Description
Codenames: Back to Hogwarts brings a fresh twist to the classic Codenames word-association gameplay, while offering new themed mechanics that change the game for long-time fans and new players alike.As new first-years at Hogwarts, players are sorted into two rival houses, each with its own prefect who knows the secrets of the legendary school's card grid. On their turn, prefects give their team a clue consisting of a single word and a number indicating how many cards are related to that word. The students must then follow these clues to explore Hogwarts by guessing the matching words and revealing one card at a time.If they are right, they can keep guessing words up to the number given. If they hit a card for the rival house, a dead end, a locked door or another obstacle, their turn ends. But beware of being caught by the caretaker Argus Filch, as this ends the game and the rival house wins. Every win also earns points for their house, which can be tracked over several play sessions in the House Cup.Under the surface, this should sound very familiar to existing Codenames fans – at least mechanically. Codenames: Back to Hogwarts also adds new layers of strategic depth to the classic Codenames gameplay in the form of unique asymmetric abilities.Each house has access to two powerful and different special abilities. These abilities were designed to meaningfully reshape the basics of Codenames, offering Muggles and wizards alike some surprising new options. Since each game involves two different houses and each house uses only one of its two abilities, there is a multitude of possible combinations for players to explore and play!
