Harry Potter: Catch the Snitch brings quidditch to the tabletop as a miniatures game
Don’t quaffle on about it.
Coach and command one of the four Hogwarts house quidditch teams in Harry Potter: Catch the Snitch, an upcoming board game based on the film franchise.
Update 6/11/2020: In a Kickstarter update posted on November 6th, publisher Knight Games has announced that it will be postponing the Kickstarter campaign for Harry Potter: Catch the Snitch until November 12th due to the "negative impact" that the US election coverage has apparently had on the campaign.
"The current situation of uncertainty in the world derived from the electoral campaign in the United States, is negatively affecting our Kickstarter," explained Knight Games.
The post also states that the electoral campaign has created "technical problems" that are affecting the studio's "communication strategy plan".
In light of the Kickstarter's delay, Knight Games will now be including the Harry Potter miniature in the core version of Catch the Snitch to "compensate" backers. The post goes on to hint at "several more surprises" coming next week.
Original story continues below.
Inspired by the wizarding sport featured in the original series of Harry Potter novels and their movie adaptations, Catch the Snitch is a two-player board game that looks to recreate a Hogwarts quidditch match. The sport has two teams of players on flying brooms attempting to score the most points by throwing a ball - called a quaffle - through the enemy team’s goal hoops. Should one of the team’s seeker players catch the snitch, a small winged golden ball, that team is awarded 120 points and the game ends. Whichever team has the most points by the end is named the winner.
In Catch the Snitch, players can command a team of seven players - represented by miniatures - by playing various tactical cards to move their units across the pitch. Each player’s goal hoops are placed at either end of the board, with players needing to manoeuvre their chaser units towards the enemy’s side. There are also two beaters on each team - whose job during a game of quidditch is to hit flying bludger balls towards the enemy players - alongside one goal keeper and a seeker unit. Snitch cards are featured in the game, which could possibly determine the movements of the snitch ball.
Players are able to choose from between four different teams, each one based on a Hogwarts school house: Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Slytherin and Ravenclaw. Each house has its own unique set of tactical cards based on how the team plays within the Harry Potter films. For example, Gryffindor have cards designed to enable them to pull off daring moves, whereas Slytherin’s cards place negative effects in their opponent’s hand.
The Gryffindor and Slytherin team units in the movie board game both have named units - based on the players seen in the film franchise - whilst Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw’s players remain unnamed. Key characters such as Harry Potter, Ron Weasley and Draco Malfoy are not included in the core game, and are instead featured in a Star Players expansion costing €30 (£27).
Harry Potter: Catch the Snitch is being published by Knight Games, the company behind the Harry Potter Miniatures Adventure Game - released early last year to a generally poor reception - and the DC Universe Miniature Game, which features characters such as Wonder Woman and Superman.
The Kickstarter campaign for Harry Potter: Catch the Snitch will be live from later today, November 5th, with a pledge of €100 (£90) getting backers a copy of the core game set to be released next November.