Harry Potter: Hogwarts Battle

Information

• Language: English
• Designer: Forrest-Pruzan Creative, Kami Mandell, Andrew Wolf
• Artist: Joe Van Wetering
• Year Published:  2016
• Number of Players: 2 - 4 players
• Playing Time: 30 - 60 minutes
• Recommended Ages: 11+
• Categories: Card Game, Movies / TV / Radio theme, Novel-based
• Mechanics: Co-operative Play, Deck / Pool Building, Variable Player Powers
• Board Game Geek

Description

The forces of evil are threatening to overrun Hogwarts castle in Harry Potter: Hogwarts Battle, a cooperative deck-building game, and it's up to four students to ensure the safety of the school by defeating villains and consolidating their defenses. In the game, players take on the role of a Hogwarts student: Harry, Ron, Hermione or Neville, each with their own personal deck of cards that's used to acquire resources.

By gaining influence, players add more cards to their deck in the form of iconic characters, spells, and magical items. Other cards allow them to regain health or fight against villains, keeping them from gaining power. The villains set back players with their attacks and Dark Arts. Only by working together will players be able to defeat all of the villains, securing the castle from the forces of evil.

Etienne's Game of the Week

Harry Potter: Hogwarts Battle is one of the best games to introduce new people to board games.

This is a "deck-building" game where players start with 10 simple cards to play. Each turn, they will add slightly more powerful cards to their 10 starting cards and, over the course of the game, will build a deck filled with different cards: allies (such as Dumbledore), potions or even new spells. The goal of the game is simple: beating Harry Potter's foes before their influence is insurmountable.

Hogwarts Battle is a simple and tense board game.

Like any good deck-building, the game is very satisfying when, during your turn, you draw 5 cards previously purchased to form an amazing combo damaging all the enemies laid before you. In the base game, you will find 7 boxes (representing the 7 Harry Potter books) containing new cards and, more importantly, new rules! After defeating the first book, you can devote yourself to the second one that will add several villains, but also items to help you defeat them.

If you are looking for a game to introduce new players, Hogwarts Battle is perfect. It can be explained in 10 minutes and, after a round or two, everyone seized the mechanisms and objectives. Moreover, the expansion adds a great deal of difficulty to the most seasoned players.