If you've read the Harry Potter books and watc??hed the films a million times over, it may be time to get a board game or two to continue enjoying the franchise with your friends and family??.

I ??will be prioritizing unique Harr?y Potter board games over Wizarding World renditions of existing board games, although there are some classic examples I can't ignore.

Harry Potter Death Eaters Rising

Harry Potter: Death Eaters Rising is a cooperative board game of teaming together to get through the Death Eaters a?nd defeat He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. Throug??h play, the Dark Lord will point to different locations, indicating where he will be next.

Players must recruit wizards and v??isit different locations to defeat Death Eaters and protect the key locations from corruption. Damage and the abilities of the Death Eaters happen without dice rolling,? allowing for strategic planning. Player actions, however, are at the mercy of action dice that all must be assigned.

In an exciting bout, players must travel around the board to recruit wizards and defe?at Death Eaters in a bid to stop You-Know-Who. Should all your wizards die, or? enough locations become corrupted, then evil shall reign victorious.

Harry Potter Hogwarts Battle

Harry Potter: Hogwarts Battle serves not just as a cooperative card game where players work together t??o defeat villains and protect the Wizarding Wor??ld, but also as a retelling of all seven books (and all eight films). There are seven games to be played here, each one set in a different year.

The core gameplay is simpl??e yet engaging. Players fight villains through card actions and can purchase more powerful cards to build their deck. In each year, the players need to defeat all the villains before they gain ultimate control of the locations.

As each game goes over each year, the villains, settings, and cards progress in line with the films. Your character will progress from first year to seventh year, and you'll be able to look back and see how far you've come with your friends. You don't need to play Harry Potter: Hogwarts Battle in year order, but a dedicated group wi??ll allow for an engaging slew of game nights.

Harry Potter Hogwarts B?attle �?Defence Against the Dark Arts

Harry Potter: Hogwarts Battle - D??efence Against the Dark Arts is an adaptation of Harry Potter: Hogwarts Battle that pits two players dueling against each other in a practice bout. Pl?ayers will choose a House, and will posi??tion themselves in the middle of the sparring board.

Players will take turns using their cards to push back their opponents with spells, recover themselves, place annoying Hexes in their opponent's deck, and grab better cards from the market. Should a player find themselves at the?? end of the board, that player gets stunned, and the board gets reset. Players keep their powerful cards, but must engage in th??e tug-of-war-esque battle again.

When a player gets stunned three times, they lose. Harry Potter: Hogwarts Battle - Defence Against the Dark Arts is a great two-player duel that simulates spell battles pretty faithfully whilst delivering a solid ca??rd game.

Harry Potter Quidditch Clash

Harry Potter Quidditch Clash allows y??ou and one other to go head-to-head in a glorious game of Quidditch.

With an oval board, a Quaffle, and a Golden Snitch (of course), players will be using decks of cards and a spinner to re?position themselves and the balls around the board. Should a Quaffle find its way into a hoop, that team will score points. Should a Golden Snitch find its way to a player, however, then I think you already know what happens.

With a great board and point stand, it's a fun and light ga??me for two players. It may not?? provide an authentic Quidditch experience, but it's still a bit of fun.

Harry Potter Unmask the Death Eaters

Harry Potter: Unmask the Death Eaters is a social deduction game of secret and shifting loyalties. At the beginning of the game, one player will secretly be assigned a?s a Death Eater, and will have to subtly sabotage the Order of the Phoenix players.

The group will battle with giants and dementors and try to pass through the encounters to achieve victory. However, the secret Death Eater, should they be part of the encounter, will be using their cards to secretly thwart their efforts. Considering the different ways the cards are used in Harry Potter: Unmask the Death Eaters, a good player may be forced to play a? bad card, meaning suspicion is always on the rise?.

In the middle of the game, there's the potential for another player to secretly join the Death Eaters, meaning trust is never something that can be counted on. Whether the Death Eaters make it to the end uncompromised or whether they get routed out by other ot?her players is completely up to the scrutiny and guile of the players. It's brilliant.

Harry Potter House Cup Competition

Harry Potter: House Cup Competition is a worker-placement game where players align wi??th a House and will compete against the others to make their wizards stronger and complet??e challenges for those precious House Points.

The game lasts over seven game rounds, and in those rounds players will assign their wizards to spots on the ??board to gain Knowledge, Magic, or to level up one of their skills (Potions, Charm, and Defence Against the Dark Arts). The stronger your wizards are, the better they'll perform in the challenges that earn you House Points.

Harry Potter: House Cup Competition is a tense game as players fight over positions ??on ??the board. Combos of placement and lessons allow for explosive turns, although it only matters how well you train your wizards to face the trials ahead.

Funkoverse Harry Potter

Admittedly, Funkoverse: Harry Potter is a complicated strategy ga??me, but if you're into objective-based games with lots of rules, combat, and strategy, t??hen you'll love it even more with the Harry Potter dressings.

Two teams will challenge each? other in a scenario and map of their choosing. As players walk around the board to score points in line with the scenario's objective, they can do battle with each other to push their opponents back and thwart their plans.

Funkoverse: Harry Potter has other Harry Potter-specific expansions to augment and enhance your play, and should everyone agree, you could even create strange cross-overs with other Funkoverse Strategy games.

Trivial Pursuit Harry Potter Ultimate Edition

If you're a Potter Head then the standard Trivial Pursuit: Harry Potter Edition won't do. You'll want the ultimate edition, boasting over 1,800 questions that explore the obscure and minute deta??ils of the franchise.

It plays like standard Trivial Pursuit, although with clean Harry Potter aesthetics and questions that challenge even the most veteran fans. And even if you don't know that much about Harry Potter, it'll still be fun time as y?ou'll learn along the way.

Whether you're in the mood for an intense fact-off with your friends or a lighter trivia night, Trivial Pursuit: Harry Potter Ultimate Edition is a solid pick.

CODENAMES Harry Potter

Codenames: Harry Potter is a challenging two-player game of sec?rets and clues. A grid of tiles will sit in between the players, showing either a word or an image from one of the films. Each player will receive a secret grid, marking many of the tiles as Order of the Phoenix tiles, and a few of them as Death Eater tiles.

The aim here is to provide a small clue that relate to any of the Order of the Phoenix tiles, and from your clue, they must gu?ess which of?? the tiles you're hinting toward. Once they've made a guess, it'll be your turn to pick a tile from a clue they provide. Be careful, however, because should any player choose a Death Eater tile from an opponent's grid, both players will lose.

To win, both players must be savvy with their word choice to hint their opponent toward all of the Order of Phoenix tiles without accidentally suggesting a Death Eater tile. It's a tense wor??d game that wil??l keep both players on the edge of their seat.

Harry Potter Hogwarts Magical Mayhem

Harry Potter: Hogwarts Magical Mayhem is an extremely interac??tive kid's game that honestly looks like a blast to pl??ay no matter how old you are.

With ei??ght unique mini games to play, including push-your-luck, dexterity, and logic, players will go around Hogwarts trying to score points for their House thro?ugh the completion of these challenges.

It's incredibly creative, easy, interactive, and most importantly fun for the smaller wizards in your life to enjoy. To be frank I also wouldn't mind a go at Harry Potter: Hogwarts Magical Mayhem, although I'm unsure if most ad?ults wo??uld agree with me.

Now that you know of these brilliant Harry Po?tter board games, the difficult part is picking one to set up the most magical game night.

The post 10 B??est Harry Potter board games for aspiring muggles appeared first on Destructoid.

Harry Potter: Quidditch Champions already debuted worldwide on multiple platforms, but the competitive wizard game ?still lacked a Nintendo Switch version. After a little waiting, we finally have a release date for the Nintendo console.

