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Phil
United States
Falmouth
Maine
Skyrim = Amazing!!!
O.o
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Girlfriend(Looking for new games on BGG): "Hey this game looks neat. You should get it."
Me(Thrilled  ): "OK. I'll read up about it."
Seems to be good. The box seems to scream my name. Literally. Problems with rules but BGG has links to revised rules to fix that. I love my BGG. Hey they have it at Toys-R-US for $20. Hooray for the Interweb!
[Drives to Toys-R-US]
Me: "HOORAY! They have it!"
Lady at the counter: "I didn't even know we had this."
Me: "Yeah and you guys have it for $20 cheaper than everyone else too!"
Lady at the counter: "It seems interesting."
Me: "Yeah. You get to be characters in a horror movie."
Lady at the counter(Uninterested  ): "Would you like batteries with this purchase?"
Me: "No thanks. Thats the beauty of board games! No batteries required!"
Lady at the counter(Uninterested ): "..."
[Drive home]
[Opens Box. No box fart. (Dissappointed  )]
Me(Surprised  ): "There are alot of pieces to this game!"
[Start punching out tokens.]
Oh cool there are zombies and all sorts of crazy crap! This will be fun! I can't wait to play this game on my weekly game night! Wait. Why is there an Underground Lake on the top floor?? 
[A couple days go by.]
It's GAME NIGHT! HOORAY!!
Me (Excited  ): "Hey guys I've got this new game. It's called Betrayal at House on the Hill! You guys want to try it?"
Friend with Tourettes who drinks alot: "Yeah I've played this game before. It has potential!"
Me: "You have to be the annoying little girl character since I own the game I get to choose, as is my right."
Friend with Tourettes who drinks alot: "Why do I have to be the annoying little girl??"
Other Friend who is Tourettes friend's twin brother who drinks orangeade: "Yeah we played this game before with someone who was pretty versed with the rules. Do you want to go see Pan's Labyrinth? Eh? Eh?"
My Boss who wears slippers: "I will fire you if this game is terrible!" (Or something along those lines...) "Let's order a pizza!"
My Girlfriend: "I don't like sausage or pepperoni."
Such an interesting gaming group.
Friend with Tourettes who drinks alot: "Start explaining the rules?"
[Both my friend with Tourettes and I attempt to explain the rules.]
My Boss who wears slippers: "I think we should start playing. It will probably be easier to pick up the game if we play."
[We choose characters.]
The Roles:
Teenage Computer Geek: Me (Fitting)
Slutty Girl: My Girlfriend
The Jerk Tough Guy: My Boss who wears slippers
The Professor: Other Friend who is Tourettes friend's twin brother who drinks orangeade.
The Annoying Little Girl: Friend with Tourettes who drinks alot
[We start to explore the house.]
You can feel the tension rise...Spooky.
[A couple turns go by.]
My Boss who wears slippers: "This is kinda boring..."
Other Friend who is Tourettes friend's twin brother who drinks orangeade: "This tile doesn't fit. This tile doesn't fit. This tile doesn't fit..."
My Girlfriend: "I fell in the basement. Hey! A secret passage!"
My Boss who wears slippers: "What the crap is this toy monkey?? Pizza is here!"
[Pizza delivery Girl comes to the door.]
Other Friend who is Tourettes friend's twin brother who drinks orangeade: "Hey its a girl!" (Runs to see) "Is she cute?!"
[Pizza delivery Girl smiles. Back to game accompanied by snacks.]
Other Friend who is Tourettes friend's twin brother who drinks orangeade: "Hey I got a staff."
[HAUNT BEGINS]
My Girlfriend: "Wait... What?"
Me: "That was fast!"
Friend with Tourettes who drinks alot: "Who is the Traitor?"
Me: "It was the haunt revealer!"
The Role of the Traitor will be played by:
Other Friend who is Tourettes friend's twin brother who drinks orangeade!!!
Friend with Tourettes who drinks alot: "What haunt our we playing?"
