I know it’s only August, but those of us that love autumn have already begun our worship. So this post is meant to be early to give you inspiration and encouragement about your own scary-themed scavenger hunt with enough time to make it happen!
how it happened
Betrayal at House on the Hill gets a lot of love in my game group. We love it. I have been playing Betrayal since its first edition when approximately half of our time was spent arguing about rules. My own copy is an old 2nd edition with tiles that warped pretty substantially over the years.
Warped tiles wasn’t a big deal. We had an imperfect stack, so what? But because we love Betrayal we picked up the Widow’s Walk expansion instantly upon its release. And then our warped tiles became a real problem. The stack fell over constantly, it was evident which tiles were new, etc. And this moved me to, finally, reach out to Wizards of the Coast to see if replacements were possible.
I felt pretty guilty asking for free new parts to my ancient game, but WotC were so nice! The person answering my note even made a cute little haunted house joke. And it took weeks, but then my new tiles arrived. And they were glorious. So flat and perfect. So very stackable.
And that’s when the real problems began. What do I do with a big stack of tiles from a game I adore? Throw them away? Surely not. There’s gotta be a better way.
Fortunately, John and Keri decided to take a trip to Mexico around this time and were foolish enough to give me the keys to their home. They were gone a whole week! Enough time for me to think of the scavenger hunt idea, procrastinate, and then rush it all together at the last minute.
I needed to incorporate the tiles. So those required their own clues indicating where to place them off the landings. I also needed to make my friends, after a long vacation where they were super ready to be home, super tired, have to run around their own property and sometimes the town looking for clues. Because I’m kind of an asshole.
the clues
My clues were okay. A little rushed. With this much time you can do better, so do better! But in the meantime you can use these, copy these, re-use these, get ideas from these.
I left the landing tiles on their dining room table with a doll head lit by an LED candle. This would give them the info they needed to put the tiles in place.
Each of the clues below will include a tile clue, which tells my friends where to place the tile they found, as well as a next clue, which will tell them where to find the next clue.
I will not share the answers for tile placement until the end in case you want to play along. Just start with each of the landings from the core game and follow my terrible clues.
clue 01
Obviously this was tied to the end of a single red balloon in their living room.
FUN FACT: Joke was on me, a little. As I was sneaking around their property hiding clues, I was startled by a cardboard standee of John looking through one of the garage windows. Startled isn’t the right word, maybe. All of the horror movies and Unsolved Mysteries clips that have haunted me throughout my life flashed before me in a rush as I stood on a quiet yard, in a small town, on a sunny day, realizing that some creep was in the garage, perfectly centered in the window, looking right at me!
Tile: Organ Room
Tile Clue:
My organ was so loud we placed it in the upper floor to the north
Where the pews can run perpendicular to the upper landing stairs
Unfortunately I can’t exit left, only right
Next clue:
neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom
starts us off with the appropriate boom
but since they took the trouble of that rhyme
find your first clue in the mailbox high time
Answer: guys, the next clue was in the mailbox
clue 02
Tile: Catacombs
Tile Clue:
We land in the basement already? Wait, is John playing the game?
It’s a parade of homes home – so only the east door had a frame
Next clue:
[Youtube link that plays Ghostbusters theme song]
Answer: I hid this clue in their Ghostbusters lego set
clue 03
Tile: Charred Room
Tile Clue:
this used to be the incense room
in the top floor of the mansion
then the incense went boom
limiting our southerly expansion
Next clue:
from charmin to cottonelle and to scott
my destiny to soak up your pee and your snot
it gets to be such a bore and a snore
when i am stocked behind a closed door
Answer: if I remember correctly I stuffed the next clue into one of the spare toilet paper rolls in the bathroom
clue 04
Tile: Wine Cellar
Tile Clue:
I don’t want to hate everything about the south of the house
so I put my wine cellar here
Next clue:
a wine cork
Answer: They had a collection of wine corks in a corner of a stairway, and my next clue was hidden in there
clue 05
Tile: Statuary Corridor
Tile Clue:
sometimes i drink wine
sometimes i drink alone
sometimes i get unsteady after
in hindsight i shouldn’t have put the statuary corridor, wine cellar adjacent
Next clue:
Okay I found inspiration for this one on the internet. It’s a maze with letters where one path will spell out the entire phrase and most paths will hit walls. This one spells out “Sometime stuff at times things”
Answer: In the bathroom my friends had these funny glass containers, one of which is labeled “stuff” and the other “things.” My next clue was in one of those containers
clue 06
Tile: Gardens
Tile clue:
the gardens at last! i do love a rose
off the front door, to the east i chose
Next clue:
This was just a Converse All Star logo directing my friends to their shoe storage
Answer: It was in one of the Converse. A random one. There were so many to choose from.
