Broomstick League

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Broomstick League

Preview

Quidditch Reborn

EA SCOUT the last line of defense for buying on Steam's Early Access

Fantasy Football


It doesn’t take a wizard to see where Broomstick League gets its inspiration from. Developed by Blue Isle Studios, it’s reminiscent of 2003’s [I]Harry Potter: Quidditch World Cup from EA and Psyonix’s Rocket League, bringing us a competitive, fast-paced multiplayer sports game as you battle other wizards. Releasing as an Early Access title, it’s a fun experience but proves lacking in its current build.

Working alone or in a 2-3 player team, your aim is to score the most goals within a 5-minute match by throwing the ball into a hoop. If it’s a tie after 5 mins you’ll enter sudden death, so whoever scores first wins. After kick-off, you’ll need to reach the ball first, grabbed by pressing E. Once obtained, it’s a left click to shoot and holding it down charges your shot. To pass to a teammate, it’s a right-click instead and the receiving teammate can pre-charge their shots in preparation for the pass.

Eyes on the Prize


If you’re without the ball, right clicks activate blink and this allows you to warp across the field within a limited distance. Likewise, left-clicks will fire blast spells at other players, removing their grip on the ball. These aren’t unlimited however and come with a cooldown time. So you can’t spam these and it quickly becomes a tactical affair. Like Rocket League, you can use a ball-cam to focus on the action and you also have a boost bar that gives players a speed advantage, one that automatically refills.

Controls will take getting used to but it’s a solid gameplay concept and scoring goals after pulling off strategies is highly satisfying. Broomstick League’s biggest issue though is a lack of gameplay variety currently offered. Blue Isle Studios have promised new modes and gameplay modifiers in future updates but right now, the only options are Practice, 2v2 online or 3v3 online. You can host private servers, which is certainly welcomed, but it’s a barebones experience.

There are 5 different arenas to compete in but this is purely aesthetic and doesn’t impact gameplay, following a standard design. During a match, you get awarded points based on goals scored, assists, saves and more, which translate to experience points once the match ends. EXP goes towards a player progression system, leveling up your rank and providing rewards like cosmetic items and in-game currency, which is split between tokens and gold.

These can buy additional cosmetic items and Broomstick League has wide character customization options. You can change gender, skin color, face, eye and hair color, hairstyle, clothing, wands, trails, taunts, goals and more. Certain cosmetic aspects feel limited as a result of early access but more options have been promised. Presentation-wise, Broomstick League is passable at best for characters but arenas are more imaginative, Lined up with magical creatures like dragons and trolls, these liven up proceedings but are backed with a rather generic, fantasy-esque soundtrack.

In Need of Expansion


Virtual Basement have got a winning concept with Broomstick League but as it stands, there just isn’t enough content offered. Further updates are due to include competitive and ranked modes, new gameplay options, tournaments and gameplay mutators, coming alongside additional cosmetic options, arenas and training modes. There’s no denying the fun on offer here but until these arrive, it’s hard to fully recommend at this point.

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The game has potential, but we're not ready to jump in with both feet. If the game interests you, look, but don't touch - yet.

Hooked Gamer's Steam Early Access forecasts are intended to help you differentiate between Early Access games that have the potential to blossom and those more likely to fail. We look at the team's ambitions, their track record, and the state of the latest build to predict if opening your wallet will help fund a potentially great game, or is better used to light other fires.