7 Games, 7 Years (Harry Potter: Hogwarts Battle)

4 months.  4 grueling months of struggling against experienced villains, supporting one another in times of trouble, and watching everyone die again and again.  But this is important, this is the war for the Wizarding World.  We will not rest until Voldemort has at last been defeated.  This will forever be known in history as The Hogwarts Battle.



GAME DESCRIPTION:  Harry Potter: Hogwarts Battle is a co-operative Deck Builder published by USAopoly for up to 4 players.  Go through the 7 Years of the series and battle against various villains of the Harry Potter universe.

SET-UP:  Each player takes 1 of the 4 Year 1 Character cards and their respective decks, and shuffle them.  Then players will draw 5 cards, deal out 6 Hogwarts cards, and place 1 Villain card out.  They will take their Hero card and game board, and place the Heart token on 10.

BASE RULES:  Each turn, players will first reveal and resolve a Dark Arts card.  Then Resolve any abilities the Villain may have.  Players may then play cards from their hand to gain or give Influnce tokens to be able to purchase Hogwarts cards, or Attack tokens to deal damage to Villain cards.  Players turn ends by discarding their hand and drawing 5 new cards, and discarding all unused tokens on their board.

STUNNED:  Dropping to 0 Health is not death, but merely stunned.  If a Hero's health drops to 0, they discard half their hand, remove all Tokens on their board, and their health returns to 10 at the end of the turn.


ENDING A YEAR:  Players win when all Villain cards are defeated.  Locations can gain Villain Control tokens, and are Controlled when a player ends their turn with that Locations V.C. track is filled.  Players lose when all Locations are broken.

------------------YEARS-----------------

Y1:  Start only with the cards that say Year 1 on them

Y2:  Add the Year 2 cards to the Villain, Hogwarts, and Dark Arts decks, use only the Year 2 Location cards, and return all purchased Hogwarts cards from your decks to the Hogwarts deck.

Y3:  Add the Year 3 cards to the decks, replacing the Location cards.  Return all purchased Hogwarts cards from your decks to the Hogwarts deck.  Reveal and play with 2 Villain cards at a time.  Replace the Year 1 Hero cards with the Year 3 from now on, allowing for Hero abilities

Y4:  Add the Year 4 cards to the decks, replacing the Location cards.  Return all purchased Hogwarts cards from your decks to the Hogwarts deck.  Take the Hogwarts Dice and use when appropriate.

Y5:  Add the Year 5 cards to the decks, replacing the Location cards.  Return all purchased Hogwarts cards from your decks to the Hogwarts deck.  Reveal and play with 3 Villain cards at a time, with Year 5 Voldemort now being the last Villain revealed and attacked.

Y6:  Add the Year 6 cards to the decks, replacing the Location cards.  Return all purchased Hogwarts cards from your decks to the Hogwarts deck.  Replace the Year 5 Voldemort with Year 6.  Each player now gains a Proficiency card.

Y7:  Add the Year 7 cards to the decks, replacing the Location cards.  Return all purchased Hogwarts cards from your decks to the Hogwarts deck.  Expert Hero cards replace the Year 3 Hero cards.  Replace Year 6 Voldemort with Year 7.  Add the Horcrux cards, which must be destroyed before Voldemort is attacked.

---------------YEARS------------

CONCLUSION:  This is a really difficult game as the years go on.  Sure, the first couple years are easy, but due to the reset mechanic for each deck, the game becomes a bit more of a slog early game to avoid getting stunned or losing outright against the right set of bosses.  Year 7 feels even worse with the introduction of the Horcrux's, but the benefit can outweigh the slog.  And, if you attempt to play this game through all 7 Years in one go, be prepared for a very long game. Still, this is probably one of the best and most well thought out licensed games that marry theme with mechanics.  If you like Harry Potter and deck builders, then cast your eyes over this one.

AFTERTHOUGHTS:  I want to thank Dillon "Saintscrub" Coburn and Trevor "Slumpymaster" Forsyth for sticking through all 7 years, regardless of set-backs.