Ghosts Added

goelvis — 2005-11-14T21:11:37+00:00
My friends and I have played Haunting House numerous times with a variety of house rules trying to solve the "hanging out near the corners" problem that the basic rules set allows. That you have to try to do what each card says helps, but not enough to our tastes.
We went ahead and added two roving ghosts to the game. We took to "ghost" pawns (scavenged from another boardgame) and started them in diagonal adjacent tiles in the middle of the board perpendicular to the entrance tile corner. Before every random card phase we rolled a d8 directional die and a d4 movement die for each ghost. While the players were in the house, if a ghost LANDED on thier tile, they were automatically transported back to the "Welcome Mat" outside of the house, forcing them to have to go back in and start all over as it were. A ghost just passing through your tile had no effect. Also, when it was the players time to move, they could land on a tile with a ghost with no effect.
These roving ghosts had the following effects on the game... You could not safely stay in one general area-- especially when one or more ghost was in your vacinity and could conceivable reach you in a single round. It forced two players out the front door which was annoying (to them), but not overly obnoxious. It added one more quick element to the game.
We discussed the possibility of having the ghost instead "Freeze" players whose tiles were passed through -- took too long. We considered "Freezing" players whose tiles the ghost landed on -- corner squatting problem not solved. We also decided that ghosts could not affect a player who lands on a ghost tile as that really just hindered the flow of the game. We also allowed players to swap tiles with a ghost on it.

As a final note, it was suggested that we add more ghosts... we didn't, we thought two was fine. Good luck.
--Tod

Thread: Churrasco's

CharlieWonka — 2005-07-27T11:32:34+00:00
After playing the fabulous well travelled Coloretto twice, I was ready for a game with a little more depth. Unfortunately my Glass was empty and after PowerGrid had been decided on for me to play as it was my game after all and I knew the rules and love the game, I popped off to the bar for a refill.

When I got back PowerGrid had been switched to Haunting House. I still have no knowledge how we went from the economics of supply and demand to a big spooky house but as this was also my game, I did my duty and dived in explaining how the game works to the five players not playing Ticket to Ride: Europe.

We had Me, Tracey, Jason, David and Jackie.

We quickly and randomly set up the board making a six by six house with a front door and an exit at the back or so we thought. The goal of this game is simple - get out the haunting house before everyone else. So so Simple but so tricky to achieve. The playing order was Tracey, Jackie, David, Me and then Jason. Each Full Turn consists of two rounds - one is a random round where your action cards are chosen for you and the second round is a round where you get to choose from seven of the ten actions.

We started with a corridor attached to the front door which would allow us to walk straight in.

Turn 1 - Tracey as Starting Player.
I think everybody made it into the house by the end of the random round. How they made it in is a different story. Jackie, David and Jason walked through the front door like any ordinary door. Tracey fell through a trap door and ended up two spaces into the house. I after finding a Hall of Mirrors outside!!! managed to sneak past the front door using a secret passage. We heard some walls changing and realised that the Exit was no longer at the back of the house. People tried to head towards the corner to the left of the entrance. But nobody really got far - I think we had gone for safety in numbers.

Turn 2 - Jackie as Starting Player
Again the Random round pulls out some surprises and moves Jackie away from the exit and towards the corner directly opposite the entrance and away from rest of the group who steadily progressed a few squares towards the Exit by various means of movement and trapdoors.
The choosing round saw everyone close in on the exit apart from Jackie who was going for the corner opposite the exit in the hope that it moved there in the next random round. She designed a nice route so she could walk straight out IF the Exit moved. I think Tracey was the closest to getting out at this point with everyone else bar Jackie a square behind in varying directions.

Turn 3 - David as the Starting Player
For once the random round didn't move the Exit anywhere at all and it looked like we all had a decent chance of getting out. Jackie still in the opposite corner decided to tour the outer walls of the house trying to find a window to climb out of I think. Tracey's random cards didn't help in getting her anywhere at all. A Secret Passage she randomly found took her into a Hall of Mirrors which she couldn't get out of. Jason, David and I wandered to within two or three spaces of the exit in a tight bundle and anyone of use looked like we could get out in the choosing round if we could out think the other two or so we thought.
Instead we all switch places with each other and nobody got even 1 space closer to the exit as Tracey and Jackie messed up the route out.

Turn 4 - Me as the Starting Player
The exit moved away from our sight and then reappeared during this round back to where it started - I ended up with a clear run to the exit at the end of the random round but so did a lot of others - I thought instead of going straight for the exit in the choosing round that I would be better throwing a spanner in the works and switching tiles to close the exit of by putting a corner corridor blocking the direct route. It worked as I got close but everyone else had not seen it coming and got closer to the corner opposite the entrance where Jackie was now roaming. Unfortunately my plan did end up scuppered as Tracey swapped places with me and I ended up in a trap door spot with no way out.

