Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone Quidditch Card Game Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Equipment
• Object
• The Basics
• Set Up
• Let's Play
  • Round 1
• Playing for a Quaffle
• Playing on a Bludger
• Playing for the Golden Snitch
• Playing a Goal Card
• Special Cards
• Spell and Jinx Cards
• Foul and Referee Cards

Equipment

40 Red Gryffindor Team Cards 40 Green Slytherin Team Cards 28 Blue Pitch Cards 4 Definition Cards

(Note: The 4 Definition Cards describe the game of Quidditch as it is played in the Harry Potter books, not as it is played in Quidditch™—The Card Game, and are not required to play the card game.)

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Object

Avoid brutal Bludgers, score as many Quaffles as you can, then capture the elusive Golden Snitch. The player with the most points wins the game.

The Basics

Quidditch™—The Card Game comes with three different decks of cards: the blue Pitch Deck, the red Gryffindor Team Deck, and the green Slytherin Team Deck. You'll need all three in order to play.

Set Up

• Remove the 4 Definition Cards. They are not used in game play.
• Sort the cards into 3 decks: the red Gryffindor Team Deck, the green Slytherin Team Deck, and the blue Pitch Deck.
• Shuffle each deck and set them face down.
• Place the Pitch Deck between you and your opponent.
• Each player chooses a Team Deck and sets it in front of them. Your Quidditch playing area is called "The Pitch."
• Each player draws the top 7 cards from their Team Deck to make up their hand. Do not show these cards to your opponent.

Let's Play

The game is played in a series of short rounds, and each round follows the same basic sequence:

Round 1

1. Release one ball into play. The person playing Slytherin begins the first round "pitching" a ball onto the pitch. Do this by picking the top pitch card from the Pitch Deck and placing it face up between you and your opponent. The player who turns over the Pitch card is called the Pitcher. The Slytherin player always pitches for the first round.

2. The Pitcher chooses to play. The Pitcher has the privilege of choosing whether or not to play on the pitched ball. The pitcher does not have to play on a Bludger or a Golden Snitch, but must always play on a Quaffle. If the pitcher chooses not to play, say, "I choose not to play." It is now the next player's turn to pitch or play. (See below under "Types of Pitch Cards" for details on choosing whether or not to play.)

3. The Pitcher plays first. The Pitcher selects a Player Card from their hand and places it face down on their side of the ball that they are playing on. (See Illustration Below.) (See below under "Types of Pitch Cards" for details on the player cards.)

4. The opposing player plays. If the pitcher plays on a ball, the opposing player must also play on the ball. The opposing player places one Player Card face down on their side of the ball. (See Illustration Below.)

5. Both players compare their cards. Both players turn over their player card at the same time. The higher-numbered Player Card wins the round. (See below under "Types of Pitch Cards" for details on winning the round.)

   • Collect Quaffles you win in your scoring pile. You will total these cards at the end of the game. (See Illustration Below.)
   • Discard any Bludgers you or your opponent win into a Pitch discard pile opposite the Pitch Deck. (See Illustration Below.)
   • If neither player wins the ball, leave it on the table.

If you get through your deck before the game ends, shuffle your discard pile and continue play.

[Editor's note: the heading of step 9 is partly obscured in the scan; it reads "Winning the Game" as set in the sheet's other headings.]

[Illustration "Types of Pitch Cards" (diagram on the printed sheet): labelled Team Deck, Pitch Deck, Pitch Discard Pile, Bludgers Cards, Snitch Card, Quaffle Card, Gryffindor Hand, Slytherin Hand, Player Card, and Team Discard Pile. Part number 42753-0920G2.]

Playing for a Quaffle

You must always play on a Quaffle.

Chasers are best to play on Quaffles: they have a value between 4 and 10. Keepers, valued between 6 and 10, can be used to prevent your opponent's Chasers from scoring. Beaters and Seekers may be played on Quaffles, but they are better saved for Bludgers and the Golden Snitch. If you don't have any player cards in your hand, you may play a special card. (See below under Special Cards for details.)

After you and your opponent reveal your Player Cards, compare the results:

• If the card with the higher value is a Chaser, and the opponents card is not a Keeper with an equal or higher value the player with the Chaser card wins the Quaffle Card and places it face up in the scoring pile to their side. Both players remove their Player Cards from the field and place them in their discard piles.
• If you both played cards of the same value, you have a tie. Each of you discards your Player Card, but the Quaffle remains in play for the next round.
• If you played a Keeper with an equal or higher value than your opponent's Player Card (Chaser, Beater), you blocked the goal and saved the Quaffle, but you didn't win it. The Quaffle stays in play for the next round and you each discard the Player Cards you played.
• If you both played a Keeper, the Keeper with the higher value wins the Quaffle. If there is a tie, you both discard and the Quaffle stays in play.

Playing on a Bludger

The pitcher is not required to play on a Bludger.

If you pitch a Bludger at the beginning of a round, you get to decide whether you will play on it. If you choose not to play on it, the Bludger stays in play for the next round and you may play on another ball (if there is another already on the pitch) or end the round and have your opponent draw the next Pitch Card.

If you decide to play on the Bludger, your opponent must play on the Bludger as well.

