House Player Strategy

As a student you are playing two games at once. Against the Dark Arts Player you share a clock with the other houses. Against the other houses you are racing for the same books, coins and shields. The plans below assume you know the rules; if not, start with how to play.

Plan your first shield on turn one

Before you move anything, look at three things together: your three Location Cards, the Library, and the six Defence Shields on the map. Then choose one shield to aim for and a route that collects the items on the way.

1. Pick your key item. Three shields want the Dark Detector and three want a D.A. Coin. If you expect to lead the Loyalty Track, aim for a Detector shield. If not, plan for a coin and stay out of the Detector fight.
2. Choose two Location Cards to pair. You only need pawns in two of your three places at the same time. Pick the two that are closest to each other or to your route, and treat the third as a spare.
3. Put the Library last. A book's effect happens the moment you take it, and you can hold only one, so collect it on the way to the shield rather than first. Choose the book by its effect: among the eleven books shown in MinaLima's video, one lets you Replenish without moving the Dark Arts Marker and another jumps you three spaces up the Loyalty Track.
4. Finish on the right Shield Space. Prefer a shield near your scroll locations, so the pawn that earned the scroll can walk over.

Earning Parchment Scrolls quickly

A scroll needs two of your pawns in two different Location Card areas at the same time, which is why the game gives you three pawns on the map. The cleanest plan is to park one pawn early on a location and then bring a second one over.

• Value double movement. Cards with two movement values (for example 3 + 3) can move both pawns in one turn and often complete a scroll on their own.
• Claim the scroll immediately. Gaining a scroll is a free action. Do it the moment the condition is met, before a Dark pawn can bump one of the pawns away.
• Refill your Location Cards wisely. After your first scroll you draw back up to three cards. Look at them before you move again: your second scroll might be easier near your next shield than near your first.

Climbing the Loyalty Track

The Loyalty Track is the only source of the Dark Detector and the only way to open the Room of Requirement. You climb by learning from the Advanced Acquire Row, by ending moves on Dark Detector spaces on the map, and with card effects.

• Learn from the Advanced row when you can. It costs two discards, but you get a strong card on top of your deck and one step on the track in the same action.
• Collect a D.A. Coin while the Room is open. The Room closes when every Loyalty pawn drops below space 5, and some orange events push every student back on the track at once. If you need a coin later, grab it now; you can hold one at a time anyway.
• Spend the Detector at the right moment. Using it drops your Loyalty pawn three spaces. If you were the only student on space 5 or higher, the Room of Requirement closes for everyone, and any pawn inside is trapped. That can hurt a rival who was walking to the Room, and it can hurt you.
• Do not chase the Detector blindly. It changes hands whenever someone passes the leader, and the last space of the track steals it outright. Preview players called it a hot potato. Coins are slower to unlock but nobody can take a coin away from you.

Replenish less, do more

Every Replenish moves the Dark Arts Path. You cannot avoid it, but you can make each hand last longer.

When you do Replenish, make it count: discard the cards that do not fit your plan and stand up every stunned pawn in the same action.

Living with the Dark pawns

• Use Protected Areas as parking. The four blue-shield spaces (the Great Hall, the Astronomy Tower and Hagrid's Hut are three of them) are safe from bumps. Remember that Learn needs at least one of your pawns outside them.
• Stun when your pawn would wait anyway. Ending on a Dark pawn stuns both, and you push the Dark pawn to a neighbouring space. That is a good trade for a pawn that is already parked on a Location Card area.
• Track your obstacle cards. Your starter deck has exactly one card per obstacle: Alohomora (Locked Doors), Partis Temporus (Protective Spells), Strengthening Solution (Physical Objects) and Gillyweed (Water). If your route crosses a door, check whether Alohomora is in your hand or still in your deck before you commit. Learned cards that pass obstacles and draw a card at the same time are strong upgrades.
• Keep a defensive card. Cards with a lightning bolt can be played outside your turn when their condition is met, and some student cards can cancel Dark effects aimed at you. Hold one when Dark pawns get close.
• Escape through passageways. Secret Passageways are for students only (with the right card) and are a good way out of a crowded area.

Cooperate tactically, compete strategically

All students lose together if the Dark side wins, so some teamwork is rational:

• Agree to Replenish as late as possible, especially when the marker is close to an event space or the red zone.
• Guard the Dark Arts target location when you can see it. The rulebook does not say whether that card is secret, so agree on it before the game. Students who stand nearby can stun Dark pawns that come close.
• Do not hand the leading student a shortcut, such as leaving the Room of Requirement open just for them.

The endgame

When the Dark Arts Marker reaches the last space, everyone draws to five cards and nobody can Replenish again. From that moment, count: how many turns do your five cards give you, and can you reach a Shield Space with all three items? If you cannot win, use your cards to stop the Dark Arts Player. A draw is better than a Dark victory.

One comfort: a Defence Shield can never be lost once you have it.

House Player mistakes to avoid

• Replenishing with cards still in hand that could have moved you closer to a goal.
• Taking a Library book early and walking around with an effect you already used.
• Hiding all three pawns in Protected Areas and then being unable to Learn.
• Passing over bonus spaces instead of ending your move on them.
• Spending the Dark Detector without checking whether it closes the Room of Requirement.
• Forgetting your Hogwarts Token for several turns.

Playing the other side next time? Read the Dark Arts Player strategy.