Turn 5 - Jason as the Starting Player
The exit again moved to the top right corner from where I was sitting anyway. That was the opposite end of the board to everyone else - needless to say we managed to hobble in that general direction in the random round and then a little bit further in the choosing round apart from Tracey who was rotating and switching tiles to give herself a better route out of the corner. Everybody was miles away from the Exit at the end of this round - I think Jason and David may have been the closest but a whole 3 spaces away - Half the length of the house.

Turn 6 - Tracey again as Starting Player
Everybody was beginning to realise that this actually could go on forever. The random round which usually finds a way of creating the end of the game had different ideas though. While everyone else was jostled about by the House and didn't really get anywhere - Tracy fell through a trap door putting her trapped in the bottom left corner until Tracey drew the move Exit card and put the door right in front of her. The rest of us had played this card for her as she was ordering a few chips from the bar. Only three players could stop Tracey by randomly drawing there Move Exit card as the last of the four cards you get each round. David failed to find his followed by me and Jason also failing leaving Tracey to play her Move One Card as the first card to be played next turn and walk through the door that had just materialised and run off home in the dead of a night.

Winner - Tracey
Still Trapped in The House - Me, David, Jackie and Jason.

Thread: Re: The Haunting House

StormKnight — 2005-05-08T04:10:14+00:00
I just received the full rules the other night; we were mostly right about how to play. The only thing we missed was that everyone is supposed to reveal your "order" at the same time - pretty minor, that the exit can't go in the same corner as the entrace - also not a real big deal, and that only one person can occupy each trapdoor space - don't think that would have mattered much.

One thing that I think WOULD have mattered is that I'm now thinking you MUST move on a move card or secret door; we played that you could choose to just stay put. The rules are quite unclear on this, so we assumed on the "common sense" side that you weren't forced to move in these cases. However, there is one statement that vaguely implies you can't stay still. Since having to move would make it much harder to 'lurk' by a door, I think it should be played that way.

However, I still think limiting the exit movement a bit would improve the game.

Thread: The Haunting House

junesen — 2005-05-06T06:12:58+00:00
The Haunting House
escaped - Jean-Luc (6)
partner - Jeff W. (4)
trapped - Lisa (5)
trapped - Brian (5)
trapped - Mark (6)
trapped - Lou (5)

Jeff W. It seems like that we had trouble figuring out what to play next, so we settled on Brian's suggestion--The Haunting House.

I somehow misunderstood that we can only use the cards that was not used in the random phase, and since both of my Move cards were already "used". I played with the leftovers which meant that Mark got screwed and couldn't even make it into the building during the first turn.

Just then, Jean-Luc arrived, and since the game hasn't progressed very far, he joined as the sixth player (and got the second explanation of the rules for the third time this evening).

Lisa and I eventually settled on the strategy of waiting in a corner and hoping that the switch exit card will show up in the random phase. And if it didn't we would stack our cards defensively and try to wreck the path to the current exit. This went for a few rounds and then everyone realized that with all the defensive play with 6 players, it was going to be very difficult for anyone to win strategically, and someone is just going to stumble across the win by sheer blind luck. We were getting desperate. I suggested that we select "secret partners" who would win also if their secret partners win. Hopefully with 2 players playing against 4 defensive players, it would give some chance for someone to win.

Shortly after we drew straws for the secret partner, Jean-Luc managed to win the game by leaving, with not much help from his partner (me).

I don't know if this is a problem with the game in general, or if six players is just too much for this game.

Brian First, a confession to make - I don't actually have the rules for Haunting House (it was a used copy), I just figured them out from the geek and by some judicious babel-fishing of the spanish translation posted on the Twilight Creations website. Now, I'm 95% sure we played correctly, but there is that chance that there's some critical rule I never found.

I was really dissapointed with this - we've done some playing with 4, and it seemed to go very well for a light, kind of silly game. I really wanted to try with 6, since I figured there would be more player interaction. But it worked abysmally. I think partly the exit just kept moving too much. Also, the tactic of moving to one corner and just waiting, using your moves to interfere with other people, is too effective and too dull.

I suspect, like most Twilight Creation games, there's a good game to be produced with a little houseruling. I'm thinking the 'Move Exit' should involve moving the exit one space around the edge of the board instead of clear to a different corner - that would keep everyone moving in the same general direction.

Thread: Re:In the beginning...

zombiegod — 2005-03-09T18:23:50+00:00
blurthanblu (#446400),

Yes, you can move through a wall and enter the house using a secret door card.

Yes, you will fall through a secret door on the Welcome tile to gain access.

Thanks to Kerry Breitenstein for these official answers at Yahoo!

