For those familiar with Betrayal at House on the Hill, you’ll find a page of differences in the instruction manual. If you’re familiar with tabletop roleplay games like Axis & Allies or Magic the Gathering, this will be even simpler to pick up. The game is divided in two, first to build the gameboard setting and pick up helpful items, and second to define the mystery, pull out one player to serve as the monster, and compete to solve–or thwart the resolution of–the mystery. Based on the Avalon Hill game Betrayal at House on the Hill, the instructions are simplified to bring in younger players (suggested for ages 8 and up), who will likely need a few rounds to get the hang of the rules. What’s going on at Mystery Mansion? Scooby-Doo and the Gang are ready to find out. Everyone plays one of those famous “meddling kids,” then one player steps out to play the monster, ghost pirate (or is that pirate ghost?), masked neighbor, werebeast, alien, witch, henchman… you’ll have plenty of familiar baddies to take on, challenging each other in the style of previous roleplay games like Magic the Gathering with upgradable strengths and dice roll battles. Colorful tokens (like Scooby snacks, pizza, flashlights, and treasure) are provided specific to each of the 25 mysteries that work together with clue cards (like a painting with eyes following you, a mysterious letter, and a locked box), layout tiles to build 28 rooms inside the haunted mansion and spooky areas outside, along with 8 dice and three guide books, all to set 3 to 5 players on their way to sleuthing out a mystery, Mystery, Inc. Clues, objects, and events all point back to elements of the TV show. You won’t play this game without piping in with your own ruh roh and jinkies along the way. Twenty-five impressive mysteries and dozens of possible outcomes for each will keep your family busy this summer with your favorite sleuths: Velma, Fred, Daphne, Shaggy, and, of course, Scooby-Doo. With dozens of throwbacks to the classic animated series featuring Scooby-Doo and the Gang, it mixes elements of Clue, Monopoly-like strategy levels, and staples of the roleplay game genre including its own Monster’s Tome game book. Overall, I have greatly enjoyed playing Betrayal at Mystery Mansion from Avalon Games and I highly recommend it to anyone who enjoys Scooby-Doo or other Betrayal games, especially if you want to play with your kids.If you ever needed a big, fun, family game, it’s probably now, right? We’ve just previewed Avalon Hill’s forthcoming summer release Scooby-Doo! Betrayal at Mystery Mansion, arriving in stores later this month, and it’s a winner–no doubt it will go down as the season’s best tabletop game. However, that just means you can play multiple times, right? The haunt can trigger pretty quick which can make things very difficult for the good guys (sometimes seemingly impossible), but isn’t that the point? This is a good thing when playing with smaller children, but can be sadder when playing with older kids or adults. Funny enough, the first haunt I played was the What a Night for a Knight haunt based on the very first episode of Scooby-Doo, Where Are You!.īecause the game is simplified, this means that the game plays a lot faster. I did appreciate the little character bios on the back though with canonical little factoids like the fact that Velma enjoys lifting weights.Įach of the haunts is designed after a different episode or Scooby-Doo film, typically from the first few seasons of the show. I found this to not be a big deal as there’s no real combat at any point and this is meant to be a simpler game. without worrying about any mismatch between a player and the character’s play style. This was a deliberate choice by the creators to allow fans to play as their favorite member of Mystery Inc. Each one has a special ability that’s unique to them, but their traits are all pretty identical. This helps the game feel like it’s a little bigger of a space and not so claustrophobic in my opinion.Īlso, the characters are all pretty much the same. The difference for Mystery Mansion is that the house only has one level and you can explore the outside with each set of tiles set up in different stacks instead of combining into one. Just like in Betrayal at House on the Hill, players can explore the mysterious mansion by flipping over new tiles to create a new board every game. The big thing is that it takes the system, simplifies it so that kids can play, and delivers an exciting game that adults can enjoy. If you read my interview with the game’s designers, Noah Cohen and Brian Neff, than you’ll know that it’s a game set in the Scooby-Doo universe (or is it a multiverse) that uses the Betrayal gameplay system. Betrayal at Mystery Mansion is now out and it’s a lot of fun to play.
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