Welcome back, gamers!
It’s October, and you know what that means around the Avalon Hill office – all sorts of betrayal! But we’re not talking about stabbing each other in the back. No, we’re talking Betrayal at House on the Hill 3rd Edition, our thrilling game about exploring a haunted house and the terror found within.
The Halloween season is the perfect time to celebrate such a twisted game, so we decided that every October going forward will be dubbed the “Betrayal Season of Treason!” To kick off the first-ever Season of Treason, we’ve put together several spooktacular events and activities to celebrate this fun and frightening game. Festivities include the release of an original haunt for Betrayal at House on the Hill 3rd Edition co-created with horror legend and fellow gamer Matthew Lillard, an exciting playthrough video of said haunt starring Matthew, a chance to win one of 10 great prizes in an Instagram sweepstakes, and the launch of #TerrorTuesday – weekly posts on Tuesdays celebrating all things horrifying – all culminating in the release of “Betrayal: The Yuletide Tale, Evil Reigns in the Wynter’s Pale,” the latest expansion in the Betrayal at House on the Hill series. See below for more information on all the fun.
AN EXCITING ORIGINAL HAUNT CO-CREATED WITH A HORROR LEGEND!
When planning the first-ever Season of Treason, we knew we wanted to create an original haunt, but we wanted to “go big or go home” so we made a few calls and invited Matthew Lillard to join us! Matthew is not only a well-known actor, producer, and director who has worked on several classic horror films, but he’s also deeply involved in the gaming scene – he co-founded the company Beadle and Grimm’s and has been a participant in many actual play gaming sessions.
To kick off co-creation with Matthew, we chatted about what made Betrayal at House on the Hill such a eerie and thrilling game, and how we could add to that using Matthew’s prolific experience in the genre. As we started to brainstorm ideas, he blew our minds with a hilarious, self-deprecating concept that had everyone inspired to dig in to create the haunt. We worked closely over two months to bring his vision to life, including introducing a new multi-phase haunt mechanic that has never been done in Betrayal at House on the Hill. The end product: “Thirteen Ghoulies Are All That,” an original co-created haunt with cheeky references to Matthew’s storied career.
We’ll be releasing this haunt on one of the most ominous days: Friday the 13th! That’s right – this October the stars have aligned to give us such an infamous date, and we couldn’t resist taking advantage. The “Thirteen Ghoulies Are All That” original haunt will be available for free download on this page October 13th at 7pm ET.
But the haunt download is not the only reason you should mark your calendars for October the 13th at 7pm ET...
WATCH THE PLAYTHROUGH AND LIVE CHAT WITH MATTHEW!
Matthew wasn’t content to just design a haunt – he wanted to play it, too! We had the fortune to sit down with him and CEO and Gamemaster for The Glass Cannon Network, Troy Lavallee and play Betrayal at House on the Hill 3rd edition using the “Thirteen Ghoulies Are All That” haunt. And of course, we filmed it, and of course we are going to post it on YouTube for you to enjoy the hilarity and horror! On Friday, October 13th at 7pm ET the playthrough will be posted AND Matthew will be tuned in live chatting commentary and answering questions from you here.
You won’t want to miss this event, and we cannot wait for you to see all the action! And don’t worry - while the playthrough will be your first chance to see the haunt in action, our developers worked their magic so there will still be plenty of surprises when you play the haunt at home.
To hold you over until the haunt release & playthrough posting, be sure you are following us on our social channels – Instagram and X (formerly Twitter) - where we will be sharing behind-the-scenes content from our development sessions and filming, as well as releasing a playthrough trailer.
YOUR CHANCE TO WIN A FRIGHTFULLY COOL PRIZE!
To celebrate Season of Treason and our partnership with Matthew, we are giving you the chance to win one of ten prizes! Starting today, we’re holding a sweepstakes over on our Instagram @AvalonHillGames where winners will each receive:
· Betrayal at House on the Hill 3rd Edition
· Betrayal: The Yuletide Tale, Evil Reigns in the Wynter’s Pale expansion (more to come on that in just a bit)
· A printed copy of the “Thirteen Ghoulies Are All That” haunt signed by Matthew Lillard
To enter:
· Follow @AvalonHillGames on Instagram
· Navigate to the entry post that will be posted October 10th at 5pm ET
o Like the entry post
o Add a comment tagging three friends you’d invite over for a game night to play this haunt.
Once you’ve done that, you’re entered! This sweepstakes will run through 11:59pm ET on Friday, October 13th, after which we’ll choose our 10 lucky winners. We’ve included the abbreviated rules below at the end of this post, or you can read the full rules here.
TEEING UP TERROR YEAR-ROUND!
While horror is perfect for the month of October, there is no reason the frightening fun needs to end with Halloween.
IIn fact, at the end of Season of Treason we are releasing the latest expansion for Betrayal at House on the Hill, 3rd Edition – Betrayal: The Yuletide Tale, Evil Reigns in the Wynter’s Pale. This new expansion weaves twisted Yuletide lore into the existing cooperative/ traitor haunted house experience with the addition of five holiday-themed haunts and two highly detailed playable figures: Jingleklaws and the Elf. Get your gaming group together and find out what will unfold as the winter solstice heralds the coming of darkness, and holiday magic falls into the utterly wrong hands!
You can pre-order your copy of Betrayal: The Yuletide Tale, Evil Reigns in the Wynter’s Pale here, available to ship on approximately 10/11.
And lastly, in keeping with the spirit of the Season of Treason, starting October 17th, we’ll be sharing creepy content year-round on Tuesdays under the hashtag #TerrorTuesday on both X (formerly Twitter) and Instagram. Make sure you’re following us to join the conversation – we’ll be talking all things frightening in pop culture.
DO NOT MISS OUT ON THE FUN!
We look forward to our first Betrayal Season of Treason with you and all the fun (and fear) that lies ahead. Special thanks to Matthew Lillard for being an incredible, dynamic, engaged, kind, and wildly funny partner who brought his passion for gaming and putting the fans first to our partnership.
Download the haunt here and watch the playthrough while chatting with Matthew Lillard at this YouTube link here .
Happy Season of Treason!
The Avalon Hill Team
*Please note Betrayal at House on the Hill 3rd Edition is required to play “Thirteen Ghoulies Are All That” and Betrayal: The Yuletide Tale, Evil Reigns in the Wynter’s Pale expansion.
NO PURCHASE NECESSARY. 2023 Betrayal Season of Treason Sweepstakes is open to legal residents of the U.S, 13 years of age or older. Void where prohibited. Begins 5 p.m. ET Oct. 10, 2023 and ends 11:59 p.m. ET, Oct. 13, 2023. See Official Rules here, which govern. Sponsor: Hasbro, Inc., 1027 Newport Ave., Pawtucket, RI 02861.