Me: "The Beaster Master!"
???
???
[Traitor goes into other room. Heros read Secrets of Survival.]
Quote: A wolf howls, long and lonely, somewhere nearby. It's outside, right? Well, maybe not. In fact, it sounds rather close. How did a wolf get in here? Turning, you see moss forming on the wall beside you. The moss forms words upon the wall: "The spear awakens ... the Beastmaster hunts once more."
You have the horrible feeling that the Beastmaster is hunting you.
[Heroes form an ingenious plan.]
Friend with Tourettes who drinks alot: "So we take the spear?"
[The traitor comes back and places his minion tokens.]
Bear:
Wolf:
Crocodile:
Weasel:
Hawk:
[Haunt First Turn.]
My Boss who wears slippers: "I walk up to the Beastmaster and attack him."
Other Friend who is Tourettes friend's twin brother who drinks orangeade: "I have a weasel. Doesn't that protect me???"
Me: "I don't think so."
Other Friend who is Tourettes friend's twin brother who drinks orangeade: "You took my staff! Give me back my staff!"
Me (Dissappointed ): "Is that it???"
Quote: The Beastmaster howls... and the howl grows into an agonized shriek so shrill it makes you want to scream, too. The Beastmaster shudders and collapes to the floor, a thin sheen of bloody sweat coating the villain's body. Dragging your friend's unconcious body from the house, you swear you can still hear the Beastmaster's final scream echoing in your ears.
[Friend with Tourettes starts to use his grabber to grab things.]
Friend with Tourettes who drinks alot: "I'm a dead eye with this thing!"
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Ammon Livingston
United States
Georgia
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Fun review, Philip.
This game does sort of start to take off and then end seemingly abruptly. Unlike your boss, I was never bored with it. There are some inconsistencies like the underground pool on the roof, but I could forgive that. I really liked the theme, and like Zombies!!!  it has the makings of a very cool game, but doesn't quite live up to its full potential.
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Thomas Cason
United States
Redmond
Washington
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Wow. This game looks really fun. I've wanted to get this for a very long time. It looks kind of like a cooperative game with a werewolf trying to kill everyone. Just by looking at the box, that is. Nice session.
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Phil
United States
Falmouth
Maine
Skyrim = Amazing!!!
O.o
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I've played Betrayal since than and the last time I played the game everything fell into place so perfectly it was almost creepy. I was really impressed. For the price at Toys-R-Us of $20 you cant beat it. I also suggest finding a way to sort all the tokens. I use little baggies that you would normally use for jewelry or marijuana if thats your thing.
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Nathan Bryan
United States
Pittsburgh
Pennsylvania
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really you were disappointed?
I bought it before toys R us had the big avalon hill $20 sales and got it for $40 and love the game. My group played it many times over and over. I think we've played it around 30-40 times. only getting the same haunt a few times. The variety in the game is what keeps it interesting. its a great filler game since it is fairly short and always a good game especially if you have at least 4 players.
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Phil
United States
Falmouth
Maine
Skyrim = Amazing!!!
O.o
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kodarr wrote: really you were disappointed?
I bought it before toys R us had the big avalon hill $20 sales and got it for $40 and love the game. My group played it many times over and over. I think we've played it around 30-40 times. only getting the same haunt a few times. The variety in the game is what keeps it interesting. its a great filler game since it is fairly short and always a good game especially if you have at least 4 players.
Both times I have played it, it has taken over an hour and a half to play the game along with explaining all the rules. I like the game. There are a few things I dislike about it however. To me the game is either dead on or severely lacking. This session was about my first time ever playing the game and the Haunt literally lasted one player turn.
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Nathan Bryan
United States
Pittsburgh
Pennsylvania
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the thing about this game is the more you play it the shorter it is. Once everyone knows the rules it goes pretty much like clockwork.
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Phil
United States
Falmouth
Maine
Skyrim = Amazing!!!