Quidditch Champions releases on Nintendo Switch on November 8, 2024. This is ex??actly two months after it launched for other platforms, including the PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, and PC via Steam and Epic Games.

Fortunately, Switch owners who want to try the new Quidditch game won't have to wait much longer. The release schedule falls perfectly in line with Unbroken Studios' roadmap for Quidditch Champions in 2024. While a November launch means you could miss out on Halloween event rewards, there's still some good news, as things should be up and running before the winter event la??ter this year.

Speaking of the roadmap, there's still more planned for Quidditch Champions later this year. This includes Season 1, a Hogwarts Legacy-themed event, a new game mode, and much more. As for what's already there, Quidditch Champions offers full cross-play and cross-progression?? support, so playing this on the go won't be a problem at all.

On other platforms where the Harry Potter game is live, there's some positive sentiments floating about, but playercount numbers are a common concern among fans. Harry Potter is a major franchise, but the Quidditch Champions concurrent playercount on Steam hasn't been that impressive. According to SteamDB, its all-time peak hit 6,574 players?, and at the time of writing??, only 945 players were playing.

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Harry Potter: Quidditch Champions features a few g??ame modes catering to both competitive and beginner Wizards alike. Some will sharpen your?? skills in multiplayer showdowns, whil?e others offer AI opponents for you to warm up on.

There are a total of four game modes in Quidditch Champions, and here��s? everything you need to know about how each one works.

Quidditch Champions Campaign mode: every Cup and co-op option

This is the career mode in the g??ame that you can either play as a single-player campaign or co-op with a couple of friends. All the opponents in this game mode are AI or bots and th??????????????????????????e chapters that are present help you progress in your Quidditch career.

The chapters a??re known as Cup Matches and there are four of them:

• The Weasley Burrow Garden Cup
• The Hogwarts House Quidditch Cup
• The Triwizard Schools Quidditch Cup
• The Quidditch World Cup

Multiplayer in Quidditch Champions: 3v3 matches with 6v6 on the way

This is the mode that most players would be interested in as it has the competitive edge where you can face real players in a 3?v3 format.

The multiplayer mode is the ultimate test of your skills where you can choose a particular position or queue for “Any Position�?and battle it out head-to-head in the different maps and pitches available.

Quidditch Champions 2024 roadmap has confirmed a 6v6 multiplayer mode is on the way. So, once that makes its way to the game, things will be a lot spicier in the multiplayer? lobbies.

Quidditch Champions Exhibition Matches: AI opponents and learning the sport

T?he Exhibition Matches serve as a practice ground to get used to the in-game mechanics. You have the option to either go solo or as a group of friends and the opponents will be AI.

There will be options for choosing different teams that involve all the houses, different schools, or particular countries, and maps while fi?ddling with the difficulty options.

You can use the Exhibition Matches to impr?ove team synergy and perhaps plan different strategies that will be useful in multiplayer matches. You can even plan different combos or pocket strats too, excluding the pressure of going against real players.

Open Practice in Quidditch Champions: Preparing for real races online

Unlike Exhibition Matches, Open Practice only allows you to go solo against bots. This game mode is the perfect playground for you to develop your skil??ls for different roles. Consider this as solo drills before real matches.

In Open Practice, you can choose between different difficulty settings and also keep three Chasers in both teams, making it a proper 6v6 experience. This can prepare you for the upcoming 6v6 multiplayer mode later? in 2024.

The post All Harry Potter: Quidditch Champions game mod?es, explained appeared first on Destructoid.

Harry Potter: Quidditch Champions has begun with Season Z?ero but Unbroken Studios and the roadmap have a lot more pl??anned for the rest of 2024.

The 2024 roadmap for Quidditch Champions looks promising. It will bring a slew of th??emed events for Halloween and Holidays as well as a brand-new Season later down the line. The devs are also planning for a new multiplayer? game mode, involving more than three players in each team as well as a Nintendo Switch port.

Quidditch Champions Fall 2024 roadmap

Season 0: Quidditch Try Outs

The game kicked off at launch with Season 0 or Quidditch Try Outs and it's just the tip of the iceberg. During this time, you can complete the tracker and 50 rewards in total which include common currency such as Gold, Moonstones, and Winged Keys as well as a popular character Ron Weasley.

September: Hogwarts Legacy Themed Event

Hogwarts Legacy is one of the most popular games released by Warner Bros. in 2023. A well-known character from the game, Sebastian Sallow, is already present in Quidditch Champions as a cosmetic, so it makes more sense why WB would like to host a Hogwarts Legacy-themed event.

At the time of writing, there's no further info about how the event will turn out to be or what content wi??ll be coming over in September.

October: Halloween Event

In October, a Halloween event will be taking over, bringing in all the spookiness with hanging pumpkins, werewolves, Dementors (perhap??s)??, ghosts, and more.

I am guessing Dementors will show up in the Halloween event because Harry was attacked by them in a Quidditch match in Prisoner of Azkaban. Since the game is abo?ut the sport itself, the devs could very well surprise us with this easter egg. The Fall 2024 roadmap ends with this event and time for Winter to take over.

Quidditch Champions Winter 2024 roadmap

Season 1: Defense Against the Dark Arts

As soon as Quidditch Try Outs ends, Season 1 or Defense Against the Dark Arts will take over. This will be the first season of the game, so there will be plenty of new content to explore in the game. It's unclear whether the seasonal track will have 50 tiers or more. The exact date of the season is yet to be revea??led by Unbroken St?udios though.

Holidays at Hogwarts Event

While the exact dates are yet to be revealed, it's clear the Holidays event will take place in December. Holidays have always been a special time in the Harry Potter movies with all the festivi??ties and memories, and bring good vibes in genera??l.

Yule Ball Event

Yule Ball will be the final event for 2024 and it's also se??t to take place in winter.

Nintendo Switch Port and 6v6 PvP mode

WB is planning to release the Nintendo Switch version of Quidditch Champions along with a 6v6 P?vP mode in 2024. The devs are yet to reveal the exact dates for these two updates.

The game already has great cross-play and cross-progression support, so for fans who are looking to play it on th??eir Nintendo Switch, you won't have to wait?? long.

The post Harry Potter: Quidditch Champions 2024 roadmap – All upcoming events & seasons appeared first on Destructoid.

Gold is an essential currency that you need in Harry Potter: Quidditch Champions to unlock brooms, characters, and a lot more items.

Unlike Winged Keys, earning Gold is not that hard in Quidditch Champions. There are multiple ways to get this common currency in-game and requires yo??u to complete certain challenges.

How to earn Gold fast in Quidditch Champions

There are three ways to get Gold fast in Quidditch Champions:

• Increase Career levels to get fame
• Complete Career Challenges
• Progress through seasonal rewards

Progressing through Career levels increases fame and g??ets you several rewards out of which Gold is one. Each time you level up, you get 50 Gold which is not a lot but gives a steady flow of this currency simply by playing the game and without involving completing challenges.

Completing Career Challenges is a great wa?y to earn Gold in the game. You can earn a maximum of 750 Gold from them, a?nd unlike Daily and Weekly ones, the Career Challenges are permanent. This means you can play and complete them anytime you feel like. Also, Daily and Weekly Challenges don't reward you with Gold.

The Season 0 track brims with rewards and grants you a?? total of 500 Gold when you level up to 50. Here's the breakdown:

• Level 3: 50 Gold
• Level 12: 50 Gold
• Level 24: 100 Gold
• Level 35: 100 Gold
• Level 41: 200 Gold

While these are the free way??s to earn Gold, purchasing the Deluxe Edition of the game will give ?you an additional 2,000 Gold along with four House Packs.

