Save Hogwarts in USAopoly’s new Harry Potter card game

USAopoly has announced a new Harry Potter-themed “deck-building game” that will pit up to four players against the forces of evil.

USAopoly, the company that brought you Harry Potter Clue and Harry Potter Trivial Pursuit, will soon be bringing you “Harry Potter Hogwarts Battle”, a “cooperative deck-building game” that will allow up to four players to defend Hogwarts Castle from Harry Potter villains. Players can choose to play as either Harry, Ron, Hermione, or, for the person who chooses last, Neville.

The press release is a little vague on how the game actually works, but here’s how USAopoly puts it:

To secure the castle from the forces of evil the students must work together to build more powerful decks using iconic Wizarding World characters, spells, and items.  Defeat all the villains including He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named and win the game!

That still doesn’t tell me a lot. Let’s see if the list of items the game comes with provides any clues. Should you buy Harry Potter Hogwarts Battle at the purchase price of $49.95, you’ll get:

Game Board
252 Cards (47 Small, 142 Regular, 63 Oversized)
4 Dice
7 Game Boxes
7 Game Rules
4 Player Boards
8 Villain Control Tokens
70 Chip Pieces (35 Attack, 25 Influence, 4 Health, 2 Shield, 4 More)

So that’s enough dice for all the players, a lot of cards, and rules we don’t have access to. On its website, USAopoly has some images that could clue us in:

Oh, these are no ordinary dice. These are special, game-specific dice. You won’t find these in Harry Potter Monopoly.

That looks complicated. I think we can say that the game will involve strategy, cards, and whimsy. The game is meant for players ages 11 and up, and will be released in September of this year. We can get it and figure out how it works together.