One of the joys of the holiday season around our house is new board games, because we’re geeky like that. We spent the entire first night of Hanukkah (after the candles and an obligatory dreidel round) playing Clue: Harry Potter Edition
In this case, however, it works. Hogwarts provides a perfect replacement setting for the original mansion of Clue—whereas, say, Harry Potter Monopoly might seem forced. The game plays mostly like the classic version, except that instead of Col. Mustard doing it in the drawing room with a lead pipe, Draco Malfoy does it in the Owlery with an Impedimenta curse. Or Bellatrix Lestrange does it in the Divination Classroom with a Sleeping Draught. You get the idea.
There are also a few changes to gameplay that will keep things fresh for fans of the original. Four turning wheels under the gameboard change the hidden passages that lead from room to room, and cause some doorways to close unless a player has an Alohomora spell card. The wheels and a special die may also reveal the Dark Mark, which can cause players to lose House Points unless they have cards showing the proper allies or counter-curses. Lose all your House Points and you’re out of the game. All told, it’s a more dynamic game than the earlier one.
While we love us some newer strategy games like The Settlers of Catan
What games are you and your family playing this season?
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my son (7yrs) loves the game Stratego – I’m not so sure about it but we’re working on figuring out various strategies.
We mostly like Cranium games – the family edition is great kids and adults to play together. Hoopla, by Cranium, is hard to find – but definitely worth it – as it doesn’t require large teams or a lot of time. three cheers for board games!
WOW! Thanks so much for this awesome review. Like many families we have HP addicts – but there is so much out there, I never know what’s really going to be fun (and cool!) – and therefore, worth the bucks! This game looks ab-fab – we will definitely pick it up. (btw, the lego HP game is a little lame).
Oh, thanks for the warning about the Lego HP game! We were thinking about it….
We’ve been big fans of Cranium Hullabaloo–which is really for younger kids, but our son still seems to like it. It has the physical fun of Twister. Haven’t tried Hoopla yet.
I remember Stratego from when I was a kid. Now I have a hankering to try it again!
I have been a big fan of Cranium Hullabaloo myself for my kids.