How to use Gold in Quidditch Champions

After collecting Gold, you can purchase different characters such as Hermione Granger and the Weasley Twins (Fred and George), brooms, headwear, emotes, victory celebrations??, wands, and br??oom trails from the Market.

Hermione Granger and the Weasley Twins appear in bundles where you get these characters an??d their wands. The Hermione bundle costs 1,650 Gold while the Weasley Twins bundle costs 1,150 Gold.

So, if you are a fan of these characters, getting more Gold makes more sense as this is the only way of getting them ??in-game, at le??ast at the time of writing in Season 0.

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There are multiple playable maps and pitches in Harry Potter: Quidditch Champions, but not all come unlocked right from the start.

Apart from some of the most iconic Quidditch pitches shown in the movies such as the school stadium itself and the World Cup Stadium in Goblet of Fire, Quidditch Champions features other arenas too.

How many maps and pitches are there in Quidditch Champions?

There are six maps to play in Quidditch Champions, but some have different variations, making it 11 pitches in total. Here's a rundown of all of them:

• Hogwarts

  • Day
  • Rain
  • Snow

• Beauxbatons
• Durmstrang
• Ilvermorny
• Quidditch World Cup Stadium
• Weasley’s Burrow

  • Day
  • Sunrise
  • Cloudy
  • Sunset

Let's now take a look at how to unlock them.

How to unlock all maps and pitches in Quidditch Champions

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Harry Potter: Quidditch Champions is finally out, so fa??ns can now delve into the magical Hogwarts pastime. But, for those with friends and accounts scattered across platforms, does it have cross-play and cross-progression support?

Quidditch Champions is the latest multiplayer game made by Unbroken Studios, featuring the iconic sport and characters from the Harry Potter movies. Multiplayer games like this are best enjoyed when?? cross-play and cross-progression work seamlessly among all the platforms they're available on.

Does Harry Potter: Quidditch Champions have cross-play?

Yes, Quidditch Champions has full cross-play support among all of its available platforms.

So, i?f you're playing on PC while your friends are either on a PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, ??Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, or Nintendo Switch, you guys can queue up and play PvP matches together.

Does Harry Potter: Quidditch Champions have cross-progression?

Yes, Quidditch Champions also supports cross-progression. The studio confirmed this in their FAQ ??as well. You have to be connected to the same WB Account though, or else the progress won't sync.

I have the game on Steam and have been playing on my PS5 at the same time, thanks to PS Plus, and my progress is e??asily shared between the two platforms. So, that's a boon for players who have multiple copies of the game and want to continue from where they left off without breaking a sweat.

Now that you know about the game's features, be sure to link Quidditch Champions and Fan?? Club accounts to unlock exclusive in-game rewards.

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Harry Potter: Quidditch Champions has finally been released an?d there are many activitie??s for you to earn several achievements and trophies.

Earning trophies in any game feels like an achievement, bringing in a sense of satisfaction especially when you get those hard-earned Platinum and Gold ones. Thankfully, you can earn multiple trophies in Quidditch Champions, while flying on the Firebolt or Nimbus 2001 and playing the popular sport shown in the Harry Potter movies.

How many Quidditch Champions trophies are there?

There are a total of 32 trophies to earn in Harry Potter: Quidditch Champions. This includes 1 Platinum, 5 Gold, 12 Silver, and 14 Bronze trophies.

All Harry Potter: Quidditch Champions trophies

You can find the details of every Harry Potter: Quidditch Champions trophy in the table below:

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Winged Keys are one of the common currencies in Harry Potter: Quidditch Champions that you can earn in sev?eral ways and they help you unlock different characters, wa?nds, broom trails, and more.

Unlike the Firebolt, you need these Winged Keys to unlock certain iconic characters from Harry Potter movies such as Draco Malfoy and Cedric Diggory. They cost a certain amount and earning this curr?ency is not as easy as earning Gold and Moonstones.

Fortunately, the??re are a handful of ways to earn Winged Keys, and here's how you can do that.

How to earn Winged Keys Quidditch Champions

There are two ways of earning Winged Keys:

• Complete Daily and Weekly Challenges
• Reach different milestones in Seasonal events

Completing Daily challenges such as playing five PvP matches, winning a game, completing assists, or more can fetch you 2 to 3 Winged Keys. Weekly challenges on the other hand take longer to complete and reward you with 7 to 10 Winged Keys.

The current Season has several milestones and reaching at least level 50 will get you 100 Winged Keys in total. You can continue leveling up; each level beyond 50 will give you 10 of this currency.

How to use Winged Keys in Quidditch Champions

Once you have enough Winged Keys stacked up, you can head to The Vault under Market to s?pend them on characters such as Draco Malfoy, Cedric Diggory, Ginny Weasley, and Cho Chang. They are known as the Heroes of Hogwarts and each of their bundles cost 250x Winged Keys.

These characters have their dedicated bundles in the store which also offer other items suc??h as styled wands, house-wise goal celebrations, and colored broom trails.

Winged Keys are the enchanted Flying Keys you've read in Harry Potter: Philosopher's Stone. Just like the series, Winged Keys are equally rare to get in Quidditch Champions, and have many uses we've mentioned above.

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The Nimbus 2001 is an Epic Broomstick skin that you can unlock in Harry Potter: Quidditch Champions?? but you need to comp??lete some Career challenges first.

Unlocking the Nimbus 2001 is a part of the Dedication Career Challenge that ultimately unlocks the Legendary Firebolt broom. Under this Dedication challenge, you have to complete five challenges under the "PVP Matches" subcategory.

How to get the Nimbus 2001 skin in Quidditch Champions

Her??e are all the details of the challenge you need to know:

First Challenge

• PVP Matches Played (Rookie): Play 10 PVP matches
• PVP Matches Played (Pro): Play 30 PVP matches
• PVP Matches Played (All-Star): Play 100 PVP matches
• PVP Matches Played (Champion): Play 200 PVP matches

Completing these tasks will reward you a total of 1,425 Gold and Legacy Silver ?Arrow (a rare broomstick skin).

Second Challenge

• PVP Bronze Medals: Earn 200 Bronze Medals in PVP mode to earn 75 Gold.

Third Challenge

• PVP Silver Medals: Earn 100 Silver Medals in PVP mode to earn 125 Gold.

Fourth Challenge

• PVP Gold Medals: Earn 25 Gold Medals in PVP mode to earn 250 Gold.

Fifth Challenge

• PVP Platinum Medals: Earn 5 Platinum Medals in PVP mode to earn 300 Gold.

After completing all these five chal??lenges, you unlock the Nimbus 2001 as a group reward.

This broomstick was first shown in Harry Potter: Chamber of Secrets. Lucius Malfoy gifted one to each of Slytherin's Quiddi??tch team for making Draco Malfoy the Seeker of the team that ??year. The color scheme of the movie adaptation of Nimbus 2001 was black and silver.

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Harry Potter: Quidditch Champions is finally out w??orldwide. Straight from the books and movies, the Firebolt is one of the unlockable Legendary Brooms in the game that you can use to fly around the Quidditch pitch.

Having a Firebolt would certainly give a Quidditch player an edge. Here's how to unlock one in Harry Potter: Quidditch Champions.

How to unlock Firebolt broomstick in Quidditch Champions

To unlock the Firebolt broomstick, you need to complete all Dedication Challenges in Harry Potter: Quidditch Champions.

