SPALDING WARGAMING CLUB
some scenarios work better than others, but all are macabre and inventive with a streak of ghoulish humour Avalon Hill didn't just give us Dune (see blogs passim); in their latter years, they gave us this strange but addictive curiosity involving a haunted house.
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You start off as a crowd of stereotypical explorers (old professor, high school quarterback, gypsy lady, a couple of kids) in the hallway of the mysterious mansion. It's like the start of the Rocky Horror Picture Show (video clip right for nostalgia purposes).
The house is revealed through tiles. You can go upstairs to explore the Upper Floor and find your way (or fall) downstairs to explore the Basement. This means the House has a different layout every time you play, sometimes spawling over multiple levels, sometimes tightly mapped around the central corridor, sometimes featuring underground chasms and locked vaults, sometimes introducing the Mystic Elevator or the Coal Chute to the basement. |
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Many rooms have Events (some of which hurt, some move you about, a few are beneficial) and Items (weapons, spells, armour) but the special rooms have Omens. These are odd events, powerful relics or strange companions. Each time an Omen is revealed, you roll dice to see if the exploration phase has ended and the 'Haunt' has begun. This usually happens after 5 or 6 Omens.
One the Haunt starts, you check to see which of the 50 stories you're stuck in (based on the card and room last drawn). It might be The Mummy Walks or House of the Living Dead and you could be facing demons or aliens or cannibals. One player is revealed to be the Traitor who now controls the monster/s and the remaining explorers win if they can defeat their former friend
Since each scenario has its own bespoke rules - and asymmetric ones too, with a separate sheet for the Traitor and the remaining explorers - there can be a lot to digest. To be fair, some scenarios work better than others, but all are macabre and inventive with a streak of ghoulish humour.
It's cheesey fun but the sheer inventiveness of it all is quite captivating. If you only play this game once you'll see why it has a cult following. We've pimped our set with improved character cards and dice (the original components were shoddy) and the Widows Walk expansion and Legacy edition look more and more tempting.