Betrayal Legacy (Board Game, Betrayal at House on The Hill)

My first legacy game purchase. My entire gaming friend group enjoyed the game immensely. It's not as fun playing after the legacy part is done, but it's still worth the cost

Wow, they really knocked it out of the park with this one. The original Betrayal is one of my favorite games of all time - like many others, it was my “gateway drug” that got me into strategy board games. Sure, it had its problems (balance issues mainly) but it was always a fun time, so when I heard there was this legacy version coming out I pre-ordered it as soon as I could.After having played it a few times (the prologue and a couple of chapters) I’m glad to say it lives up to the hype. For those of you that didn’t play the original, the rules are simple. You and your friends explore a house which is made up of several tiles. Since these tiles are modular, the house you explore is different every game. As you explore, you’ll find items, run into traps, and trigger “omens” (events). Eventually you’ll activate a haunt that enables a horror scenario that has its own set of rules, most of which turn a player into a traitor that will try to kill you. Some of the scenarios in the original game involves aliens, a house that slowly imploded into the abyss, a musical pied piper that would hypnotize the players, killers that keep resurrecting, etc. It was amazing with its variety and scope and was extremely replayable... no two games were ever alike.This new version takes that basic concept and expands on it. Basically, there’s now an overarching story spanning decades. You have to play the game a total of 14 times to complete the story - think of it like a TV season, and each game you play is a new episode. Each game has actions that will affect future games, so play wisely.I can’t go into it more without spoiling it, so I won’t delve too much into the specifics of the mechanics of the legacy aspect of this game. I have played through several other legacy style games (Risk and Pandemic) and I’m happy to say that this game actually utilizes the legacy components the best out of those in my opinion. Risk and Pandemic’s legacy games were good, but they were a slow burn that took time to build. This is where Bettayal’s strength lies - with Risk Legacy, even though the rules are changing with each game, it still felt like a progressively harder version of Risk. Betrayal’s huge scope of variety and rules keep this game fresh, and it’s intriguing to see how this family storyline will play out in the end. The replayability is helping cut down on fatigue, and because of that I know my friends and I will finish this way quicker than Risk. And, when all is said and done and you’ve completed the core Legacy storyline, the game will be set up to be played over and over again with the unique changes you’ve made through the campaign.Now for critiques. I mentioned earlier that the original Betrayal game had its share of problems. Unfortunately, a lot of them are still there, mainly the balance issue and confusion over rules. It can scare away new players with the amount of rules - there are THREE rule books to reference, and those rules were often vague and led to a lot of debates on interpreting what the author meant. Some of the haunts also greatly favor the traitor or humans and can feel unfair too.Also, they really should’ve added a giant piece of paper that says to not punch out stuff. Everyone’s first instinct with board games is to punch out all the pieces. The game actually requires you to leave them punched in and to wait until the proper time to use them. Also, this is more of an Amazon problem, but the box I received was really beat up during shipping.Overall - excellent game. Worth trying for anyone vaguely interested in these types of board games, and definitely worth trying for fans of the original. Highly recommended.

This game features a Legacy update to its predecessor, Betrayal at House on the Hill.The Legacy elements give the game a story-based campaign, with additional story aspects hidden within the flavor of the various cards (not only are you playing through your own characters' story, but you can find hints to things that have happened in the house before your characters ever arrived). The story has some great twist elements and a "Choose Your Own Adventure" vibe as different outcomes come from different choices made and who won or lost a haunt's events. Characters are named, items are taken as family heirlooms to confer familial bonuses, and the game grows from a small house with a small number of items and events to a more expansive estate with much much more that can happen.In addition to the campaign, returning components from the original have had a design upgrade, with a more atmospheric feel. Instead of the Widow's Walk expansion's roof, Betrayal Legacy has Outside as an additional area to explore, with twisting paths through the grounds of the estate.The game can also be used in "free play," like the original, and in fact is intended to be used as a "free play" version once the campaign is over. Some rules quirks from the original have been improved on, such as haunt-rolling changes to prevent encountering the haunt too early, or the inclusion of stairs to the basement on the main hallway tile so one doesn't have to randomly fall into the basement and then get stuck there until they find stairs again.Overall the game is an entertaining, immersive one, especially if you can convince your fellow players to get into character.

I was excited to try this game and see how it was different. All the reviews keep it vague and I'll try to do the same while giving the review I wish I'd read before buying it. That being said THIS IS A GREAT GAME. You'll see reviews like I did mentioning how to preserve the game by putting sleeves on the cards and things like that. The game comes with stickers and encourages you to write names, fill in blanks, and add the stickers to the cards as you play it. It even instructs you to THROW CARDS AWAY once you use them. This blew my mind when we first started playing and I hated it, but once I gave myself over to the game and allowed myself to play the game as it was meant to it is probably my favorite game I own (though I still can't bare to throw the used cards away and just keep them separate).WHY WOULD THEY MAKE A GAME LIKE THIS? It's easy once I played it and got my head around it. The game is telling a story made up of 13 chapters. There are decks that you play from IN ORDER chapter by chapter and even THE RULES HAVE STICKERS you don't put in the rule book until after you've played that part of the game to avoid plot spoilers!!! It's both insane and kind of genius! I hated this game when I first started playing it because I was "destroying" it but it does so much service for the plot to do it this way I can't imagine a better way to do it. That being said - you can't replay chapters. If you have a gamer family (3-5 people) I HIGHLY recommend this game. It takes some getting used to and I've only played through 2 chapters so far but I'm in love. It's worth it.