Hocus Pocus Tricks and Wits is a Funko Card game. I have a few of these games and will write about more over Christmas. These games are small, low priced and usually themed on movies. This one is obviously based on the movie Hocus Pocus. To be honest, these aren’t really my go to games. However, I do think they work well when adding to a theme night or a good small gift for anyone who is a fan of the IP. Not every movie themed game needs to be a big production and I think Funko has created a good line of games for people who want to play something quick and easy. I really wanted to write about this for anyone planning a movie night or for anyone looking for a family game this Halloween.

Hocus Pocus Tricks and Wits is a 2 to 4 player game for ages 8 and up.

The game contains:

• 18 witch cards
• 18 kid cards
• 6 candle cards
• 13 Hocus Pocus Cards
• 4 reference cards
• 4 tokens
• 1 Die
• Instructions

The game is fairly simple. If one player has both the Special Cards their team wins. If no one has both special cards, the team that has the book wins. Otherwise no one wins and you’ll just have to try again.

Split into two teams, the kid and the witches, with teammates sitting near each other. Teammates can talk to each other throughout the game, however they must speak loud enough for all players to hear. Be careful though, teams are allowed to bluff when they discuss cards.

The teams take their action cards, shuffle and deal three to each player on their team. Give the kids team the four cat tokens and place the dice nearby.

For the hocus Pocus deck, go over the cards available in the deck. Then shuffle the cards and deal one face down to each player. If there’s only one person on a team, deal them a second card face down. For this post though, I am specifically writing about a four player game. Arrange the cards that are left over into a 3×3 grid.

Next to the grid arrange the candle cards to form the black flame candle and you are ready to play.

The game is played over six rounds represented by the candle. Each player picks an action card to play and places it face down. Once everyone has chosen a card they are all turned over at the same time. From the lowest to highest number take turns playing the cards.

Once all the cards have been played move the flame card on top of the candle card below it. Players discard their action cards and draw three new ones. This is the start of the next round.

Once you’ve played all six rounds the game ends.

There are a few things to note about the gameplay. The Hocus Pocus cards you collect are called your stash and you can look at them at any time. When you add a card place it face down at the end of a row. You cannot shuffle or reorder. There can only be three cards in your stash. If you gain a fourth you will have to choose a card to add back to the grid.

If a trick card is pushed or swapped by another player, you can reveal the trick. That player will finish their turn and then you will get to roll the die.

If you get a matching pair of Hocus Pocus cards you can reveal them at the end of your turn to roll the dice twice. The cards will then be discarded.

All actions are optional and one action must be taken before you can move onto another. Actions usually only affect Hocus Pocus cards. The die is awesome, it is glittery and has symbols on each side. You can refer to your reference card for what each symbol means.

That’s basically it, again the player with the two special cards wins, if no one has both special cards the player with the book wins.

The game is sweet and simple. I have definitely played better card games, but I think it’s a cute filler option and great for a Hocus Pocus theme night that isn’t about board games. I feel Funko is really good at coming up with games like these that will really play to a large audience. This isn’t a gamer’s game, but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t have merit. I think a lot of Hocus Pocus fans will really enjoy this, it’s cute, affordable and makes a great small gift.