clue 07
Tile: Research Laboratory
Tile clue:
OK i made up the incense thing here’s what’s true
the research laboratory had a boo-boo
the explosion blew north
the explosion blew south
it became the charred room henceforth
Next clue:
This was a bunch of Scrabble tiles
Answer: It spelled out “Chinese Checkerboard.” I threw the clue behind one of their Chinese Checkerboards, which can be seen in the balloon photo above!
clue 08
Tile: Dining Room
Tile clue:
i love a meal overlooking the gardens, don’t you?
in fact the dining room overlooks the gardens and the front yard
Next clue:
a man is not wealthy
simply by the contents
of his pockets alone,
but instead by the
richness of his heart. – robert m. hensel, a poet
but check your pockets just the same – me
Answer: I stuffed this one into one of their coat pockets
clue 09
Tile: Patio
Tile clue:
don’t put the patio by the dining room they said
you can practically see the foyer they said
fuck them
Next clue:
please reduce, recycle, reuse,
you can help the earth if you choose,
recycle plastic, glass, and cans,
reduce the rubbish on our lands
Answer: I threw this one under their kitchen garbage can for recycling
clue 10
Tile: Balcony
Tile clue:
yeah the balcony is a’ight
no one really spends time there since the connecting room got charred
if the fire had gone east, we wouldn’t have a balcony at all
Next clue:
This was a photo of Paul the dog saying, “Feed me”
Answer: I stuffed this in the dog food, duh
clue 11
Tile: Bloody Room
Tile clue:
if they had said don’t put the patio by the bloody room
i might’ve listened, but instead here’s this gloom
so the southerly view from the patio is not super relaxing
instead it’s emotionally, viscerally taxing
Next clue:
it keeps your plants wet
keeps down the weed threat
it keeps Penny from going hence
so i guess it’s also a fence?
Answer: this one is a bit of an inside reference, but there was a small mound of mulch that Penny the dog would dig at to try and escape the fence. I buried the next clue in that mound of mulch
clue 12
Tile: Furnace Room
Tile clue:
Soooooo I get a kick out of sending furnace workers through the catacombs to get to the furnace room. So sue me.
Next clue:
you are doing so well, halfway there my loves
your clue can be found where you store hats and gloves
but of course i say this unwilling to bet
as i have not looked in those containers yet
Answer: My friends had some storage boxes that I had never had cause to look in, but that I wanted to throw a clue into. I was fairly certain they stored winter things.
clue 13
Tile: Chasm
Tile clue:
And when they are working away, take a break to wipe their brow, look into the chasm? That’s funny.
Next clue:
This was a crudely made circle puzzle of our friend’s handsome face, with a short rhyme pointing to his porch.
Answer: I stuffed a clue under one of the pumpkins on this friend’s porch
clue 14
Tile: Collapsed Room
Tile clue:
That explosion I just talked about was not without southerly impact
The floor just buckled, melted and opened like hell, that’s a fact
Next clue:
This was John’s license plate (now retired) spelled out in the phonetic alphabet.
Answer: I put the clue in a wheel well of his car
clue 15
Tile: Ballroom
Tile clue:
I could have danced all night, I could have danced all night
But loooooking north gave me a bloooody friiiiight
Next clue:
an event is occurring in the upstairs bathroom
Answer: IIRC I threw the next clue under the bathroom mat
clue 16
Tile: Larder
Tile clue:
I do like to make the help roll to successfully reach the Larder
Is that really so wrong?
Next clue:
I printed out a Harry Potter book cover, cut it up into a reasonable puzzle, and placed the pieces in this clue.
Answer: the next clue was inside the book referenced in the puzzle. Obvi
clue 17
Tile: Kitchen
Tile clue:
So they get to the Larder right, but I don’t want the Kitchen anywhere near them at that point. It still needs to be in the basement, obviously. They should have to run as far as possible to get to the Kitchen from the Larder.
Next clue:
the next clue is not in your home
instead you will find it near the <blank>
the blanks are filled out with crossword puzzle type clues
FUN FACT: I am not joking about that brunch being epic. We once spent 5 hours at an all-you-can-eat, all-you-can-drink-of-cheap-champagne brunch. FIVE. HOURS. And we still had to ask for the check. Epic.