To find the Dedication Challenges, simply:

1. Head over to the Challenges tab.
2. Choose Career from the left.
3. Click on Dedication.

The entire challenge comes with two separate challenge??s: Overall Matches and PVP Matches. Find all thei?r details in the tables below:

Overall Matches

There are two types of tasks for Overall Matches:

PVP Matches

There are five types of tasks for PVP Matches:

It's evident unlocking the Firebolt won't be easy. You need to play the game a lot and complete all the tasks above to get one of the fastest broomsticks in the Harry Potter universe. In this process, you actually end up unlocking two broomsticks, too: the Firebolt and Nimbus 2001.

In the Harry Potter series, the Firebolt first made its appearance towards the end of the third installment, Prisoner of Azkaban. After Harry's Nimbus 2000 was broken during a Quidditch match by the Whomping Willow, Sirius Black gifted the boy wizard a Firebolt. It's one of the? fastest broomsticks ever made and is equally expensive.

The post How to unlock Firebolt in Harry Potte??r: Quidditch Champions appeared first on Destructoid.

Harry Potter: Quidditch Champions is finally upon us and Warner Brothers is addin??g exclusive rewards for players that link the Quidditch game a?nd their Harry Potter Fan Club accounts together.

While Harry Potter: Quidditch Champions launches on September 3, 2024, you can link your WB Games and HP accounts now. To access those free Quidditch rewards, here's the few easy steps you'll need to fol??low to unlock your House Insignia, Player Emblem, and Fan Tee.

Unlock Quidditch Champions rewards by linking Harry Potter accounts

No matter which house you get sorted into, there's something to claim for every player out there. To do that, you first need to link your WB Games and Harry Potter Fan Club accounts together with the follow??ing ste?ps:

1. Visit the Wizarding World's official account linking page.
2. Log in to your Harry Potter Fan Club account. If you don't have one, sign up.
3. Get sorted into a house.
4. Once that's done, click on the "Unlock Exclusive Quidditch Champions Rewards" option.
5. Then, link your Harry Potter Fan Club account with WB Games.

Now after the game releases, you can launch Harry Potter: Quidditch Champions to receive all the rewards automatically.

Harry Potter: Quidditch Champions pl??ayers from every platform can claim these rew??ards including PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, and PC via Steam and Epic.

All rewards for linking WB Games and HP accounts

Once your ??accounts are linked, you can claim these rewards

• 1x Quidditch Fan Tee Outfit
• 1x House Outfit Insignia
• 1x House Player Emblem

These rewards are specific to the house you were sorted into. Once you complete all the steps, you'll also unlock an exclusive Portrait Maker item for your Harry Potter Fan Club account on Wizarding World.

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Harry Potter: Quidditch Champions won't just take us to Hogwarts, it will also let us play Quidditch in the other Triwizard schools Beauxbatons and Durmstrang??. Coinciding with their locales, the fantastical sport will also have two stadiums based on the magical regions.

The PlayStation Blog revealed the inclusion of the schools in Quidditch Champions, and this is the first time we're seeing their Quiddit?ch pitches.

"Of course, a large part of the inspiration came directly from the Goblet of Fire film, which gives us the only visual glimpse into the ??students and cultures of two of the greatest magical schools in Europe," said creative director Farren Fox. "It left us wondering, how would students from these schools approach Quidditch?"

Beauxbatons has a glamorous, scenic arena set with the backdrop of the French Pyrenees. It looks prestigious with "perfectly manicured" grass, pools surrounding the arena, and ornate stands for the crowd to watch the game. It seems to be the perfect stage for a Triwizard match in Harry Potter: Quidditch Champions.

As you'd expect, Durmstrang is quite the opposite. Based on Northern Europe, it's set in a harsh cold, Nordic la?ndscape, but it does have a pretty depiction of the aurora borealis overhead. Set during the nigh??t, you'll see flames flickering around the pitch, mountains in the distance, and an epic Nordic ship floating in the water.

Of course, Viktor Krum and Fleur Delacour will be involved with these schools' teams. Krum might be tough to defeat as he's the seeker for the Bulgarian national team. You can pick Hogwarts, Beauxbatons, or Durmstrang in the game's Career mode when you go ?after the Triwizard Quidditch Cup.

Harry Potter: Quidditch Champions launches on September 3 for the PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, and PC (system requirements here). The full game will be available to all PlayStation Plus subscribers on day one. The Switch version comes out later during the holiday season. There will be standard and deluxe editions to consider.

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If every school were magical, no child would ever complain about having to go. The idea of a school where aspiring mages can learn the ins and outs of ?magic is raw fuel for the imagination, and many fantasy series have taken a crack at it ?over the years.

I’ve read many fantasy books and watched a lot of fantasy shows that feature magical schools. From this experience, I’ve learned to judge a magic school by how well it incorporates its world’s magic system into its curriculum. There’s a magical school for ?every flavor of fanta??sy buff, but here are the ten that, in my opinion, stand above the rest.

10. Death Weapon Meister Academy (Soul Eater)

In Atsushi Ohkubo's Soul Eater, certain people can transform into sentient weapons, while others can channel the power of their souls into those weapons. Recognizing these parings' potential, the Grim Reaper stepped into the world of ??the living and built an academy to train so-called "Death Weapons" and "Meisters" to become witch-hunting warriors.

Death Weapon Meister Academy embodies the unhinged wackiness that defines Soul Eater; the? headmaster is a cartoonish skeleton, the list of teachers includes a mad scientist and a zombie, and the students ??are all shades of crazy. Oh, and an ancient evil god is imprisoned in the basement.

9. The Little Palace (Shadow and Bone)

Unlike most other nations in the unnamed world that Leigh Bardugo's "Grishaverse" is set in, the kingd?om of Ravka does not persecute the element-manipulating Grisha. Instead, it forces them to serve as magical soldiers in the kingdom's military, and their version of basic training goes down in a gothic castle known as the Little Palace.

Despite its name, the ??Little Palace is massive and lavish. The students live in luxurious dorms with round-the-clock access to an expansive library and an idyllic private lake. Of course, all of this luxury comes at the cost of becoming warriors expected to fight and die for the country that's going against the world??'s grain by tolerating their existence.

8. Beacon Academy (RWBY)

Nightmarish, emotion-smelling beasts known as "Grimm" have plagued the world of Remnant for most of its recorded history. Recognizing the danger that the Grimm pose to humanity, the world's nations have all founded "Huntsman Academies," which t?rain young men and women to become Grimm-slaying Huntsman and Huntswomen.

Beacon Academy is the primary setting of RWBY's first three seasons, and it's an impressive establishment with an expansive campus, cozy dorms, and an arena where the students can practice their skills on captive Grimm??. Unfortunately, its security is pretty shoddy, failing to stop a long string of infiltrations that pave the way for a Grimm invasion that reduces the school to rubble in the season three finale.

7. Strixhaven School of Magic (Magic: The Gathering)

Nestled within the Pl??ane of Arcavios, Strixhaven School for Magic is the focal point for the eighty-seventh expansion of Magic: The Gathering. The school also became a campaign setting for Dungeons & Dragons after the Strixhaven: A Curriculum of Chaos module book hit store selves.

Strixhaven splits its curriculum into five colleges dedicated to studying different magic types. The school’s faculty is composed? of powerful mages, with the headmaster of each college being a mighty dragon. Student life doesn't slouch either, with the school hosting various magically enhanced extracurricular activities. Anyone who's played A Curriculum of Chaos might also k??now that the school's dating scene is equally robust.

6. The Brakebills University for Magical Pedagogy, from Magicians

Like Harvard, Brakebills University for Magical Pedagogy is older than the United States. The only officially accredited school for magic in Lev Grossman's The Magicians, Brakesbill is one of the most grou?nded portrayals of a magical school you'll find, for better or worse.

Brakebills has many of the standard amenities that define a magic school, but what sets it apart from others is how it's plagued by many issues that impact? sec??ondary education in the real world. From unfair expulsions to tuition, Brakebills proves that not even magic can remove all of the humdrum of modern education.