In spite of its small value (1-3), a Beater is the best card to play on a Bludger because it is the only Player Card that can actually win a Bludger.

• If you both play a Beater, the card with the higher value wins. If you play a Beater and your opponent plays any other type of card (a Player Card of any value or any Special Card as a sacrifice), the Beater always wins. Pick a card from your opponent's hand (no peeking) and send it to their discard pile. Remove the Bludger from the pitch and place it across the table in the Pitch discard pile.

  Your "Bludgered" opponent will have to play with one less card for the remainder of this round as well as during the next round. When they go to draw new cards next round, they can only draw a hand of 6, not 7 cards. This only lasts for one round. If your opponent is hit by two Bludgers in the same round, you take two cards from their hand that round, and their hand is reduced to 5 cards for the next round.

• If you both play a Beater and there is a tie, the Beaters are both discarded and the Bludger stays in play.

• If you both play non-Beater cards, both Beater cards are discarded and the Bludger stays in play.

Playing for the Golden Snitch

The pitcher is not required to play on the Golden Snitch.

One of a kind, the Golden Snitch is the ultimate prize, worth 150 points! The only way to catch it is with a Seeker card. There are only two Seekers in each deck, with values of 11 and 12.

• If both you and your opponent play a Seeker, the one with the higher value catches the Golden Snitch and the game ends!
• If there is a tie, both Seekers are discarded and the Snitch remains in play.
• If you play a Seeker and your opponent plays any other type of card, the Seeker always wins, and the game ends.
• If you both play non-Seeker cards, both cards are discarded and the Snitch stays in play.

Playing a Goal Card

If you draw a Goal Card from the Pitch Deck, you score an instant goal! Add the card to your scoring pile. It's worth 10 points. Draw another Pitch Card – it's still your round!

Special Cards

In contrast to Player Cards that are played against balls on the pitch, Special Cards can be played directly against your opponent and their cards.

To play a Special Card, place it face up on the table and declare what it does. The effects of Special Cards must be resolved in the order in which they are played. AS SOON AS YOU REALIZE A CARD CAN BE PLAYED TO YOUR ADVANTAGE – PLAY IT! If you cast a Spell moments before your opponent does, your spell takes effect first, then your opponent's.

If a Quaffle is in play and you hold no Player Cards, you must still play on the Quaffle. To do so, you must play a Special Card in place of a Player Card, laying it face down next to the Quaffle as if you were playing a Player Card. This is called a "sacrifice."

When you reveal your cards, you will have to discard your Special Card without using any of its powers. Your opponent wins the Quaffle, provided they played a Player Card. If you both sacrifice a Special Card in this way, you both discard and the Quaffle stays in play.

HINT: You may choose to sacrifice Special Cards in this manner even if you have Player Cards in your hand that you could play instead. This is a useful way to bluff, or to protect Player Cards in your hand that you would prefer to hold on to.

Spell and Jinx Cards

You can play Spell and Jinx cards anytime you want – before you or your opponent play Player Cards, after, any time at all! And you can play as many in a round as you hold in your hand.

Spell Cards:

• Leg-Locker – This spell card reduces the value of one of your opponent's Beaters, Chasers or Seekers by one point. When using this spell card on an opponent's Keeper, the Keeper becomes useless.
• Full Body Bind – Take 2 cards at random from your opponent's hand and discard them. At the beginning of the next turn, they may return their hand to 7 cards.
• Alohomora – This spell card cancels any other spell or jinx card that has been played against you.
• Wingardium Leviosa – This spell card prevents your opponent from playing on a ball. You decide which ball, if more than one is in play. If your opponent has already played a Player Card on the ball, they must return the Player Card to their hand.

Jinx Cards:

• "Reduce opponent's card by 2 points." This card reduces the value of your opponent's Beater, Chaser, Seeker or Keeper by two points.
• "Take 1 card from your opponent and discard." This card allows you to take 1 card at random from your opponent's hand and discard it. At the beginning of the next round, your opponent may draw enough cards to return their hand to 7.
• "Opponent can't play on a ball." This card allows you to select any Player Card your opponent has played on a ball and discard it. Your opponent can play no further cards (Player or Special) on the ball you jinxed. You do not have to play on the ball once your opponent's card has been discarded. However, if you play the proper Player Card on the ball, you automatically win that ball.
• "Take back any card from your card pile." This card allows you to retrieve any one of your cards that has been placed in your discard pile. This is a useful way to recover a Player Card – such as a Seeker – that you want to play during your turn.

Foul and Referee Cards

Fouls can only be used after your opponent has revealed their Player Cards on the pitch. At that point you can slap Fouls on them to remove their Player Cards from the field. Fouls are useful weapons, and only a Referee Card can cancel them.

• Foul: "Remove opponent's Keeper." This card can only be played on your opponent after they have played a Keeper on a Quaffle, and it allows you to score a Quaffle using any Player Card.
• Foul: "Free Goal." Use this when a Quaffle is in play. You'll win the Quaffle, no matter the value of your opponent's Player Card, and even if you had to play a Special Card as a discard on that Quaffle. NOTE: The Golden Snitch cannot be won by the use of a Foul Card.
• Referee Card – A Referee cancels any Foul.