Answer: The answer was gnome. I hid the next clue under a lawn garden gnome in the backyard
clue 18
Tile: Servants’ Quarters
Tile clue:
there are times the guilt gets to me and i say, “hey, my bad!
can you deliver these flowers to the servants quarters, good lad?”
i tend to avoid the charred room as a rule
and don’t get me started on the balcony ghoul
Next clue:
hey now now now don’t you be a hater
it’s only through chance that i became the traitor
i sit in isolation upon my traitor throne
dropping a clue before my cover is blown
Answer: At this particular house there was a specific room the traitor would go to in order to read their tome. And there was a specific couch they would sit on. I stuffed the next clue into the folds of this couch.
clue 19
Tile: Dusty Hallway
Tile clue:
the dusty hallway is dull dull dull
but when the dancing must take a lull
it’s a very nice place to take a break
just head west to rest that ache
Next clue:
This was just a photo of a pink sweatshirt with a small dog icon on it.
Answer: John and Keri’s dog Penny has a pink sweatshirt. The next clue was stuffed under that sweatshirt in its storage place
clue 20
Tile: Game Room
Tile clue:
to the east of our start
where the music is art
Next clue:
i don’t house your driveway, your mail, your trash
i’m not the scene of your neighborly clash
i just exist, i’m quiet as a mouse
i’m no big deal, the left side of your house
Answer: there are very few reasons to visit the left side of my friends’ house. This clue calls attention to how unappreciated it is, and let me just throw a ziplock bag along the side of the house.
clue 21
Tile: Operating Laboratory
Tile clue:
if you make the mistake to pass the Larder in a cruise
welcome to the Operating Lab, my muse!
Next clue:
o my faithful companion
rarely away from my side
always ready to give what i take
never judging
giving always
evermore
putting yourself ahead of me
unequal in your orangeness
ready to sit or hang as i place you
some would call you a container
exactly why they don’t understand you
Answer: This is an acrostic poem, spelling “orange purse.” I threw the next clue in Keri’s orange purse. It apparently was not invited to Mexico.
clue 22
Tile: Underground Lake
Tile clue:
when things get gross we must dump them somewhere
we tried environment-friendly options i swear
the Kitchen and the Operating Lab are the worst
the Underground Lake sits between and is cursed
Next clue:
This one was a common, little puzzle
Answer: Working out the puzzle spelled out, “For the tax man” and the next clue was buried in some receipts
clue 23
Tile: Junk Room
Tile clue:
omg the servants and their junk
just head to the north to witness the funk
Next clue: Oof I won’t spell this one out but suffice it to say I had the initial lorem ipsum content where the off words would provide a clue. They were in English even. I’m pretty sure they said something like, “look near the tray on the ottoman.”
Answer: Yeah, near the tray on the ottoman
clue 24
Tile: Gallery
Tile clue:
it’s not like they don’t have any feelings though
to the south is a gallery, and it’s a show
Next clue:
if i was feeling cheeky
i would draw a chasm
and if i drew a chasm
it would be a chalky chasm
and if i drew a chalky chasm
it would be here
Answer: I hid this next clue behind the chalkboard in the dining room
clue 25
Tile: Tower
Tile clue:
the history books say we once had a tower
my best guess is the entrance went sour
look near the smoke, the fire, the grit
east of the collapsed room, that might be it
Next clue:
these violent delights have violent ends
and in their triumph die, like FIRE and Powder,
whIch, as They kiss, consume.
Answer: Yes I am a Shakespeare nerd. I cheapen this quote by only capitalizing the clue letters which spell out FIRE PIT. I buried the next clue in their fire pit
clue 26
Tile: Coal Chute
Tile clue:
only a fool would walk down the hall
hands in the dust on the wall
but just as he walks to the west, no big deal,
falls down the coal chute with a squeal
Next clue:
We have reached our last clue
and i’m so proud of you
ready for your biggest scare?
place the tile in the house if you dare
i got bored and skipped ahead, so what happened?
Here’s the thing. There’s not much to do with Betrayal tiles for a Halloween-ish scavenger hunt except to spell Boo. The tiles spell Boo!
This is harder than it seems, because I acknowledge that my friends will probably realize we are spelling Boo way before the last clue. But I can delay that realization as long as possible by being random.
And that was my super-fun-to-make repurposing of Betrayal tiles!