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.
—description from the publisher
- IP familiarity makes table presence strong and accessible
- cooperative play fosters group engagement and shared goals
- campaign framing provides a sense of progression and accomplishment
- randomness in card draws can alter outcomes unpredictably
- can be long for casual gamers if the group chooses to marathon multiple sessions
- defend the Wizarding World by defeating villains across movies
- Harry Potter universe, across the film series in a cooperative campaign frame
- campaign-driven progression with movie-to-movie arc
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- Campaign progression — scenario outcomes influence subsequent scenarios, implying longer-term strategic planning.
- Cooperative deck-building — players assemble and optimize a shared deck of cards to confront villains and advance the campaign.
- hand management — players must balance card play, timing, and resource use to maximize group effectiveness.
Video topics + discussion points
Quotes (from this video)
- it's a 15minute game with tons of luck yet super exciting
- the IP really really helps to get to the table
- it's cooperative
- this is campaign game where you go through all the movies so you could technically watch the movie and then play one session of Harry Potter
- the cards will combo with each other
- apparently it's a warm-up game for something like the next game
- the ocean wave nothing it just waved
References (from this video)
- accessible
- thematic appeal for HP fans
- easy to teach
- license tie-in may limit variety
- cooperative deck-building with HP license
- fictional magical school
- family-friendly, license-based
- Dixit
- Mysterium
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- cooperative play — team tries to complete stages together
- deck-building — players build a deck of cards to progress quests
Video topics + discussion points
Quotes (from this video)
- you can't even start it with Wonderland's war and we also have different categories that we need to fit
- five minutes to teach 30 minutes to play
- 87 Euros for 87 Euros you can have your own personal board game starter collection with brilliant games
References (from this video)
- intro to deck building
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- Deck building — intro to deck building
Video topics + discussion points
Quotes (from this video)
- oh dang I only got a minute to talk about some board games
- let's blind rank five games I don't know what's coming next
References (from this video)
- Familiar IP for many players
- Solid cooperative experience
- Less depth compared to larger fantasy deck-builders
- Cooperative deck-building adventure
- Wizarding World
- The Lord of the Rings
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- deck-building — assemble a deck to counter events and threats
Video topics + discussion points
Quotes (from this video)
- five times if you don't you got to get rid of those games
- you're going to pick which pile I have to play five times or else I'm getting rid of that pile anyways
- my board game collection this is my board game shop
- Wingspan killer did I say that cuz I meant it
- it's a unique game where you're placing cards and literally a book and then turning pages
- thank you for watching
References (from this video)
- cooperative feel with meaningful progression
- family-friendly and approachable
- can feel predictable across campaigns
- requires commitment for ongoing campaigns
- progressive deck-building with a legacy-like campaign feel
- Hogwarts school of witchcraft and wizardry
- storybook/cooperative
- King of Tokyo
- Dune: Imperium
- Cosmic Encounter
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- Deck-building with campaign progression — players improve their decks over a series of encounters and scenarios
Video topics + discussion points
Quotes (from this video)
- start the game with superpowers give each player a starting ability of equal value or let them pick between two
- simultaneous turns at the start of every round plan as a team then everyone takes their actions and encounters at the same time
- you paid for the game you better make sure you have fun playing it
- this small tweak helps to keep the tension without the headache of constant noise building up
- if this video gets 500 likes we'll dust off that Eldritch Horror house rule video
- the last game loses and the next one gets picked, adding an extra layer of strategic fun
References (from this video)
- Accessible family-friendly theme
- Not deeply discussed in transcript
- Cooperative deck-building in a family-friendly setting
- Harry Potter universe
- Progression-based adventure with upgrades
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- Cooperative deck-building — Players build a deck and work together
Video topics + discussion points
Quotes (from this video)
- it's a cooperative game
- you have the choice to betray somebody
- pull everything out of the box and it's good to go
- there is already a story deck but you would add things into it based upon your actions
- we are making a prototype next time
- fantastic not the master but fantastic
References (from this video)
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
Video topics + discussion points
Quotes (from this video)
- Say Anything board game challenge with a board gamey twist
- That is the say anything board game challenge definitely try this at home and let us know
- It's not as easy as people probably think it is
- We cheated maybe we should have draped something over them
- Both said Chronicles of Crime at least four times
- We were talking about the expansions in our heads