Thread: In the beginning...

blurthanblu — 2005-03-06T09:39:29+00:00
In the beginning, while standing on the welcome mat, can you enter the house using a secret door card if the tile behind the door is a wall and not a hallway, or even a hallway for that matter? What about the use of a trap door card to gain access?

Thread: Re:User Review

zombiegod — 2005-01-16T20:02:13+00:00
Eggo wrote:

Then follows a deliberate round, wher you play 4 cards to your liking, in a “programmed” way – sans the “white cards” which move the exit or let you pass. Here the starting player (who changes every round) has a clear advantage, as he can be pretty sure that his orders can be carried out.
First who reaches the exit wins.

Not exactly. Seeing as everyone reveals their current round cards simultaneously only his first card is going to be O.K.

It only takes one cards worth of change to totally destroy the next 3 rounds worth of cards.

Anticipating what others will/may play on you and not necessarily playing the obvious is the order of the day.

Thread: Tips

zombiegod — 2005-01-16T16:57:50+00:00
1. try waiting for the exits rather than chasing them from corner to corner.

2. Use of the 90 and 180 degree cards combined with the secret passageways is a good way of gaining an extra movement space.

Thread: Re:User Review

zombiegod — 2005-01-15T20:11:09+00:00
iagomonk wrote:
Eggo (#33547),

I don't think you're playing correctly. Were you allowing a player to resolve all four actions in a row?i]

My thoughts exactly.

Thread: Re:House Rules

Lajos — 2004-09-26T10:01:06+00:00
floyd (#51505),
Indeed, your house rules make the game hillarious, but they also make it impossible to win, except by sheer luck in the random cards round. However, after 'annoying' each other for an hour (or even more) it only seems to add to the fun that someone suddenly and completely unexpectedly (even to him or herself) wins the game. If there is a game in which winning isn't important, it is this one. The real fun is in killing you oponent's strategy every time he/she thinks he/she is winning...

Thread: House Rules

floyd — 2004-08-28T21:03:40+00:00
We played last night with 4 people and started with normal rules but very quickly adopted a few house rules that made the game really funny... AND DIFFICULT!

1. Trade Places: The original rule allows you to trade places with a person adjacent... we allw you to trade places with anyone... anywhere! Just wait until someone THINKS someone is going to trade with them and playes their own trade card as retaliation... but it doesn't happen and they are forced to use their card placing them in a self created undesirable location!

2. Rotate tiles... The original rule is that it must be an empty tile... NO WAY! Why let your buddy have a clear shot down a hallway... or you for that matter!

3. Move tiles... The original rule is that it must be an empty tile... Moving floor here I come!

This made the game simply hillarious!

Thread: Re:User Review

iagomonk — 2004-08-13T17:38:53+00:00
Eggo (#33547),

I don't think you're playing correctly. Were you allowing a player to resolve all four actions in a row? Each player only exercises one action, then the next player does their first action, until everyone has played. Then everyone performs their second action in turn.

I can see how you might think the first player had some sort of advantage if allowed to play all four moves in a row uninterrupted.

Thread: User Review

Eggo — 2004-04-18T19:07:41+00:00
The Haunting House

“Twilight Creations” stays close to it’s horror roots and presents this easy but also somehow disappointing game of explorers trapped in a maze-like haunted mansion made up of square corridor tiles which look very dull. As many reviewers have already noted, this game’s theme has been thinly applicated – what we have is in fact a variant of “Das verrueckte Labyrinth”, with more randomness and probably less fun.
Each player starts at the same “entrance” to the haunted mansion (which – apart from some ghostly drawings on some of the tiles – is totally devoid of any monsters or horrific encounters), and tries to reach the exit (on the other side). The problem is: half of the game you are played instead of being the player, and all tiles can be moved, INCLUDING the exit.
Each player has his own hand of cards: at the beginning of a round 4 are randomly selected and carried out, step-by-step, like in Robo Rallye. You can decide where you move if you move, but most of the time there is only one way. There are also cards which let you trade places with other players (very often this is forced on you, as there is only one adjacent player you can trade places with) or cards that let you “miss a step” (probably because you encountered something horrible). Other cards let you miss out a turn, or let you exchange/turn tiles without a player on them.
Then follows a deliberate round, wher you play 4 cards to your liking, in a “programmed” way – sans the “white cards” which move the exit or let you pass. Here the starting player (who changes every round) has a clear advantage, as he can be pretty sure that his orders can be carried out.
First who reaches the exit wins.
We played the game three times in a row – and invariably the game went exactly the same way: In the first round evrybody maneuvered roughly into the center of the house which is isn’t very big really), in the next round the starting player would invariably win IF the round before no “move the exit”card had been accidentally drawn. If it was drawn, the next starting player got his chance, as it was usually possible to prevent the former starting player from using the exit if “move exit” was drawn in the random round. Only in the last of the 3 games there was a chance that one other player instead of the starting player could have won, and only if this player got lucky with his card play (in fact there was simply a 50/50 chance).The first 2 games lasted exactly 2 rounds, the third game 3 rounds, and the starting player always won. Not very interesting if you think about it. There might be a little more variation if you play this often, but frankly: don’t expect too much.
This is very light fare, like “Zombies!!!”, if there is one redeeming trait about this game it is the fact that it is easy to play with non-gamers, and doesn’t last very long. But that’s about it. For more brainwork you might still fare better with the now old, certainly not perfect but still much more interesting “Das verrueckte Labyrinth”.

