HOUSE 13 asks you to survive inside a home after an emergency broadcast warns that Impostors are copying people. Strangers will ask to enter, and the danger is that a convincing face or voice may not be human. Your first goal is not a perfect ending or a speed clear. It is to learn a repeatable loop: understand the current prompt, inspect before deciding, keep the house ready, answer the correct threat, and make it to morning.
Before the first knock
Join only through the official Place 114146618644145 and read the mode selection before starting. Easy has an official six-night survival Badge and is the shortest documented full route. Medium and Hard require twelve and eighteen nights respectively, so Easy is the practical learning choice even though the exact difficulty modifiers are not publicly documented.
Review the live interaction prompts on your device. The public description does not publish a permanent keyboard, controller, touch, or console binding list. Test how to interact with the door, close an available window or closet, and use any light control the current build presents. Do not copy a key from a video if your on-screen prompt shows something else.
Walk the house once while it is calm. Find the visitor decision area, important windows, closets, and at least one room that the game clearly treats as lit. Practice moving from the door to those locations and back. This route matters because the official Reacher, Hitcher, and Nester clues all require a location-specific response.
Use the same visitor routine every time
When a stranger arrives, pause before opening. Observe the face, clothing, movement, voice, and any details the current interface lets you inspect. Use the available questions or checks in a consistent order. Compare what you receive with information already shown during that run, then decide whether to help or refuse entry.
The official description confirms that Impostors can copy shape, clothes, and voice. It does not publish a complete visitor list, a fixed answer key, or a universal visual tell. A remembered character name from one video is therefore weaker than the live evidence in front of you. If the game changes or randomizes a cue, a rigid list can be more dangerous than a careful process.
In a group, one player should make the final call. Other players state observations first instead of yelling conclusions. “The answer changed” or “the voice does not match what we heard” gives the caller something to evaluate; “open” and “do not open” at the same time only add pressure.
Memorize the three official threat answers
Reacher
Where: a window.
Do: shut the window before it climbs through.
Avoid: waiting for a guessed countdown instead of reacting to the current animation.
Read full responseHitcher
Where: darkness and a route back to light.
Do: reach a lit room before your time in darkness runs out.
Avoid: assuming a portable glow counts as a lit room without live confirmation.
Read full responseNester
Where: a closet, then possibly a claimed room.
Do: close the closet while it is inside; later stay out or rapidly flash your light at it.
Avoid: entering the claimed room by habit.
Read full responseA clean first-night sequence
Start from a neutral position near the visitor area with a short route to a window and light. When a visitor or house warning occurs, name the event. Complete that event before beginning an unrelated task. Afterward, return to the normal position and confirm that the route to light is still usable and no room has become unsafe.
If two events overlap, handle the one with a clear immediate deadline first. The Reacher’s official text says the window remains closable only until it climbs through. The Hitcher description says darkness time runs out. The Nester can change a room’s safe state. Use live effects and prompts to choose rather than relying on an exact priority list that has not been officially published.
At morning or a result screen, check the exact message and any awarded Badge. Record the selected mode and failure or completion. The platform Badge is stronger evidence than assuming one quiet moment means the whole mode is finished.
Solo and squad positioning
Solo players should keep their inspection routine short enough to respond to the house. Do not wander through dark areas while studying visitor information. If a room becomes claimed, deliberately reroute before the next event so muscle memory does not send you back into it.
For a squad, assign a visitor caller, a window-and-closet watcher, and a player who tracks lit routes. Extra players can confirm observations or cover another part of the house. Say both the threat and location, then confirm resolution. “Rear window closed” is better than silence after someone runs away from the door.
Beginner mistakes and recovery
Opening on appearance alone
Impostors are officially described as copying appearance and voice. Use every current check rather than trusting one familiar feature.
Exploring without a light route
The Hitcher specifically punishes time in darkness. Know the destination before leaving a safe room.
Everyone handles the same alarm
A group that abandons every other task loses coverage. Assign roles and use location-based callouts.
Buying before learning the problem
Gamepasses solve different problems. Play enough to know whether information, movement, revival, or lobby size actually limits you.
After a loss, classify it. If a window event ended the run, shorten the Reacher route. If darkness ended it, identify the nearest recognized lit room. If the Nester caught you, separate the closet response from the claimed-room response. If a stranger decision was wrong, preserve the observed clues and test the opposite decision next time. Change one part so the result teaches you something.
What to read next
Use the Impostor Guide for a deeper visitor routine, the Walkthrough for a full-run structure, and Modes before committing to twelve or eighteen nights. The exact visitor roster, night schedule, endings, and some prompts remain update-sensitive, so follow the current game interface whenever it differs from an older recording.