Betrayal at the House on the Hill is an amazing board game. Mixing exploration and horror, this game’s Haunt mechanic allows it to be wildly different every time you play it, resulting in a game that can give you hundreds of different experiences. If you’re a serious tabletop gamer, it’s probably one of your favorite games.
If that’s the case, this list is for you. Here are a handful of tames that, in various ways, are similar to that beloved classic.
Betrayal At Baldur’s Gate
A brilliant tabletop game moved to an iconic fantasy setting
An official spin-off of Betrayal at the House on the Hill, which is also an official D&D product, Betrayal at Baldur’s Gate takes the game’s mechanics and moves them to an iconic D&D location. It’s full of recognizable D&D items and monsters!
We begin with a couple of games officially derived from Betrayal at House on the Hill, the first of which mixes the game with the most popular tabletop RPG of all time: Dungeons and Dragons! Betrayal at Baldur’s Gate is an officially licensed D&D product from the same creators as Betrayal At The House On The Hill. Its core gameplay is the same, but instead of exploring a spooky mansion, players explore the iconic city of Baldur’s Gate, collecting recognizable D&D items, and, when the time comes for the haunt, facing a horror scenario derived from the D&D world.
If you want to see more fantasy games, many of which play a lot like Dungeons and Dragons,click here.
Scooby-Doo Betrayal at Mystery Mansion
A family-friendly cartoon version of the game
Another game derived directly from Betrayal, this Scooby Doo themed version replaces its relatively serious gothic horror scenarios with scenarios derived from the Scooby Doo franchise, and casts players as Mystery Inc. as they attempt to thwart the monster’s dastardly schemes.
Another official remix, Betrayal at Mystery Mansion casts the players as the five members of Mystery Inc. and has them solve a classic Scooby-Doo mystery. Though technically horror themed, this game issignificantly lighter in tone, with loads of cartoony references to its animated source material. Where the original is only recommended for children 12 and up, this one is appropriate for kids as young as eight. Each of the haunts here is based on a specific Scooby-Doo story. This game is great for Scooby Doo fans from any generation and will play familiarly to fans of Betrayal at the House on the Hill.
Nemesis
Like many things, Betrayal at the House on the Hill does well in space
Inspired by the Alein franchise, (though not officially a licensed Alien product) this sci-fi horror game has your characters waking up on an old spaceship to find that something dangerous has found its way aboard, and that one of the crewmembers is responsible.
In thissurvival horrorboard game, the crew of a spaceship wakes up to find that critical systems are failing, and that something threatening is aboard the ship. This monstrous intruder will track down and attack the players. Worse, while most of them genuinely are working together to survive, one of the characters is a secret traitor, working against the others for their own agenda.
This game is Betrayal At The House On The Hill in space. Besides the monsters and the traitor, the ship’s layout is also variable in this game, and your objectives are different each time. Every playthrough is a different experience, and they’ll all be tough to survive. You absolutely have to work together to win, but of course, the more you trust each other, the more the traitor will be able to harm you when the time comes.
Horrified
Play through classic Universal Monster movies
Themed after the iconic line of universal monsters, this cooperative game casts players as heroes and charges them with protecting villagers from a variety of monsters, whose precise identity varies from game to game. Each one has different abilities and must be defeated in a different way.
Universal Studios is responsible for a number of classic monster movies, including Dracula, The Wolf Man, The Creature from the Black Lagoon, and The Mummy. Though not initially connected to each other, these classic films have been retrospectively branded together under the joint title of “Universal Monsters,” and those classic monsters provide the gothic theming for this game.
In Horrified, you and your friends play as heroes working together to save villagers from a few of these Universal Monsters. There are six monsters in this game, each of which plays differently. The fundamental mechanics of this game are pretty similar to those of Betrayal, with items being obtained in similar ways, and the combat playing in a similar way, though this game lacks Betrayal’s exploration element. If you’re looking for a cooperative experience reminiscent of Betrayal that will allow you and your friends to stay on the same side, this is the game for you.
Arkham Horror
Incomprehensible terrors from an iconic setting
This complicated but fun cooperative game takes much of what’s great about Betrayal and moves it to the Cthulhu Mythos, charging the players and their unique investigators with handling the unique Cthulhu Mythos threat chosen for any given game. The exploration, light combat, and versatility are all here!
Arkham Horror takes many elements we love about Betrayal at the House on the Hill and moves them into the Cthulhu mythos. This game comes with a bunch of unique playable characters, and, though the base game only comes with one scenario, the expansions contain many more unique scenarios that make every campaign different. The combat in this game is also reminiscent of Betrayal, which means it’s tense, immersive, and terrifying.
This is a dynamic game, with complex mechanics oriented toward horror storytelling. Its storytelling capacity rivals that of many tabletop RPGs. There are several different campaigns for this game, each of which will last you multiple sessions. If you’re a Cthulhu mythos fan who likes Betrayal for its varying scenarios and light-yet-tense combat and want a storytelling experience that can give you a wide variety of adventures, this game is for you.
Flash Point: Fire Rescue 2nd Edition
Charge into a very different sort of dangerous house
We end with the only non-horror game on this list, Flash Point: Fire Rescue is a cooperative game that casts the players as firemen and charges them with running into a burning house with the goal of saving lives and putting out the blaze.
All of the other games on this list have been, at least superficially, horror themed, but this game gives you another reason to charge into a dangerous house and work together to overcome the challenges it poses. Flash Point: Fire Rescue is a strictly cooperative game where the players take the role of firefighters working to put out a blaze that’s started up at a house full of people and pets.
This is a dynamic, complex, and challenging game, where the fire has a life of its own, and you’ll be scrambling to contain it in order to save the lives within the building. It may not be an easy job, but it’s an extremely rewarding one, in a way that being a fantasy hero or sci-fi super soldier can never match.
FAQ
How fun is Betrayal at House on the Hill?
Extremely. It’s one of the best tabletop games out there! It’s different every time you play it, has an amazing atmosphere, and is brilliantly designed.
Is Betrayal at House on the Hill a strategy game?
Debates over which games fall into which genres can get very pedantic. There is some strategy involved in Betrayal at House on the Hill, but the term “Strategy Game” is usually used for games where luck plays a much smaller role than it does in Betrayal.
How long is Betrayal at House on the Hill?
The average game lasts 1-2 hours, though you should be prepared for the possibility that it will last a while longer, especially if you have five or six players.
