2.5.2018

This was a great addition to the original Hogwarts Deck Building Game!The original game was a huge success and this expansion pack does not disappoint. In the expansion you venture out into the Dark Woods and have to defeat creatures. I have played all four boxes in a week, and found them challenging and fun.Instead of Horcruxes, there are encounters with creatures. On top of that, you use all the dark art cards from the previous games (plus a few new ones) and a combination of Villains, Creatures and Villain-creatures. This complicates the gameplay a bit, as sometimes you have to take damage for each creature (or villain) on the board. However, sometimes this means you don't have to take any damage if there are only villains active.Very interesting!The new detention cards were wonderfully annoying, seriously. Sometimes a hero has to add a detention card to their deck. Meaning if you draw it, you have one useless card in your hand. Also, discarding it means losing 2 health. You can banish them from your deck by playing a "Tergeo" spell or defeating certain creatures. I wish these had been in the original game, because they really made an impact.Creatures often have to be assigned coins to defeat them, but you can only assign 1 coin per creature per turn. I found that it is easier to win if you play with four heroes, because it makes a lot of "ALL heroes..." cards stronger. So, even if I am only playing with one friend, both of us will play 2 heroes each. Overall, winning the games was very doable.The expansion set has four boxes, with four additional games (after the first 7 in the original game).New features:- Luna ~ any hero gets 2 health if you draw an extra card (BOX 1)- Detention cards (BOX 1)- Harp ~ to temporarily stun creatures (BOX 1)- New creature dice (BOX 2)ALL heroes gain health, double health, power, draw a card, draw 2 cards or remove 1 death eater token from location- Patronus abilities for each character (BOX 3)- Encounters (EACH BOX)- Creatures and Villain-creatures (EACH BOX)BOX 1Three locations: Castle gates, Hagrid's Hut, Great HallThree encounters: Cornish Pixies, Norbert & Troll, FluffyNew Creatures: Troll, Fluffy, Cornish Pixies, NorbertYou have to defeat GAME 5 Lord Voldemort (10 health).BOX 2Three locations: D.A.D.A. classroom, Castle Hallways, Whomping WillowThree encounters: Scabbers & Peter Pettigrew, Werewolf & Fenrir Greyback, BoggartNew creatures: Basilisk, Boggart, Werewolf, ScabbersYou have to defeat GAME 6 Lord Voldemort (15 health)BOX 3Three locations: Unicorn Hollow, Aragogs Lair, Giant ClearingThree encounters: Aragog & Grawp, Centaur & Umbridge, Ukranian IronbellyNew creatures: Dementor, Centaur, Ukranian Ironbelly, Aragog, Grawp,Patronuses: Non-corporeal (neville), Otter (hermione), Terrier (ron), Stag (harry), Rabbit (luna)You have to defeat GAME 7 Voldemort (20 health).BOX 4 - Set during the Triwizard TournamentFour locations: Selection of champions, Dragon Arena, Mermaid Village, The MazeThree encounters: Four dragons, Mermaid & Grindylow, Lord VoldemortCreatures: Mermaid, Common Welsh Green, Swedish Short-snout, Hungarian Horntail, Chinese Fireball, GrindylowYou have to defeat a new BOX 4 Voldemort and he is stronger than ever. He has 25 health and 7 'influence' coins.If you find you cannot win, make sure you keep the first location as long as possible. You can also refrain from defeating "easy" villains/creatures and build your deck first or you can limit the detention cards.

11.11.2018

This is the first review I've ever left on Amazon but we love this game so much I just had to comment:My husband and I are pretty big Potter-heads so my mother-in-law got this for us for Christmas one year because of our love of board games. Admittedly, it sat on our game shelf for months, half because, at the time, we didn't have close friends who shared our affinity for Harry Potter and half because the concept of the game seemed really intimidating at first (I personally am not one for deck building games). This was until we met another couple who shared our love of all things Wizarding World and asked them to christen the game with us. Let me tell you, this is a fun, fantastic,

5.1.2019

I'm wary of Harry Potter themed stuff usually but this game REALLY bucks the trend. As a keen HP fan (Slytherin) and also an experienced tabletop gamer, this seems too good to be true but it has stood the test of time in our house and is now a regular staple. Taking the form of a co-operative deck builder in which you play as one of the main characters to defeat the various baddies of the HP world, there are 7 games in the original package which are absolutely perfectly scaled to take someone who has never played a deckbuilder before right through to expert level by the final game. Experienced players could easily jump in at Game 4 onwards from cold but we enjoyed the progression and addition of functions and played every game in order.

11.7.2019

I bought this for a friend on a bit of a whim as we both LOVE Harry Potter. It's a big statement to make but this is easily the most fun I've ever had playing a board game.I love the cooperative element of Hogwarts Battle. Strategizing, working together and planning ahead really makes the game so much more fun than traditional games where you typically play AGAINST your friends.We also both loved the excitement of beginning a new "year" which means acquiring new spells/equipment/characters to help you tackle increasingly difficult events/villains. Its surprisingly addictive. Whereas most board games are what they are after 1 play... This game evolves (7 times!)