5. Strange Academy (Strange Academy)

The Xavier School for Gifted Youngsters might be Marvel's most famous school, but Strange Academy has it beat in quite a few ways. Founded by Dr. Strange an?d situated in beautiful New Orleans, Strange Academy is where the Marvel universe's next generation of sorcerers and sorceresses learned the tricks of the arcane trade.

With many of the Marvel u?niverse's greatest mages serving as teachers and classes about astral projection and inter-dimensional summoning, Strange Academy is anything but standardized. The school's student body is just as diverse as its curriculum, with humans, fairies, demons, and giants living in relative harmony in its dorms.

4. The Island of Roke (Earthsea)

Magic is a language in Earthsea that a lucky few are born with the ability to comprehend. But a basic understanding isn't enough to complete the "conversations" that allow one t??o cast a spell. One of the few places a wizard of Earthsea can learn to speak the tongue?? of magic is the Island of Roke.

Situated near the heart of the archipelago, the Island of Roke is home to Earthsea's only sc?hool for wizards. Archmages of every form of magic serve as the school's instructors, and it even has a mysterio??us final exam that every student must pass before becoming a fully-fledged wizard.

3. Camp Half-Blood (Percy Jackson and the Olympians)

In Percy Jackson and the Olympians’s version of reality,  the Greek gods are real a?nd love to have kids with mortals. Once these demi-gods come of age, they're whisked away to Camp Half-Blood, a secret training camp where the wise old centaur Chiron teaches them to fight monsters.

As its name implies, Camp Half-Blood is a summer camp, not a traditional school; the kids stay in cabins, do outdoor activities like archery, and roast marshmallows by campfire once the sun goes down. H??owever, Camp Half-Blood is still an educational institution, and its magical, anti-monster barriers make it a far safe?r place for demigods than a regular school could ever be.

2. The Unseen University (Discworld)

Terry Pratchett's Discworld is one of the funniest fantasy? series ever written, and that inherent light-heartedness rings loudest in the halls of Unseen University. Nestled in the heart of the great city of Anhk-?Morpork, Unseen University is the living embodiment of arcane academia–or at least it would be if the professors weren't a bunch of inept, out-of-touch boomers.

The unhinged antics of the Unseen U??niversity's faculty and students are some of the Discworld saga's major overarching plot points, and seeing these accomplished and aspiring wizards flounder about never stops being funny. With that said, whenever a great evil threatens the people of Discworld, Unseen University is always one of the first forces to rise against it.

1. Hogwarts School for Witchcraft and Wizardry (Harry Potter)

I have many issues with Harry Potter, most of which I had long before J.K. Rowling made comments about sections o?f the LGBTQ+ community that I find ?appalling. However, I can't deny that Hogwarts School for Witchcraft ??and Wizardry is a fantastic magica??l school.

Hogwarts has just about everything a magical school needs: a staff of talented teachers overseeing classes on anything and everything mysti??cal, transformable architecture, and outdoor areas where magical creatures roam free. What else can I say? There’s a reason why this misty, ocean-locked castle is the first thing most people think of when they hear the words “magic�?and “school�?back-to-back.

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Despite what many may assume, and irrespective of the sheer number of books out there, Fantasy and Epic Fantasy are still burgeonin??g genres in fiction.

For centuries, writers constrained themselves to literary drama and kept clear of mythology but for a few allusions here and there. And then came Professor Tolkien, a linguist with a knack for names and an even greater gift for the imaginative, who, in his toil, started a movement that reconciled literary ficti?on with mythological storytelling and set the foundations ??for much of what we today refer to as speculative fiction.

Over the decades since the release of The Lord of the Rings, many writers have picked up the gauntlet and put their own ??spins on this ever-evolving genre. Picking 10 out of do?zens and dozens of these brilliant wordsmiths and inspired storytellers is a bit of a grating task. Still, I think we can all agree that there are certain names whose legacy remains unforgettable when it comes down to it.

C. S. Lewis

The Chronicles of Narnia is one of the most influential fantasy book series ever. To say that Lewis has had a hand in shaping the genre storytelling landscape would be a huge underst?atement because the world of Narnia is now not only a gateway to children’s literature but also one of the most deliberative works of fiction. Many popular contemporary fantasy stories like The Magicians, Harry Potter, His Dark Materials, and Percy Jackson & the Olympians trace their roots to Lewis�???work in the early �?0s.

Ursula K. Le Guin

Speaking of authors who themselves have helped define a whole generation of storytellers, Ursula K. Le Guin deserves a spot on this list for her many contributions to the genre through The Earthsea Cycle. Her novel A Wizard of Earthsea, now considered a classic of adventure fantasy, is the perfect blend of traditional fantasy (alluding to Tolkien) tropes and modern sociopolitical elements. Neil Gaiman has repeatedly cited the award-winni??ng novelist and poet as a huge influence on his craft, while many other great names like Margaret Atwood, N. K. Jemisin, and Patrick Rothfuss haven’t been far behind in heaping praise on K. Le Guin’s enormous legacy.

George R.R. Martin

There have been many worldbuilders and storytellers after Tolkien, but George R.R. Martin is one of the few who seems to have it all: A knack for crafting fictional places and histories, mastery of prose that comes off as neither flowery nor bland, and the capacity to come up with extremely compelling characters. All of that has turned Game of Thrones?? and the world of Westeros into one of the most influential works of fantasy in the past few decades. And sure, much to the dissatisfaction of his enormous fanbase, Martin has yet to bring the series to a conclusion, but that by no means diminishes his i?nfluence on the genre. Some creatives certainly take their time getting there, but there’s no denying that the wait is worth it when they do.

Brandon Sanderson

If there’s one name out there who has been as influential as Martin, if not more, it’s the prolific and relentless writing machine who goes by the name of Brandon Sanderson. As the creator of such highly acclaimed works as Mistborn, The Stormlight Archive, the last three Wheel of Time books, and dozens of other praised novels, Sanderson is currently the king and champion of the Epic Fantasy genre. Sanderson is known for his intricate worldbuilding, complex magic systems, nuanced characters, and gob-smacking twists. He’s also the one f??antasy author you?? can trust to always deliver his sequels on schedule.

Neil Gaiman

Known for popular books like Stardust, Coraline, American Gods, Good Omens, and The Sandman comic series, Neil Gaiman is one of the most prominent figures of literary fiction right now. Gaiman is often praised for his versatility in weaving together different genres, his talent for lyrical and deeply allusive prose, and his massive influence on pop culture. Many of Gaiman’s works have?????????????????????????? been adapted into films, animations, television shows, and graphic novels. Gaiman’s self-described mission is to “make good art,�?and he’s been at it for as long as he’s bee?n able to hold a pen.

Robert Jordan

There are a lot of similarities between Robert Jordan and J. R. R. Tolkien. Both were veterans of a vicious war, Tolkien in the trenches of World War I and Jordan in the unforgiving deltas of Vietnam. Both filled the void left by that terrible experience through telling stories. Both have been credited as heralds and pioneers of the Epic Fantasy genre. Perhaps it would be no hyperbole to suggest that Robert Jordan’s The Wheel of Time was the true heir to The Lord of the Rings and the most popular work in the genre until J. K. Rowling’s Harry Potter took the world by storm. Even now, The Wheel of Time remains the perfect bridge between J. R. R. Tolkien’s traditional take on mythology and George R. R. Martin and many other contemporaries�?newer, grimmer spin on the genre. Indeed, in many ways, The Wheel of Time features the best of both worlds.

