Board & components
Everything in the box
Data last checked: · how we verify numbers
The base box holds one main board and a side board, five player boards, 153 cards, 23 pawns, six Defence Shields, seven Hogwarts Tokens and a single shared Dark Detector. Every figure below is restated from the Game Components page of the official rulebook (print page 4) [official] — grouped so you can check your copy piece by piece, or see what you’d be getting before buying.
Boards and player boards
| Piece | Count | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| Main Board | 1 | The castle and grounds map, adapted for play. |
| Side Board | 1 | Carries the Dark Arts Path and the Hogwarts Loyalty Track. |
| Room of Requirement piece | 1 | A separate module, added to the main board only when revealed. |
| House Player Boards | 4 | One per house — deck, discard and items spaces. |
| Dark Arts Player Board | 1 | The villain’s own board, with draw space and pool. |
Decks and cards
| Deck | Count | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| House Player Starter Decks | 4 × 7 = 28 | Identical contents for all four houses — listed card by card below. |
| House Player Acquire Deck | 42 | The house shopping pool for the Learn action. |
| House Player Location Deck | 21 | Destination cards, each with a grid coordinate and map inset. |
| Library Book Deck | 11 | Two drawn face up beside the deck during play. |
| Event Card Decks | 3 × 5 = 15 | White, orange and red zones — five cards each. |
| Dark Arts Starter Deck | 7 | The villain’s opening hand — listed card by card below. |
| Dark Arts Acquire Deck | 20 | The villain’s own shopping pool, unlocked zone by zone. |
| Dark Arts Location Deck | 4 | The Dark Arts Player’s win-condition destinations. |
| Player Aid Cards | 5 | Turn summary and icon reference, one per player. |
| Total | 153 | 148 game cards + 5 aids [our arithmetic]; the campaign’s “100+ illustrated cards” claim sits inside this [official]. |
Pawns, markers and tokens
| Piece | Count | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| House Player Pawns | 16 | Four per house; three explore the castle, one sits on the Loyalty Track. |
| Dark Arts Pawns | 7 | You use 4–7 depending on how many houses are in play. |
| House Markers | 4 | One per house, claimed by the Dark Arts Player on a bump. |
| Hogwarts Tokens | 7 | One per card type, placed on matching board spaces. |
| Defence Shields | 6 | Two types × 3 — three require the Dark Detector, three a D.A. Coin. |
| Parchment Scrolls | 8 | A supply pile, gathered as one of the three shield requirements. |
| Dark Arts Marker | 1 | Walks the Dark Arts Path — it is not a pawn. |
| Dark Arts Progress Tokens | 3 | Giant (white), Acromantula (orange), Dementor (red). |
| Dumbledore’s Army (D.A.) Coins | 4 | Held on the Room of Requirement piece until earned. |
| Dark Detector | 1 | One shared copy in the entire box — everyone fights over it. |
The starter decks, card by card
The rulebook renders both seven-card starting decks; the names and values below were read from those printed cards [official, decoded from renderings]. House decks are identical for Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw and Slytherin — the design covers one card per obstacle type, one multi-move, one Fly-Off-Point card and one pure mover.
| Card | Move | Effect | Type |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gillyweed | 3 | Your pawn can move through Water. | Herbology |
| Strengthening Solution | 3 | Your pawn can move through physical objects. | Potions |
| Explore | 2 + 2 | No effect. | Transfiguration & Spell Casting |
| Partis Temporus | 3 | Your pawn can move through protective spells. | Defence Against the Dark Arts |
| Trevor | 4 | No effect. | Magical Creatures & Beings |
| School Broomstick | 2 | Move from a Fly Off Point to any other Fly Off Point. | Hogwarts Items & Artefacts |
| Alohomora | 3 | Your pawn can move through locked doors. | Charms |
| Card | Move | Effect |
|---|---|---|
| Conspire | 3 | Draw 1 card, discard 1 card, deploy 1 Dark Arts Pawn. |
| Conspire (second copy) | 4 | No effect. |
| Nimbus 2001 | 2 | Move from a Fly Off Point to any other Fly Off Point. |
| Gathering Dark Forces | 3 + 3 | No effect. |
| Gathering Dark Forces (second copy) | 2 + 2 | No effect. |
| Legilimency | 4 | No effect. |
| Legilimency (second copy) | 5 | No effect. |
Note the asymmetry: only the 3-value Conspire carries an effect, making it the starter deck’s only way to deploy a Dark Arts pawn — the villain’s early game is movement, with power arriving through events and unlocked acquire cards.
The Dark Arts “expansion” that isn’t
Rulebook check
There is no separate Dark Arts box. Every Dark Arts component — the player board, 7 pawns, 3 Progress Tokens and 31 cards (7 starter + 20 acquire + 4 location) — ships inside the base game. We checked the full tier and add-on lists, the official FAQ and the rulebook: no such standalone product exists [verified 2026-10-12]. The Dark Arts side simply has its own board and decks, which makes it look bigger than it is.
The collectible layer, tier by tier
These pieces exist only in the Kickstarter tiers and as add-ons — none of them affects the rules; they replace or wrap base-game components [official].
- Art Print
- A5 full-colour art card with gold foil. In The Defender tier and above; not available on late pledges [official].
- Deluxe Box Sleeve
- Gold-foiled, embossed outer sleeve. Kickstarter exclusive; The Guardian tier and above.
- Wooden Token Upgrade Set
- 25 wooden pieces replacing the Defence Shields, House Markers, Hogwarts Tokens and Parchment Scrolls. Kickstarter exclusive; The Guardian tier and above.
- Protective Card Sleeve Set
- 160 custom sleeves with monogram artwork in metallic gold ink. Kickstarter exclusive; The Guardian tier and above.
- Player Pin Set
- Five enamel pins with gold and silver detailing. The Guardian tier and above.
- Metal Player Pawn Upgrade Set
- 23 three-dimensional metal-coated pawns. Kickstarter exclusive; in The Collector’s Box, second shipment (March 2027).
- Dumbledore’s Army Upgrade Set
- Four antiqued metal coins. Kickstarter exclusive; The Collector’s Box, March 2027.
- Luxury Token Bag
- Custom packaging-grade storage bag. Kickstarter exclusive; The Collector’s Box, March 2027.
- Signed Artist’s Portfolio
- Six black-and-white prints and one full-colour print in a marbled hardcover portfolio, signed by Miraphora Mina and Eduardo Lima. Kickstarter exclusive; The Collector’s Box, March 2027 — also the single most expensive add-on at £167 [official].
The small print
Warning
Kickstarter-exclusive pieces do not retail [official FAQ]. The retail version is the base game only — recommended price £75 including UK VAT — with no Art Print, sleeves or wooden and metal upgrades. The FAQ leaves one crack open: surplus stock from fulfilment may surface in limited runs, at House of MinaLima shops and brand events, to avoid destroying it. Don’t plan a retail hunt for exclusives; plan around the base game. What that means for which box to buy, we cover in Kickstarter vs retail editions.
Sources
- Official rulebook, Game Components (print p.4) and rendered card illustrations (print pp.13–15): media.minalima.com rulebook PDF
- Kickstarter rewards page (tier contents and exclusives): kickstarter.com/…/rewards
- Kickstarter FAQ (retail = base game only, £75 incl UK VAT; surplus stock policy): kickstarter.com/…/faqs