Wizarding World
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THE NEW HP TCG - JUST "SWISH AND FLICK" Wizarding World got to demo the new Harry PotterTM Trading Card Game (TCG) at Gen Con! Sitting in a life-sized "castle" that Wizards of the Coast (the manufacturer) uses for their convention area, WWP took lessons using our Lesson cards, and then cast spells on our partner as we played the new Harry Potter TCG. Just like Professor Flitwick instructs, we swished and flicked away - cards were zooming around the table... It is an easy game to learn, and it plays quite fast. It reminded us a bit of a non-physical, strategy version of "slap jack." While there is absolutely no slapping involved at all, the overall concept was similar in that it is a fairly fast game that runs through the cards quickly and ends when a player has no more cards left to draw. Each player gets 2 actions per turn, and the actions are quick and straight-forward. In order to do an action, it is necessary to obtain lesson cards that relate to that action. Each action, such as casting spells or putting out creatures, requires a specific number of lessons, so obtaining lessons is important. Once you have enough lessons that relate to that action, you can perform that action. Most actions involve reducing the number of cards in your opponent's draw pile, so the game moves fast. Where the strategy comes in is that there are some actions that will put cards back into a player's hand, or remove cards from their own draw pile. Therefore, you have to choose your actions carefully! According to Wizards of the Coast, the strategy (and therefore, difficulty) will increase as they release more expansion sets. There is a starter set available for only about $10.00, which gives players enough cards to get started playing the game. It also includes a special play mat that makes it obvious how to lay-out the cards, and helps to guide new players. The Harry Potter TCG base set consists of 116 cards, and WWP was able to put together most of the set with 30 packs. By trading with friends or at a Harry Potter league at one of the toy or games stores, it seems to be possible to complete the set for a reasonable amount of money. The artwork is nice - our overall favorite is "Logic Puzzle" by Jon Foster, which captured the appearance of Hermione and the mood of the scene best of all the images. We also really liked "Noxious Poison" and "Pewter Cauldron" by Tommy Zimmerman, "Hagrid and the Stranger" by Doug Chaffee, and "Nurture" by Patrick Faricy. Keep in mind that WWP has not yet seen about 20% of the cards, and when we do, we will write a special artwork article. One thing that confuses us is that there are images that refer to spells or creatures about which we have not yet read (such as Avifors, Incarcifors, or Transmogrify). We checked in "Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them," but they were not even listed there, so we do not know about the origin of these. WWP suspects these could relate to events in the fifth book which was originally scheduled to be out by now, or maybe are unique to the card game. Wizards of the Coast (WotC) is the manufacturer of many popular fantasy games including: the Role-Playing Game Dungeons and Dragons®, the Collectible Card Game Magic: The Gathering® (on which most CCGs are based), and the licensed manufacturer of the U.S. version of Pokémon®. They are sponsoring a Harry Potter mall tour - check below to see if it will be appearing near you. Harry Potter mall tour schedule on the WB site: http://harrypotter.warnerbros.com/wotc/demo_tour2.html WotC Report on the HP TCG from the Gen Con 2001 convention: http://www.wizards.com/gencon/virtual/article.asp?x=virtual/display&A=a1010 The URL for Wizards of the Coast's own press release: http://www.wizards.com/news/pressrelease.asp?20010716a Sneak Preview of the actual cards and game rules by the Pojo site: http://www.pojo.com/harrypotter/ccg/ |
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