J. K. Rowling

These days, Rowling is a figure of controversy, engulfed in the culture war raging between conservatives and liberals, but there was a time when everyone with a love for fantasy and the speculative genre had become obsessed with her story of The Boy Who Lived. With over 500 million sales, Harry Potter is still the best-selling fantasy book series of all time, and Rowling’s Wizarding World remains a sensational escapist abode for its dedicated community. Granted, the story may have been derivative to some extent, but there’s no arguing the magic of Harry Potter is still very much real, nor is there any doubt that Rowling has ch??anged the game fore??ver.

Patrick Rothfuss

The idea of The Kingkiller Chronicle was to come up with a fantasy story that not only combines elements from different subgenres but also renovates them in inventive ways. It took Patrick Rothfuss more than ten years to finish drafting and revising The Name of the Wind, but all of that toil was well worth it for a book that became a sensational hit in the Epic Fantasy community. The tale of Kvothe Kingkiller is chock full of emotion, adventure, wisdom, and folly, and Rothfuss�?flowery prose guarantees a reading experience unlike anything you’ve come across before. We could criticize Rothfuss for failing to rel??ease the third and final book in the series through all these years �?and rightly so �?but there’s no denying that The Kingkiller Chronicle will go down as one of the most influential works of Epic Fantasy and on a larger scale, fiction.

Robin Hobb

Serving as a huge influence on many contemporaries like Rothfuss, George R.R. Martin, and Brandon Sanderson, Robin Hobb remains a behemoth of the genre thanks to his Realm of the Elderlings series, more famously known as the Farseer saga. Robin’s prose is powerful and enchanting, her character work is incredibly compelling and driven, and her themes are dark and contemplative. The Farseer Trilogy might remind you of some of the best qualities in Game of Thrones, but the series as a whole has much?? more to offer. Be forew??arned, though; where Hobb treads, unspeakable, heart-rending tragedy is not far behind.

J. R. R. Tolkien

When talking about the greatest authors in the history of speculative storytelling, you can’t fail to include J.R.R. Tolkien �?and not merely for spearheading the literary movement. Even now, no author has managed to soar quite as high as Tolkien did regarding worldbuilding. What the Oxford linguist professor did with his so-called “Legendarium�?is the history of an entire universe mirroring our own. The story of creation, the song of Ainulindalë, the fall of Melkor, the tale of the Silmarils, the woes of Beren and Lúthien Tinúviel, the War of Wrath, the reappeara??nce of Sauron, and lastly, the War of the Ring, all comprise a tale unlike any other.

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Epic Fantasy is a genre that encompasses all the other literary traditions inside itself, so when talking about the most popular books shaping its long history, it’s not surprising to be?? confronted with a plethora of widely disparate stories, characters, and worlds.

Whether it be the rolling hills of Middle-earth, where the Free Peoples fight against the Shadow emerging from the eastern sky, or t?he high storms of Roshar sweeping across the continent and reminding the world of what it has forgotten, or even the petty feuds of the lords and ladies of the Seven Kingdoms and the commoners ever e??mbroiled in their conflicts, the Fantasy genre has something to offer to anyone.

But though the number of acclaimed Fantasy books is already beyond count �?despite the relatively short time since it rose to popularity in the �?0s �?there are some nam??es that, through popularity or influence or standing the test of time, have managed to become timeless.

Harry Potter by J.K. Rowling

Having sold over 500 million copies worldwide, Harry Potter is undoubtedly the mo??st popular and recognizable name in fantasy. The story of The Boy Who Lived finds new fans in every generation of young readers, and the acclaimed movie adaptations have assured J.K. Rowling’s immortality in the speculative fiction landscape. Harry Potter might be derivative and, at times, underwhelming, especially for seasoned fantasy readers, but there’s a sense of sincerity and warmth within Rowling’s pages that you can’t quite find anywhere else.

The Lord of the Rings (and The Hobbit) by J.R.R. Tolkien

The Lord of the Rings was the much-awaited sequel to The Hobbit and took the world by storm when it came out in 1954. In one of the initial reviews, The Sunday Times praised Tolkien’s achievement by writing: “The English-speaking world is divided into those who have read The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit ??and those who are going to read them.�?Many years later, these words sound almost prophetic. We don’t have Eru Ilúvatar’s omniscience to claim there would be no High Fantasy today without Tolkien, but we do know the entertainment world would not be the same.

The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis

The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe was once many a child’s most memorable fantasy read before taking on serious stories. I remember going through the pages and being absolutely enamored by the world C.S. Lewis was spinning into existence. I also remember asking my parents to buy me the sequel before the first book was even finished. In a lot of ways, The Chronicles of Narnia is like the compromise between Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings, which built an imaginative world from the ground up, and Rowling’s Harry Potter, which combined the fantastical with the real.

The Wheel of Time by Robert Jordan

While there’s no denying that Tolkien’s legacy was mountainous, what followed after The Lord of the Rings was a string of unoriginal, generic rip-offs that all wanted to jump on the bandwagon and imitate the professor’s success. In fact, it wasn’t until writers like Robert Jordan and George R.R. Martin came along to breathe fresh air into the lungs of this tenuous new beast that Epic Fantasy truly began to soar as a genre. The Wheel of Time by the former is one such work that built on Tolkien’s legacy and, having sold close to 100 million copies sinc??e its conception, remains one of the most ambitious feats of?? imaginative worldbuilding ever attempted.

A Song of Ice and Fire by George R.R. Martin

George R.R. Martin may not have become as successful and prominent as he is today without HBO’s Game of Thrones, but the fact that Westeros is here to stay �?whether it be true popular spinoffs like House of the Dragon or the books�?own lingering hype despite the decade-long drought �?can only be a testament to his power as an author. Martin has changed the game forever, but more importantly, this is exactly what Epic Fantasy needed to stay relevant after Peter Jackson’s The Lord of the Rings trilogy in the early 2000s.

Discworld by Terry Pratchett

Terry Pratchett is a voice to be celebrated, and his Discworld series remains one of the best-selling, most popular fantasy books of all time. Now, it doesn’t matter how many (or how few) publications decide to write asinine articles about how his literary achievement is overstated (if you know, you know) because there’s always a place in Pratchett’s ??books for people who are looking for a bit of humorous escapist fantasy to lay down some of their burdens.

The Vampire Chronicles by Anne Rice

This might be a rather odd inclusion, but considering the fact that The Vampire Chronicles by Anne Rice has sold tens of millions of copies since its release, it should, by definition, have a place in the list of the most popular fantasy books in history. What’s more, there’s no doubt that Anne Rice hugely influenced the gothic and urban fantasy movement with The Vampire Chronicles. The story was progressive for its time, a??nd its motifs still play a part in informing many other gothic fantasy ?books.

The Twilight Saga by Stephenie Meyer

Say what you will about Twilight and its literary value �?or lack thereof �?but at the very least, the case of Stephenie Meyer and her huge success should be studied. Now, I’ll admit that I dropped the first book a mere 100 pages in, but the story has certainly left a mark in the fantasy space. Several popular and even acclaimed book series, like A Court of Thorns and Roses or the new BookTok sensation Fourth Wing, trace their popularity and stan?di??ng back to Meyer’s work.

The Dark Tower by Stephen King

While you can always expect to find the fantastical in Stephen King’s works, it wasn’t until The Dark Tower that the author forgot about dipping his toes in?to the genre and dived headfirst into it with a grimdark tale combining tropes from severa?l genres like fantasy, sci-fi, and Spaghetti Western. The seven-book series has sold 30 million copies and is among the finer works in the Epic Fantasy space.

