Codenames: Harry Potter

I’m not a big fan of big company games, as it’s always noisy and more often than not doesn’t work out quite according to the rules or gets out of hand. However, Codenames is one of the few games that is really fun to play in a large group, especially if the game is not in your native language. To be honest this is the first party game that made me feel better about party games =) So when I saw Codenames Harry Potter, which offers a duel co-op mode like in Codenames duet also based on my favourite universe, I bought it immediately. And now I’m fully prepared to share with you my impression of the box, so Expelliarmus!))

Components

Inside the box you will find: 200 code cards, 100 double-sided key cards, 15 Order of the Phoenix cards, 1 death eater card, 12 times-turner tokens, 1 pad of mission logs, 1 card stand, instructions. For those who have never played Codenames, a quick look at game preparation and gameplay.

Gameplay

Players sit on opposite sides of the table. Shuffle all code cards and lay 25 cards on the table in a 5*5 grid. Unlike the classic versions of Codenames, the cards here are double-sided, i.e. on one side are words, on the other side are pictures (film scenes). Therefore, when preparing you can decide which side of the cards to use only words, only pictures, or both sides, for example, alternating cards. Next to the field lay out a stack of Order of the Phoenix cards, death eater card, 10 times-turner tokens with the image of the Ministry of Magic workers on the face up (red shirt on the table) – two tokens with a shirt of a different colour for the first game is recommended to put aside. Place the key card in a special supply between the players so that each player can only see his side of the card. You are ready to begin!

Since this is a co-operative game, to win together you and your partner need to uncover the locations of all 15 members of the Order of the Phoenix in 10 turns, which can be conveniently counted using times-turner tokens. The trick is that on the key-map of each player there are only 9 locations with members of the Order, 3 of which coincide with the locations of your partner, and the rest do not. So how to play it ask you? Well, it is played as follows:
In his turn, the player can “encrypt” in one clue as many cards with the location of members of the Order of the Phoenix as he can combine in one association. These cards are marked in red on the key card. The clue must contain one word and one number. For example, the clue “Forest 4” will mean that the player associates 4 cards with the Forest. The player who received the clue must now guess what these cards are by pointing at them one by one.
There can be several outcomes:
– the player pointed to a card that is marked red on the you side of key card (even if it is not the card the you choose for this clue) then a red card with a member of the Order of the Phoenix is placed on the card and the guessing player can continue guessing further or escape by taking one time-turner token;
– the player pointed to a card which is shown by a white box on your side of the key card. In this case, you mark the card with a times-turner token on the side with the Ministry of Magic worker with an arrow pointing towards the guessing player, and the player can no longer guess cards, now he has to come up with a clue for you;
– the player pointed to the card marked in black on your side of the key card – you cover the death eater card and that’s the end of the game – you met the death eater and both of you lost the game. You give clues to each other until the game ends with one of three possible outcomes:
– you guessed the locations of all 15 members of the Order of the Phoenix – congratulations, you win;
– someone pointed out the card hiding the Death Eater, you lose;
– you have run out of time-turner tokens, you can no longer give new clues, but you can try to guess the locations of the members of the Order of the Phoenix using previously received clues, however, as soon as you make a mistake you lose, but if you still guess all 15 cards – you win.

After playing a few games you can go to the pad of mission logs, which will set conditions on the number of moves or mistakes for each of your games. Winning such a game you can mark it in your mission logs and get a bonus for the next game. The game can also be played with a large group of players divided into teams.

Final Opinion

I really liked the fact that code cards with words and pictures at the same time is like buying two games in one, because the basic code names came out with words and only then the version with pictures came out, which I liked much more because people’s associative range with pictures works much more creatively than with words. On the other hand, the pictures here are randomly cut frames from films, which in some places are not that good – it cheapens the look of the game a bit. Don’t get me wrong – I love movies, I rewatch them every year and some of the images here are not even always recognisable, which encourages me to rewatch the films again =) however, the game would be more beautiful if they were artistic illustrations, for example as it is done in Similo Harry Potter. The gameplay is just as great as in the classic Codenames and the theme of the universe certainly adds a touch of magic. A large number of code cards and key cards make each game unique and the pad of mission logs sometimes makes you play several games in an evening in an attempt to complete the next mission. So if you have the same passion for good board games as I do and the same love for the Harry Potter universe, you will definitely be satisfied with this game!