Well, this one turned out to be quite the surprise for me. I've been purchasing quite a few board games recently and had heard that this was a great deck-building game. We have a lot of Harry Potter fans in our family, so that's a plus. The fact that it starts out easy and gets harder over time is nice. It makes it easier to learn, and is cool because new game dynamics are introduced to shake things up a bit. The surprise came around game 4 when it seemed like the game took a huge turn for the worse. Poor card combinations resulted in a really discouraging game where we felt like we had no chance of winning. I'm ok if a game is difficult, but I feel like through additional strategy I can figure it out and do better, but this one didn't feel that way. So we did make a home rule to get through that level. Once my older kids came for Christmas and got into the game, we found ways to get through the higher levels without home rules. Overall it seemed a little unbalanced, either it was way too difficult or a bit too easy. There are a lot of things to keep track of at the higher levels, so I wouldn't recommend it if you just want a straightforward, intuitive game. But it still gets 5 stars because we had a blast playing it, and we did find better strategies to defeat it over time.

Well, this one turned out to be quite the surprise for me. I've been purchasing quite a few board games recently and had heard that this was a great deck-building game. We have a lot of Harry Potter fans in our family, so that's a plus. The fact that it starts out easy and gets harder over time is nice. It makes it easier to learn, and is cool because new game dynamics are introduced to shake things up a bit. The surprise came around game 4 when it seemed like the game took a huge turn for the worse. Poor card combinations resulted in a really discouraging game where we felt like we had no chance of winning. I'm ok if a game is difficult, but I feel like through additional strategy I can figure it out and do better, but this one didn't feel that way. So we did make a home rule to get through that level. Once my older kids came for Christmas and got into the game, we found ways to get through the higher levels without home rules. Overall it seemed a little unbalanced, either it was way too difficult or a bit too easy. There are a lot of things to keep track of at the higher levels, so I wouldn't recommend it if you just want a straightforward, intuitive game. But it still gets 5 stars because we had a blast playing it, and we did find better strategies to defeat it over time.

nice to have a game you learn to work together to win!

nice to have a game you learn to work together to win!

We ordered this game for our daughter for Christmas. She loves every thing Harry Potter and loves the game.

We ordered this game for our daughter for Christmas. She loves every thing Harry Potter and loves the game.

Bought this for my Harry Potter obsessed 9 year old daughter. It was a little overwhelming at first reading through the directions, but once you get the hang of it you realize it's fairly simple. What I love most about this game is that it is a cooperative game meaning that you are all on the same side trying to defeat the villains of Harry Potter. We've played through the first few years and have really enjoyed it. A great family game. Packaging and materials are very nice as well. Would recommend!

Bought this for my Harry Potter obsessed 9 year old daughter. It was a little overwhelming at first reading through the directions, but once you get the hang of it you realize it's fairly simple. What I love most about this game is that it is a cooperative game meaning that you are all on the same side trying to defeat the villains of Harry Potter. We've played through the first few years and have really enjoyed it. A great family game. Packaging and materials are very nice as well. Would recommend!

It was a little pricey, but my neighbors and I are addicted to this game, so it ended up being worth it for us. This is a cooperative deck-building game, which means you work together with other players to beat the villians on the board and you gain resources to build your starting standard 10 card deck throughout gameplay... Clarity: all cards are included with the game, no outside purchase necessary. There are 7 levels (called games) to play that follow the storylines of the 7 HP novels. Each new game adds new aspects and challenges to the play, which keeps the game fresh and addicting. Players should be 10 yrs for the later games, adults can probably help their younger kids with games 1-3 without much maintenance. I'd recommend playing all 7 games in order the first time through, but the good thing is you can start a on any game to match the skill level and game aspects you want to play. If you buy the monsters expansion box, I'd also recommend playing though the original 7 games before trying to play with the expansion as the expansion adds even more game aspects. We eventually found a solid strategy and will be making it more challenging with the game's recommended house rules. They do have suggested house rules to make it easier if it's too difficult.