O.o
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kodarr wrote: the thing about this game is the more you play it the shorter it is. Once everyone knows the rules it goes pretty much like clockwork.
Thats reassuring to know.
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Tony Ackroyd
United Kingdom
Brighton
E Sussex
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Great session report.
I'd say that my findings with Betrayal are mixed.
1. You MUST fix all the problems listed on BGG before play - including the Lake - this 'falls to the basement' when it is turned up, including the player (who we presume falls in the lake and thus takes no damage).
2. The game takes at least an hour. I wouldn't call it filler.
3. Sometimes the haunts are a disappointment, but I haven't seen a game finish 1 turn after the haunt - that would be REALLY bad as is reported in this session report.
4. Out of maybe 8 games, I'd say 2 ended weakly. The other 6 were good or great game experiences, sometimes with masses of suspense and really amazing cliffhanger endings.
For anyone thinking about getting the game, don't let this session report put you off - the game can be wonderful. This is one of the difficult factors in creating a game that has 50 different scenario endings after the same 'scooby doo' start.
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Tony Ackroyd
United Kingdom
Brighton
E Sussex
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Great session report.
I'd say that my findings with Betrayal are mixed.
1. You MUST fix all the problems listed on BGG before play - including the Lake - this 'falls to the basement' when it is turned up, including the player (who we presume falls in the lake and thus takes no damage).
2. The game takes at least an hour. I wouldn't call it filler.
3. Sometimes the haunts are a disappointment, but I haven't seen a game finish 1 turn after the haunt - that would be REALLY bad as is reported in this session report.
4. Out of maybe 8 games, I'd say 2 ended weakly. The other 6 were good or great game experiences, sometimes with masses of suspense and really amazing cliffhanger endings.
For anyone thinking about getting the game, don't let this session report put you off - the game can be wonderful. This is one of the difficult factors in creating a game that has 50 different scenario endings after the same 'scooby doo' start.
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Phil
United States
Falmouth
Maine
Skyrim = Amazing!!!
O.o
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1000rpm wrote: For anyone thinking about getting the game, don't let this session report put you off - the game can be wonderful. This is one of the difficult factors in creating a game that has 50 different scenario endings after the same 'scooby doo' start.
Good point. I wrote this session report cause I thought the experience was funny. I did not intend to make people not want to play this game. The game is fun and a good group game.
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Greg Frank
United States
Walnut Creek
California
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Personally I love this game, your session report was pretty funny. I wonder did you use the new haunt books or was it the old ones aka in box ones. Because the game was horribly broken (yet fun) and badly written but Avalon hill aka wizards (now) has released updated books for the haunts for free to download off their web page. They were released a while back but make the game so much more balanced and more fun. IMHO
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Sean Franco
United States
Hammond
Louisiana
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Quote: Wait. Why is there an Underground Lake on the top floor??
Quote: There are some inconsistencies like the underground pool on the roof, but I could forgive that.
Actually, if you look at the tile, the upstairs part is a giant hole. It looks down several floors to the underground lake.
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Phil
United States
Falmouth
Maine
Skyrim = Amazing!!!
O.o
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gf_ripper wrote: Personally I love this game, your session report was pretty funny. I wonder did you use the new haunt books or was it the old ones aka in box ones. Because the game was horribly broken (yet fun) and badly written but Avalon hill aka wizards (now) has released updated books for the haunts for free to download off their web page. They were released a while back but make the game so much more balanced and more fun. IMHO
We did use the new haunt books. I printed them off at work so that I could print them double sided and save on paper. This particular haunt is exactly the same in both books however. The problem he had with this haunt was that it was so early in the game to start the haunt that the traitor had no where to hide.
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Phil
United States
Falmouth
Maine
Skyrim = Amazing!!!
O.o
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logopolys wrote:
Actually, if you look at the tile, the upstairs part is a giant hole. It looks down several floors to the underground lake.
"Why is the Underground Lake on the upper floor?