Moritz Eggert
www.westpark-gamers.de

Thread: Alternate Quickie/Fun Rules!

AlanMorillo — 2004-04-14T19:05:10+00:00
Solitaire:

(cards are not used)
(pawns are not used)

Start with the Entrance tile with a cross-corridor tile placed in front.

Separate the Exit tile from the rest of the remaining tiles.

Shuffle the remaining tiles without looking and place them face down in a tall column, placing the Exit tile last at the very bottom.

Draw the tiles one by one and begin building your haunted house labyrinth with the following rules:

Ghosts are considered blocks

Trapdoors are considered blocks

Tiles CANNOT be cut off by a walls, only Dead End Tiles.

The goal is to place the tiles one by one in a congruent manner without trapping yourself in the Haunted House by Ghosts, Trapdoors and Dead Ends until you can place the final Exit tile and leave.

TWO-PLAYER GAME

Same as solitair except each opposing player builds his own labyrinth at opposing ends of the table (Exit tile is not used).

Every time a Ghost, Trapdoor or Dead End is drawn,it is placed in the opponents labyrinth by the drawing player rather than on his own.

First player to trap his opponent inside the Haunted House wins.

Thread: User Review

Random_Person — 2004-02-01T14:17:40+00:00
***This is to replace my previous review AND reply to my previous review***

I’ve been following Twilight for a while now and enjoy their games.
Here’s my breakdown of their newest Creation: “The Haunting House”

Gameplay is simple:
Of the 38 tiles, 1 is the entrance and one is the exit to the house. The 36 "corridor" tiles are various straight hallways, dead ends, turns, t-intersections and 4-ways. To set it up, set aside the entrance and exit and shuffle the 36 “corridor” tiles. These are laid face up in a 6x6 grid without changing their orientation. The entrance is placed at one corner of the house and the exit is placed at the opposing corner.

The 60 cards are made up of 6 identical sets of 10 different cards. The backs of these cards match the colors of the 6 pawns. Each player picks a color and receives the corresponding pawn and card set. The players pawns all begin the game on the entrance tile.

For the first round of the game 4 of the 10 cards are chosen at random from your hand. Decide who will be the first player and give that player the “starting player marker” to denote such. All players flip the first card over and perform the action, going in a clockwise manner, beginning with the starting player.

Cards can do various things:
Rotate a tile 90 or 180 degrees.
Move your pawn a number of spaces.
Allow you to move through a wall.
...and so on.

Various things affect your ability to use these cards:
Using a Secret Passage will only allow you to move through 1 wall.
If the corridor you are meets a wall from another corridor, you're stuck and have to wait for a rotate card.

After all players have performed all 4 actions in this manner the "controlled" round begins. This round, players are allowed to pick 4 cards and put them in any order they wish. (There are a few of the cards that are a little too powerful for this and are thus not allowed to be picked.) The order may not be changed later on and players are not permitted to “review” what it is they have placed in sequence.

After everyone completes their actions, the “starting player pawn” is passed to the player left of the previous "first" and thus begins a new random round.

Rinse.
Repeat.

Reach the exit to win.

There is a neat little game buried in here. It's fun. Crazy. Fast. Just what makes a good beer and pretzels game good.

The strategies involved are trying to thwart players from moving further into the house while furthering your advance... but most of the time, someone screws you..... if it's early enough in the round, all those hard planned moves remaining are lost.

For the most part, if you can manage to be subtle so no one has a need to mess with you, you are doing well... but we've found that just moving close to a corner and then hoping for a Move Exit card will pretty much set you up for the win. Things change so much in one round that it's nearly impossible to plan... but once you're set for the win, you can't be stopped...

A good light game that is NEAR brainless, but still requires some thinking. Don’t come into it expecting a new “tile” game or a great deal of strategy… it’s a perfect “Non-gamer” game for the whole family. The nature of it makes it difficult to plan ahead, but that just adds to the fun aspect when you screw someone else over and make their remaining 3 moves useless... of course, when it happens to you.....

6/10 - I like simplicity