Betrayal at House on the Hill

1 Overview

Betrayal at House on the Hill is a 3–6 player semi-cooperative horror game. Players explore a haunted mansion by drawing room tiles and placing them on the board — every game creates a different house layout. Players gather items and encounter events until an omen triggers the Haunt.

When the Haunt begins, one player (the Traitor) secretly reads their betrayal scenario while the remaining Heroes read their side. The second half of the game is a race between the Traitor's plans and the Heroes' efforts to survive. With 50 haunts, almost every game tells a different story.

2 Setup

Each player chooses a character and places their token on the Entrance Hall. Set trait dials to starting values. Separate item, event, and omen cards into three decks. Place starting room tiles (Entrance Hall, Foyer, Grand Staircase). Place the Traitor's Tome and Secrets of Survival books nearby but don't open them yet.

3 Exploration Phase

On your turn: move up to your Speed, explore new rooms, and resolve any card draws or tile effects.

• Moving: Move up to your Speed trait value. Each room costs 1 movement. Stairs cost 1 extra.
• Discovering rooms: When you move through a doorway to an unexplored area, draw a room tile and place it. The tile's color tells you which floor it goes on (ground, upper, or basement).
• Room effects: Some rooms require an Event, Item, or Omen card draw when first entered.
• Traits: Speed (movement), Might (physical attacks), Sanity (mental attacks), Knowledge (puzzle solving). Traits can increase or decrease during play.

4 The Haunt Trigger

When an Omen card is drawn, the player who drew it immediately makes a Haunt Roll: roll 6 dice. If the result is less than the total number of Omen cards that have been revealed (including the one just drawn), the Haunt begins.

Consult the Haunt Chart (the large reference card): cross-reference the Omen card drawn with the room it was found in to find the Haunt number and who becomes the Traitor (usually the player who drew the omen, but not always).

5 The Haunt Phase

1. The Traitor takes the Traitor's Tome and leaves the room to read their secret scenario privately.
2. The Heroes read the same scenario number in Secrets of Survival together.
3. The Traitor returns. The Haunt Phase begins — the Traitor goes last each round.

Each haunt has unique mechanics, monsters, win conditions, and special rules. Read your book carefully — the two books describe the same events from opposite perspectives and give each side their specific objectives.

Attacks: Use the relevant trait (Might for physical) to roll dice. Your result vs. the target's defense trait determines damage — reduce their trait by the difference.

6 Winning

Win conditions are unique to each haunt. Check your book. Generally: Heroes win by completing their objective (escaping, defeating the monster, completing a ritual). The Traitor wins by completing their objective (killing all heroes, escaping, summoning something terrible).

A character is knocked out (not immediately killed) when any trait hits the skull symbol. They may recover or be permanently eliminated depending on the haunt rules.

7 Tips

• Explore fast early: More rooms = more items. Gear up before the haunt hits.
• Communicate as heroes: After the haunt, heroes must coordinate openly — the traitor hears your plans, but cooperation is your strength.
• Read both sides after the game: It's fascinating to compare what each side knew and planned.
• 3rd edition: If playing the 3rd edition (2022), some room tiles and character stats are updated from 2nd edition.