Percy Jackson & the Olympians by Rick Riordan

At first glance, Percy Jackson might come off as a Harry Potter clone due to everything it derives from Rowling’s themes and motifs, but the story has much more to offer thanks to Riordan’s brilliant prose and amazing characterization. Percy Jackson and the Olympians books are now among the best-selling fantasy stories in the world, and the new Amazon adaptation is ??sure to increase that popularity tenfold.

This was our list of some of the most popular fantasy book series out there, but as they say, popularity a great piece of art doth not make. So, to read our picks for the ten best fantasy book series of all time, head to this article.

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Daniel Radcliffe, known famously for portraying the protagonist in the Harry Potter movies, has shared that he would love to see the final Harry Potter book and the movies being adapted for the upcoming Harry Potter show.

After winning his first Tony award, Radcliffe was asked by People in an interview about w??hich book he’s most excited to see the show adapt. He said, “The last one, I mean, it'll b??e a while before they get to that, I assume, but that was always one of my favorite of the books and of the films."

For those unfamiliar, the final Harry Potter book was The Deathly Hallows, and its story was split into two movies to end the Harry Potter saga. The reboot series will adapt all seven Harry Potter books from J. K. Rowling. 

Radcliffe is right about the wait, since the show is apparently going to run for 10 years. Moreover, the Harry Potter show adaptation will premiere in 2026 on HBO's Max. Taking that release window into account and time needed t??o get there, it would be a while.

As for the fans who are hoping for a Daniel Radcliffe cameo in the show, the actor has shut down the idea twice in the past. He previously told E! Online that he does not think there is a cameo for him in the show since the show has to be a “clean break�? The actor also shared with ComicBook in 2023?? that he is "very excited to have that torch passed" and feels that there is no need to "physically pass it" with a cameo.

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I read the first Harry Potter book when I was eight years old and they quickly became a favorite of mine, remaining so to this day. As such, I’m very excited about the Harry Potter series and the possibilities it brings. 

If you’ve only ever watched the Harry Potter movies, I’m sorry to tell you that you’re missing out on the details which make the wizarding world so popular. There are so many features and subplots in the books that are either altered or entir??ely omitted from the movies. However, the series does offer a chance for these things to get the spotlight they truly deserve. Hopefully.

Peeves

Peeves is the resident Poltergeist of Hogwarts and, as a Poltergeist, he gets into?? all manner of mischief. He’s a comic relief ch??aracter who has a complete disregard for authority in all forms, helps to spread gossip among students, but is absolutely loyal to Hogwarts itself. 

He fears the Bloody Baron (another character entirely excluded from the movies), respects Albus Dumbledore (but doesn’t listen to him), and shares a bond with the Weasley twins due to their shared love of pranks and chaos. When Fred and George leave Hogwarts during The Half-Blood Prince, Peeves follows their instructions to cause problems for Delores Umbridge and?? actually salutes them in front of the entire school as they leave.

The Weasleys visiting the Dursleys

During The Goblet of Fire, in order to collect Harry and take him to the Quidditch World Cup (which also su??ffered during the movie adaptation), the Weasleys attempt to arrive at the Dursley’s house via Floo Powder. However, the Dursley’s have blocked up their fireplace, leaving the Weasley’s trapped behind a stud wall. 

What follows is a glorious scene where the Dursley’s break through the wall, destroy the pristine living room in 4 Privet Drive, and the twins give Dud??ley a Ton-Tongue Toffee which makes his tongue swell to insane proportions, terrifying the Dursleys. 

S.P.E.W.

The Society for the Promotion of Elfish Welfare was Hermione’s ill-thought attempt to help the House Elves escape servitude. In The Goblet of Fire, Hermione starts her?? very own club, with the acronym name of S.P.E.W., makes badges, and tries to recruit members to her cause. 

What she failed to take into account, however, was that House Elves actually enjoy serving their wizarding folk, for the most part, and there was even an entire army happily working away?? in t??he Hogwarts kitchens. 

Harry and Cho’s disastrous date

Although we do see a small glimpse of Harry’s ill-fated relationship with Cho Chang during? the movies, the best part of the terrible coupling is omitted. 

During The Half-Blood Prince, Harry and Cho have a romantic date at Madam Puddifoot’s in Hogsmeade on Valentine’s Day. Sadly, it’s a disaster and after Harry mentions that he plans to m??eet up with Hermione afterward, Cho flies off the handle and cries before storming off. 

Honestly, this? whole pairing is just cringeworthy, but that doesn’t come across in the movies the same way it does in the books. 

St. Mungos

St. Mungos is a magical hospital based in London and has four floors dedicated to the treatment of magical maladies and injuries, plus another which houses a tea room and gift shop. Sadly, the entire building is removed from the films, despite the fact that we actually visit the hospital during The Order of the Phoenix, after Arthur Weasley gets attac??ke??d by Nagini in the Department of Mysteries. 

It’s also known that both of Neville’s parents, Alice and Frank Longbottom, are l?ong-term residents at St. Mungos due to their extended e?xposure to the Cruciatus Curse at the hands of Bellatrix LeStrange. 

However, perhaps the best thing missed in the movies is the fact that Professor Lockhart becomes a long time resident after the events of The Chamber of Secrets, when a memory wiping charm aimed at? Ron backfired and he took the hit himself. ?;

The Gaunt memories

During The Half-Blood Prince movie, a huge part of the backstory is lost due to the omission of the memories of the Gaunts, which are viewed through the pensieve in the book. The Gaunts are the ancestors of Tom Riddle, and the memories tell the story of how Tom Riddle?? came to ??be born. 

In short, his mother was a poor woman named Merope Gaunt who used a love spell to trap and marry a wealthy muggle named Tom Riddle. After becoming pregnant, she lifts the spell and Tom Riddle Sr. abandons her, only for her to die shortly after gi?ving birth to the child who would go on to become Lord ?Voldemort. 

Winky and the rest of the Hogwarts House Elves

There is a whole section o??f Hogwarts that is never visited during the Harry Potter movies �?the kitchens. They’re filled with House Elves who work night and day to prepare the huge amount of food needed to feed all the students and staff at Hog?warts. 

One notable House Elf is Winky, who came to Hogwarts after being dismissed by Ludo Bagman during The Goblet of Fire. Feeling de?pressed at being dismissed, she turns to drinking and ??we end up with what is essentially an alcoholic yet incredibly lovable House Elf. 

Ginny Weasley’s feisty personality

After seeing her portrayal in the Harry Potter movies, fans of the franchise were enraged by how badly Ginny Weasley came across. Her entire personality is lost, with her fading very muc?h into the background despite being a huge part of the books??. 

She’s supposed to be feisty and very much a miniature version of her mother, Molly. She comes armed with a well refined Bat Bogey Hex, which we never see in the movies, and is loyal to a fault. They really did her dirty in the movies, so I?? hope we see more of her actual personality in the series. 

Nearly Headless Nick’s deathday party

I’ve always been angry that Nearly Headless Nick’s entire ?deathday party is removed from the movies, and I’m hoping that we actually get to see it in the series. 

The deathday party is entirely populated by ghosts (except for Harry, Ron and Hermione), with rotten food being available for them to enjoy, an explanation as to why? Nearly Headless Nick isn’t named Entirely Headless Nick, and also the whole Headless Hunt fiasco. Nick deserved so much better, on all fronts.

Interactions with the Muggle Prime Minister

Maybe I’m biased, but I can’t help but find i??t hilarious to imagine the Prime Minister being accosted by a wizard to discuss the relations between worlds. Imagine the President, sitting in the oval office as a Wizard tries to exp??lain why muggles need to be careful because a murderer has escaped wizarding prison. 

While it isn’t a huge part of the story, it does build a bridge between the ?muggle and wizarding worlds, something which helps to build the world and establish where everything fits.