It was a little pricey, but my neighbors and I are addicted to this game, so it ended up being worth it for us. This is a cooperative deck-building game, which means you work together with other players to beat the villians on the board and you gain resources to build your starting standard 10 card deck throughout gameplay... Clarity: all cards are included with the game, no outside purchase necessary. There are 7 levels (called games) to play that follow the storylines of the 7 HP novels. Each new game adds new aspects and challenges to the play, which keeps the game fresh and addicting. Players should be 10 yrs for the later games, adults can probably help their younger kids with games 1-3 without much maintenance. I'd recommend playing all 7 games in order the first time through, but the good thing is you can start a on any game to match the skill level and game aspects you want to play. If you buy the monsters expansion box, I'd also recommend playing though the original 7 games before trying to play with the expansion as the expansion adds even more game aspects. We eventually found a solid strategy and will be making it more challenging with the game's recommended house rules. They do have suggested house rules to make it easier if it's too difficult.

My wife and I love this game. We just finished game 5 of 7 and it took a while and was relatively challenging. We are excited to finish all the games. My one critique for the game is that the quality of the pieces are not great. The cards are lower quality and can be difficult to shuffle and the dice have stickers that are off center. Otherwise, very fun cooperative game that we love playing.

Really, really fun game. Lots of replay value and all of the pieces and artwork are excellent quality.

Bought as a Christmas gift for my son's family. They play board games as a family and love this game.

This game is a deck builder that uses an 34;Ascension-style34; card market (where the cards change every time one is bought), rather than a 34;Dominion-style34; market (where the cards market is determined at the beginning of the game and doesn't change). If you're familiar with just about any deck builders, you'll be able to pick up on this game pretty easily. You start the setup by picking a character (Harry, Ron, Hermione, Neville), each of which has a unique starting deck, and opening the small box that contains the cards for the game you are about to play. This game plays out in 7 34;books34;, each of which are contained in their own card box within the big box. Each book is a single game. When you successfully complete a game by defeating whatever villains come with that book, you can open the next card box which slightly changes the game by 1.) adding or changing the villains, 2.) adding or changing the environments, 3.) adding to the types of bad events that can occur, 4.) adding more complex cards to the market, and 5.) changing the powers of the characters. The game isn't strictly a legacy game in that you mark up the board or rip up cards, but it does build upon itself from game to game. However, when you complete a book (which takes less than an hour, early games are less than 30 minutes), you can pack up the game for another time, or continue with the scenario right away. This makes the game perfect for squeezing in one quick scenario before bedtime without committing to 2 hours of play. It's easy to play previous scenarios again, if you so desire. As far as collaboration goes, the game is cooperative, but the actual collaboration is limited to helping a fellow player heal (you WILL take damage in this game from the bad guys) or helping them get a little extra money to buy cards on their turn, but these are mostly rare events, and only if you draw the correct card on your turn. Otherwise, most of the collaboration is in the form of table-talk. I wish it had a bit more interaction, but that would have complicated the otherwise simple and fun mechanics.

This game is a blast, it does take a long time to go through all 7 yrs and it’s hard to beat in the end.

I originally got this game because I love board games and my love hates competition. That and we both enjoy Harry Potter. This game is more than complex enough for adults to enjoy but has a gentle learning curve that transitions to more challenging gameplay as you continue through the game.

We (2 players) dedicated about 36 hours to beating all seven levels of this game playing as Harry and Neville. It gets extremely challenging when playing with Ron or Hermione or with more than two players. The beauty of this game is that, being so cooperative, we can play with 5 or 6 people around a table (assigning one character to two people as necessary) and still have a great time.

After a few weeks of gameplay now and finishing about half the game, I have to say the game design is really well thought out. I wasn't sure what to expect since many themed boardgames fall short of the theme they take after, but this obviously had a TON of thoughtfulness throughout the design and the actual gameplay, especially the little details for avid Harry Potter fans. And even those who aren't die hard fans can enjoy since it requires no previous knowledge of the books or movies. Highly recommended for any board gamer or harry potter fan. The difficulty level increases perfectly as you play, both the individual books (levels) as well as the game in its entirety. The only downside is that you might get addicted to hours of gameplay. Once you start, it's hard to put down! But they even make it easy to store the game in between sessions so you don't lose your place. Kudos all around.

My wife, my friend and I played this game for 9 hours straight. I am in no way ashamed of this. If that doesn't tell you anything then I don't know what will.

We really love this game!! It is a very good cooperative game! Very challenging and fun. I would have given it 5 stars but it should have 4 dice 1 for every house. We only have 3 colors. We have 2 dice of the same color. Each house dice are different so it is not as effective with only 3 colors.