28.1.2021

My friends and I were already both Harry Potter fans and board game players so the combination of these two things was bound to be considered good to us, but that said this is still a beautifully designed game.Those unfamiliar with card deck building games may take a short while to get used to the playing style as you're not moving a piece around the board as instead you are strengthening your set of cards in order to defeat the various villains that appear throughout the game. The game play is straightforward as there's only a couple of different things to do each turn.It's also beautifully tiered and gets progressively difficult as you move through the games. There are seven games in total (one for each book)

25.9.2019

We have played 10 sessions of this game and the more I play and research other board games, the more I realise this is probably the best co-operative deck building game if not co-operative board game out right.Firstly the cons:The box is bigger than it needs to be, it could be half the size.The component quality is medium, a lot of shuffling is required and High quality protectors will be required if you want this to last 25 years.Replay value is a concern, the game gets easy, there are only 4 characters to play and the quick start guide just recommends adding a handicap once you have completed the game.Games draw from a huge player deck,

22.9.2020

Great game. Might look intimidating with the size of the box and the number of cards, but it is quick to pick up, and really fun. Year 1 is an easy introduction, Year 7 is a good challenge even for experienced players. Excellent replayability. Knowledge of the Harry Potter world is not required to understand or enjoy the game, or to play well, though fans of the books and/or films will appreciate the details of the heroes and villains.Don't open the boxes of cards for each year until you're playing that game. If you feel stuck and can't win a particular year, try a different combination of heroes. In the later years, you can really focus on what your hero's strengths are and build a powerful collection of spells,

29.8.2017

Really good game for casual games players and seasoned gamers alike.I've played this several times with my family (9 year old and 12 year old children) as well as with my Monday night gaming group everyone loves it.Make sure you like deck building games before you buy this, as some people can't get on with them and this would be quite an expensive way to find out!The first game (year) does look like it it almost impossible to lose, but it works well as an into to the game. Game 2 (year 2) has a little peril, but is easily winnable, from then on in it is a decent game for casuals and gamers alike, and if game 7 isn't hard enough for you you can make the game even harder by following the suggestion in the rules.

14.3.2021

A really fun game, this is one of my first collaborative card building games but I absolutely loved it. I know understand it's a fairly standard system adapted to the HP world.It's great for fans of the magical world, we got really absorbed by it, and it's nice to play a game collaboratively and talk through strategy each turn.The longevity is great, with 7 full rounds, and give a bit of a break could be played again.The only slight negatives are the instructions are ambiguous in many areas, I recommend watching a gameplay video, there are many available.Ultimately it was quite easy, with some intense moments of peril but we didn't lose once.The suggested increase in difficulty level isnt that great,

6.3.2021

I've have been playing this with my wife and two sons (11 & 7) all through lockdown. We have thoroughly enjoyed it. My youngest son copes with it quite well but has needed some assistance. Fortunately though it is a cooperative game so helping him out doesn't spoil it.We discovered that we were missing a card. I'm not sure if it was missing when we bought it or whether we lost it, but anyway the game's manufacturers were more than happy to send a replacement in the post. The instructions didn't really have an inventory, so it's hard to tell what you should have until you've played through it.I'd suggest the 60 minute playing time is a little on the low end, the easy levels took about that,

19.11.2019

I absolutely love Harry Potter Hogwarts Battle, it's one of my favourite cooperative board games. It's the first deck builder that I've really enjoyed as I just couldn't get into the Marvel Legendary card game although I haven't tried the others in the series. The theme has been really well thought through - the items that each character has in their starting deck fits perfectly (Hermione has the Time Turner for example) and the quality of the game is very high with thick tokens and metal location markers. I'm an avid board gamer and this is my go to game when I want to play a light fun game with strategy and theme. We did work through the boxes step by step and thoroughly enjoyed discovering each new set of cards and resources.

2.8.2019

My 8 year old daughter is a big fan of harry potter but never played a deck-building game before. We pick up this game to up for some fun and were concerned it might be a bit too complicated for her but I am glad to say we were wrong. The game is so well setup where you have 7 games and you start with game 1 which just has the basic rules which made it easy to learn and master before moving into the next which would make it slightly harder each time and introduce new rules.We have not been able to put this game down, we play every night and have already progressed to game 4. I could not recommend this enough for anyone interested in harry potter or someone new to deck building games as this

17.1.2018

This game is A-MA-ZING. My sister got it for Christmas and my family are die hard Harry Potter fans and we love it. There are 7 battles for the 7 years. Each year has items and locations relating to that book. Each battle is also harder than the last and you have to work together with your team and make strategic plays. Also if you have replica wands as my sister and I do, each spell cards shows you the motion to cast the spell which can add to the immersion.If you're a big Harry Potter fan and you're in any doubt, DON'T HESITATE! This game is so good, well worth the money.We just spent a whole evening from dinner until bedtime getting past year 6 and we can't wait to play the final year

21.1.2018

My daughter (11) was bought this game for Christmas. We played it as a family. Her being the youngest. Stick with it, takes a bit to get your head round it, but once you’ve sussed it, it’s excellent. With 4 players we can easily make 1 game last about 3 hours.We lost maybe 2 or 3 games. Not sure how other others have sailed through without losing at all as it’s not ridiculously easy. Which we prefer.We haven’t played game 7 yet (there are 7 games in total) but can’t wait to get stuck in. Then we will be ordering the expansion pack!It’s a lovely looking set and the box is so organised with the rules very easy to follow. It’s well worth the money for Harry Potter fans.

8.4.2019

Everything about this has been brialliant.I love the fact it is a co-op game so all the team fight the villains. Great family vibe, and good to strategise together.Love the fact that each character is designed to have a different role within the team.Love the pacing of each individual game (could be 2-3 hours) and the whole game, which is spread over 7 increasingly difficult stages.Love the way the complexity slowly build but isn't too much.Love the phyical quality of the cards/pieces etc.Love the 'generosity'-so many spells, monsters etc.If in doubt, buy it. I would suggest ages 8 and above if they have a good concentration span.

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