So, Betrayal at house on the hill
Whee, that came out 13 years ago. As far as "outdateness" goes, this is my record for now.
People tend to have a love/hate relationship with Betrayal and I seem to know why. The game has a major problem that tends to show itself if you really like the game.
After numerous plays of the game and about three years of playing it once or more in a while, I realized where the problem lies and how to solve it. Not for the game, but for the player playing it.
From my point of view, Betrayal is meant to be experienced, not played. When you play a game, you analyze it, explore it, abuse its weak points and exit out stronger than if you 'just let the game go on'. Many games encourage it. Economy based games, games with an engine, games with opponents, hard coop games all force players to min-max to as far as they can go and reward them for it.
Betrayal is not like that. Betrayal doesn't respond well if you try to powergame it. In fact, your enjoyment of the game comes to a halt very quickly, as there are very few things that you can max out. Sure, you can use things effectively, you can explore the mansion in a better manner, but your gain from these actions is minimal. And beyond these steps the game doesn't really let you do much more.
And as is usual, if you play something many time and more so in a row, you tend to lean onto powergaming. In other words, Betrayal is fine if you play it once in a long while. But if you try to do it more often, the game falls apart.
I have to say, I actually like the game. I wish it could be played more often, but oh well, such is life. I'll use the time to play other games meanwhile.
People tend to have a love/hate relationship with Betrayal and I seem to know why. The game has a major problem that tends to show itself if you really like the game.
After numerous plays of the game and about three years of playing it once or more in a while, I realized where the problem lies and how to solve it. Not for the game, but for the player playing it.
From my point of view, Betrayal is meant to be experienced, not played. When you play a game, you analyze it, explore it, abuse its weak points and exit out stronger than if you 'just let the game go on'. Many games encourage it. Economy based games, games with an engine, games with opponents, hard coop games all force players to min-max to as far as they can go and reward them for it.
Betrayal is not like that. Betrayal doesn't respond well if you try to powergame it. In fact, your enjoyment of the game comes to a halt very quickly, as there are very few things that you can max out. Sure, you can use things effectively, you can explore the mansion in a better manner, but your gain from these actions is minimal. And beyond these steps the game doesn't really let you do much more.
And as is usual, if you play something many time and more so in a row, you tend to lean onto powergaming. In other words, Betrayal is fine if you play it once in a long while. But if you try to do it more often, the game falls apart.
I have to say, I actually like the game. I wish it could be played more often, but oh well, such is life. I'll use the time to play other games meanwhile.
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