Welcome back to Hogwarts, Prefects. And help us in welcoming our new first years! It’s important we ensure all the first years learn everything they need to know about Hogwarts, so it’s up to you Prefects to give them all that knowledge!

What Is It?

🎯The Goal of the game is to get your team to guess all your secret words first, and avoid the Filch tile
⚙️Team Game
⚙️Communication Limits / Deduction – Each turn the clue giver gives a word + number (i.e. villain 3) clue that will point their team to their corresponding tiles on the grid. The rest of the team will then point to the tiles they think belong to their team. Correct answers let them keep guessing, and cover the image with their team’s color. A wrong answer on a neutral tile (locked door) will end a team’s turn and a wrong answer on the Argus Filch tile will lose the game for the team who guessed it
⚙️Variable Player Powers – Each team has a special ability based on their Hogwarts house and whether they go first or second in the game

Who Is It For?

👥4 or More Players – I think 4 isn’t enough, personally (1 clue giver + 1 guesser on each team). I think 6 is the best count, but 8 is okay too.
👥Ages 10 & Up – Very straightforward rules, easy to get into
👥Fans of Codenames who like Harry Potter and also want to try the game with special powers for the teams

PROS

🟢Nice quality components
🟢Lots of word cards and map cards + 2 powers per house, so there’s a good amount of variability
🟢Familiar for fans of Codenames, but with enough of a twist that it feels unique
🟢I like that you can play with words or pictures – or a combo!
🟢Cute that it includes a “House Points” point tracker if you want to track wins over a number of games

CONS

🔴The theme locks your clue options, and doesn’t appeal to everyone. I wish there were “power packs” you could play with any set of Codenames
🔴Some powers weren’t as exciting as others (i.e. when Ravenclaw goes 1st, their power is just knowing their tiles are all connected)

Final Thoughts

I’m not the biggest fan of Harry Potter, so the theme didn’t grab me, but I was really interested in variable team powers for Codenames, and that element really delivered for me. I thought, overall, they really elevated the game and I’d love to see more themed sets/powers, or just general powers that you can use with any version. The abilities set this apart from other plays of Codenames, so I really prefer it mechanism wise, just not theme wise.

Additional Information:
My Final Rating – 7/10

Designer – Vlaada Chvátil
Artists – Štěpán Drašťák, Ondřej Hrdina
Publisher – Czech Games Edition (CGE)
MSRP – 34,99 €
Website

*I was provided a copy of this game to do this review*

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