See, it's a special kind of levitating lake, and... All right, it's a misprint. Here's how to handle the Underground Lake. When you find the lake on the upper floor, the floor collapses, plunging you down through the ground floor and into the lake in the basement. Put the Underground Lake tile next to any door in the basement (put it next to the Basement Landing if no other tiles have been played in the basement yet). The spot where you intended to play this tile on the upper floor is still open and a different tile can be played there the next time it's explored. You're now in the basement on the lake tile."
Directly from Avalon Hill's FAQ page for Betrayal at House on the Hill.
http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=ah/faqs/hoth
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Andy K.
United States
Norman
Oklahoma
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First, top notch session report. Highly amusing.
I've also had a haunt end in one player turn. I won't give any spoilers, but it happened much like you describe. Hero moves to specific part of house, rolls dice, wins! Pretty disappointing. Thankfully, this happened when I'd just got it and I was running a solo game to familiarize myself with the rules.
In a 4-player game of Betrayal, we had the Beastmaster haunt come up. I was the last surviving hero; the other two had been killed by the crocodile and the bear. The bear had taken mighty swipes at me as well but I dragged myself bleeding and wounded into the traitor's room, attacked, and wrestled the spear from his grip. A real thriller of an ending.
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Phil
United States
Falmouth
Maine
Skyrim = Amazing!!!
O.o
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ACK ACK wrote:
In a 4-player game of Betrayal, we had the Beastmaster haunt come up. I was the last surviving hero; the other two had been killed by the crocodile and the bear. The bear had taken mighty swipes at me as well but I dragged myself bleeding and wounded into the traitor's room, attacked, and wrestled the spear from his grip. A real thriller of an ending.
Wow. Now that sounds like a really amazing climax to a game. Perhaps next time my gaming group gets this haunt things will be different.
This makes me wonder about the balance issues between the heros and the traitor. It always seems like the traitor has a really difficult time winning. Has anyone else noticed that or is it only with certain haunts? I am still relatively new to the game.
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Andy K.
United States
Norman
Oklahoma
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Quarashi wrote: This makes me wonder about the balance issues between the heros and the traitor. It always seems like the traitor has a really difficult time winning. Has anyone else noticed that or is it only with certain haunts? I am still relatively new to the game.
In the 6 or 7 times I've played, it's been 50/50 for the traitor and the heroes. The beauty and problem of this game is there is almost no control over what happens in the pre-haunt part; you just roam around getting hurt a little or getting helped a little until the haunt starts. At that point, the house could be set up in a way that greatly aids the traitor or the heroes. There's just no telling.
Having said that, I'm surprised at how often the haunt has been tense up to the very end. For all the problems with errata and misprints, it seems as though a lot of play testing went into this game. Or maybe my group has just been lucky!
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Phil
United States
Falmouth
Maine
Skyrim = Amazing!!!
O.o
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I am going to have to play this game more after all this. Heh.
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John W
United States
Sacramento
California
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Quarashi wrote: logopolys wrote:
Actually, if you look at the tile, the upstairs part is a giant hole. It looks down several floors to the underground lake.
" Why is the Underground Lake on the upper floor?See, it's a special kind of levitating lake, and... All right, it's a misprint. Here's how to handle the Underground Lake. When you find the lake on the upper floor, the floor collapses, plunging you down through the ground floor and into the lake in the basement. Put the Underground Lake tile next to any door in the basement (put it next to the Basement Landing if no other tiles have been played in the basement yet). The spot where you intended to play this tile on the upper floor is still open and a different tile can be played there the next time it's explored. You're now in the basement on the lake tile." Directly from Avalon Hill's FAQ page for Betrayal at House on the Hill. http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=ah/faqs/hoth
There is nothing wrong with the lake tile staying exactly how and where it is. I believe the errata-meisters took the simplistic view and caved to all the people making fun about the tile, but they didn't look closely at the tile and see that the lake is shown being many levels below the floor it is drawn in.
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Posted Tue Feb 20, 2007 4:58 pm
