Betrayal at House on the Hill

Maxstar4,5

This game annoys me. It has so much potential, so much pizzazz, yet fails to be interesting past the first few play-throughs. Whilst the theme is exciting, the mechanics (of which there are very few) lack any sense of intergration with the storyline, leading to a dissapointing feeling of impersonality. What's more, the gameplay is repetitive and unchallenging up until the haunt, at which point the players have often already lost interest. Its one saving grace is the exhilarating sequence of events after the haunt: the feeling when one of your companions turns traitor and gets to pore over the lovely little booklet detailing exactly how and why they are going to kill their friends. However, this feeling gets very dull very quickly, with the randomness of the haunting losing its novelty after a few games and becoming simply irritating. In conclusion, I don't think this is neccesarily a bad game-it does have its place- but I would not reccomend purchasing it, simply due to its often excrutiating length and lack of any actual gameplay. If you are, however, fascinated by its gothic lovecraftian themes, it is worth a play or two (until the novelty wears off) perhaps at a local games shop.