USAOPOLY Harry Potter Hogwarts Battle: The Monster Box of Monsters Expansion Card Game Instruction Manual

1. Introduction

The Monster Box of Monsters is an expansion for the cooperative deck-building game, Harry Potter: Hogwarts Battle. This expansion introduces new challenges, characters, creatures, and game mechanics to enhance your wizarding adventures. It is not a stand-alone game and requires the base Harry Potter: Hogwarts Battle game to play.

Venture into the Forbidden Forest, face frightening creatures, and navigate challenging encounters. Play as Harry, Hermione, Ron, Neville, or the newest hero, Luna Lovegood, as you work together to defeat evil forces and protect iconic locations to ensure the Wizarding World remains safe.

2. Components

The Monster Box of Monsters expansion includes the following components:

• 152 Cards (40 Small, 68 Regular, 44 Oversized)
• 1 Die
• 4 Game Boxes
• 4 Game Rules
• 21 Chip pieces

For a visual overview of the game components and how they are organized within the box, please watch the unboxing video below:

3. Setup

To set up Harry Potter: Hogwarts Battle – The Monster Box of Monsters Expansion, integrate the new components with your base game as follows:

1. Choose Your Hero: Select a hero from the base game options (Harry, Hermione, Ron, Neville) or the new hero, Luna Lovegood. Each hero has unique abilities.
2. Integrate New Cards: Shuffle the new Dark Arts cards from the expansion with the original Dark Arts cards.
3. Create the Villain Deck: Combine the new Creature cards (Cornish Pixies, Norbert, Fluffy, Troll) and the updated Villain-Creature cards (Basilisk, Dementor) with five randomly chosen villains from the original game. Lord Voldemort (from Game 5 of the base game) should be placed face-up at the bottom of this combined villain deck.
4. Encounters: Place the new Encounter cards (Peskipiksi Pesternomi!, Students Out of Bed, Third Floor Corridor) to one side. These will be revealed and resolved sequentially during gameplay.
5. Hogwarts Cards: Shuffle the new Hogwarts cards from the expansion into the Hogwarts deck, revealing the top six cards.
6. Detention Cards: Keep the Detention cards separate. These will be introduced into players' decks under specific conditions.
7. Starting Deck: Each player receives their starting deck of 10 cards. If Luna Lovegood is chosen as a hero, ensure her Ally card is removed from the Hogwarts deck.

4. Gameplay Overview

Gameplay largely follows the rules of the base Harry Potter: Hogwarts Battle game, with the addition of new elements and mechanics from The Monster Box of Monsters expansion. Players take turns performing four main actions:

1. Reveal and Resolve Dark Arts Event & Encounter: At the start of each turn, reveal and resolve a Dark Arts event card and an Encounter card. Encounters present new obstacles that must be overcome, often with passive effects that can harm heroes.
2. Resolve Active Villain and Creature Abilities: Apply the abilities of any active villains and creatures. Creatures are new adversaries that require specific strategies to defeat.
3. Play Hogwarts Cards: Play Hogwarts cards from your hand to generate attack tokens (⚡) to damage villains and creatures, and influence tokens (₱) to acquire new cards or damage specific creatures.
4. End Your Turn: Draw back up to five cards. Certain actions or conditions may trigger specific encounters or introduce Detention cards into your deck.

The expansion introduces a new banishing mechanic, allowing players to remove cards from their deck for the rest of the game, helping to streamline their deck. Detention cards are also introduced, which can clog your deck and hinder your progress.

For a detailed explanation of the game's mechanics, including the new elements from the expansion, please refer to the video below:

5. New Elements

5.1. New Hero: Luna Lovegood

Luna Lovegood joins the heroes with her unique abilities, offering new strategic options for players. Her hero card specifies her special power, which can be crucial in overcoming challenges.

5.2. Creatures

The Forbidden Forest is home to new creatures that act as additional adversaries alongside villains. These creatures have specific effects and require different approaches to defeat, often involving a combination of attack and influence tokens. Examples include Fluffy, Norbert, and Cornish Pixies.

5.3. Encounters

Encounter cards introduce new challenges each turn. They have passive effects that can hinder heroes, a completion criterion that must be met, and a reward for successfully completing the encounter. Encounters also determine which creatures are present in the villain deck.

5.4. Detention Cards

Detention cards are negative effects that can be added to a player's deck. These cards typically have no beneficial effects and can clog your hand, making it harder to play powerful cards. They represent the consequences of wrongdoing in the Wizarding World.

5.5. Banishing Mechanic

The expansion introduces a banishing mechanic, allowing players to permanently remove certain cards from their deck for the remainder of the game. This can be used to streamline your deck, removing less useful cards or those with negative effects like Detention cards.

For a comprehensive guide on how to play the Monster Box of Monsters expansion, including all new elements and their interactions, please watch the video below:

6. Game End

The game ends when one of the following conditions is met:

• Victory: You and your fellow heroes win the game by successfully defeating all creatures, villains, and completing all encounters before the villains gain control of all locations.
• Defeat: You and your fellow heroes lose the game if the villains gain control of all locations before you can defeat them and complete the encounters.

7. Specifications

8. Warranty and Support

For any questions regarding the Harry Potter: Hogwarts Battle – The Monster Box of Monsters Expansion, please contact USAOPOLY customer support. Information regarding warranty and further assistance can be found on the official USAOPOLY website or by contacting their support channels directly.