Percy and his redemption arc

While P??ercy’s tr??eachery towards his family is touched on in the movies, it’s very much glossed over with him suddenly being gone and then reappearing later. 

However, in the books, his behaviour is deplorable and he easily becomes a hated character for how he treats his family. He completely blanks them in public, humiliates them, and sides with Cornelius Fudge to call them cr??azy when they back Harry’s announcement that Voldemort is back. 

When he finally does come back, during the Battle of Hogwarts, the family are celebrating when Fred is killed by an explosion, never seeing?? Percy return to the family.

Firenze teaching Divination

In the movies, the most we see of ??the Centaurs is the strange repeated sente?nce “Mars looks bright tonight�? However, at least one Centaur plays a much bigger role in the books. 

During The Half-Blood Prince, after the dismissal of Professor Trelawney by Umbridge, Firenze becomes Divination teacher at Hogwarts and remains in the position for two years, teaching students about fortune telling. I’m not sure what else to say about this, except I des??perately want more for the Centau??rs than the small role they have in the movies.

Charlie Weasley

The Weasleys have seven children, though if you’ve only watched the movies, you could be forgiven for thinking one? of them doesn’t exist. 

Charlie Weasley is the oldest of those seven children and he works in Romania with Dragons. This is touched upon in the movies, with Ron saying as such, but he never appears in person?. He’s glimpsed in the holiday photo from Egypt, but despite the fact that he was supposed to come pick up Norberta, he never shows his face.

The backstory of the Vanishing Cabinet 

Remember the Vanishing Cabinet which is used b??y the Death Eaters to gain entry to Hogwarts during the final battle? That piece of furniture has an entire backstory interwoven through previous books. 

It first appears in The Chamber of Secrets, when Harry is accosted by Filch for leaving muddy footprints in the freshly cl??eaned halls. Nearly Headless Nick convinces Peeves to create a distraction, and he breaks the cabinet.&n?bsp;

Then, in The Goblet of Fire, Fred and George Weasley sh?ove a Slytherin called Montague into the Cabinet and he gets stuck between Hogwarts and Borgin and Burke’s. When he escapes, he tells Draco Malfoy what happened, providing Draco with the idea to? repair the Cabinet and get the Death Eaters into the castle.

However, none of this features in the movies, and this entir?e subplot is lost.

Harry funding Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes

In return for winning the Tri-Wizard Tournament during The Goblet of Fire, Harry receives 1,000 Galleons. However, Harry has an? entire vault filled with Galleons in Gringotts and has no use ?for the money. Instead, he hands it over to Fred and George Weasley.

They, in turn, use this money to purchase a shop in Diagon Alley and build their wizarding joke empire, Weasleys' Wizard Whee??zes. Without Harry, they ??would not have been able to start their shop and live out their prankster dreams, albeit for a short time in Fred’s case.

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There are countless LEGO sets available to purchase and, if you’re trying to keep to a certain budget, things can get a little complicated. With sets costing hundreds of dollars, it’s not always easy to find an affordable LEGO set to gift or hoard. 

However, as a collector with a child who is also turning into something of a LEGO fan, I’ve had to get thrifty, and I’ve become pretty good at finding LEGO sets on the cheaper side. On this list, I’ve included something?? for all tastes and the best ?part? None of these sets sell for more than $50 USD.

Bonsai Tree

Price: $49.99 USD

The Bonsai Tree LEGO set allows you to create not just one tree, but two. Well, ??almost. You can build one trunk and then have the?? choice between greenery or Cherry Blossoms to complete the look. I love this set and have it in my bedroom, changing the leaves depending on the season.

Venomized Groot (Marvel)

Price: $49.99 USD

I can’t be the only person whose favorite character from the Marvel universe is Groot, and this set combines him with another favorite - Ven?om. You can build this set to be ei??ther half-venomized or completely venomized, allowing for some customization and variety if you decide to deconstruct and build the set again. 

Dobby the House Elf (Harry Potter)

Price: $34.99 USD

One for the Harry Potter fans, Dobby the House Elf doesn’t come alone. You also get a LEGO version o?f Tom Riddle’s Diary from The Chamber of Secrets, complete with soggy sock, and the cake which results in bars being put on Harry’s windo?w. Dobby’s giant green eyes and happy smile are just too cute.

Everyone is Awesome

Price: $34.99 USD

The Everyone is Awesome set is definitely a display piece, with its rainbow backing and solid color minifigs. Design??ed by Matthew Aston, it’s a celebration of inclusivity, positivity and kindness. Even if it’s not designed? to be played with, this one’s still a pretty cool set to have. Bonus points if you can avoid getting the song stuck in your head.

Dinosaur Fossils: T. Rex Skull (Jurassic World)

Price: $39.99 USD

Even if you’re not that much of a fan of the Jurassic World franchise (thoug?h I’m unsure how you couldn’t be, at least when it comes to the original movie), this set looks really nice sitting on a shelf. You get both the T. Rex footprint and fossilized skull to display, as well as a small plaque relaying details about r??eal-life T. Rex. 

Isabelle’s House Visit (Animal Crossing)

Price: $39.99 USD

Part of the fairly recent inclusion of Animal Crossing as a LEGO collection, Isabelle’s House Visit includes ?not only the house and surrounding greenery, but also a floating present and two minifigs - Isabelle and Fauna - which complete the scene. The set?? has only 389 pieces, so it's one children can help with and enjoy dismantling just to put it back together again.

Orchid

Price: $49.99 USD

My fiancé purchased the Orchid set for me as a gift and we built it together, so I may be a little biased here, but I cannot overstate how good value this set is. It’s actually pretty big, standing at 15 inches tall, so it’s replaced the real plant on my dining table. I can attest that, as someone who is terrible at keeping houseplants alive, LEGO flowers are an excellent alternative!

Escape from the Lost Tomb (Indiana Jones)

Price: $39.99 USD

If you’re a fan of the Indiana Jones franchise, or Egyptian iconology, or just LEGO in general and hankering to build something, the Escape from the Lost Tomb set is good value for money. It has 600 pieces and, when built, has interactiv?e parts which make it good for both kids and adults. 

Spider Tank (Star Wars)

Price: $49.99 USD

This mechanical spider from the Mandalorian comes with three minifigs: The Mandalorian himself, Grogu, and Bo-Katan Kryze. The Spider Tank itself has a shooting function, designed to fling tiny bits of LEGO across the living room for you to find hours later once the kids are in bed, so I’d argue that this one should be kept out of small ??kids, lest your feet feel the force of the LEGO step.

The Sword Outpost (Minecraft)

Price: $44.99 USD

I have to admit, my first thought when the Minecraft collection of LEGO was announced was, “What took them so long?�? I mean, it’s a world built entirely from blocks so it just makes sense to make things from the game out of LEGO. Well, this is one of the sets now available from the Minecraft LEGO collection, ??including a?n oversized version of a Diamond Sword and multiple minifigs, like the adorably blocky pig.

The post 10 most affordable LEGO sets that won’t break the bank appeared first on Destructoid.

The holidays are a wonderful time to spend with family, but when I'm not sipping on that sweet hot cocoa or playing charades like a bumbling buffoon, I'm catching up on my excessive backlo??g of video games. This year, I decided to finish my trip to Hogwarts.

Note: There are spoilers ahead for Sebastian Sallow's storyline in Hogwarts Legacy.

Going back to Hogwarts

Hogwarts Legacy has been a touchy subject for many, and honestly, it's put me off playing the game throughout 2023. The criticisms of the universe's creator, J.K. Rowling, are well-founded. I'm bisexual and part of the LGBTQ+ community, but to me, the Harry Potter series is more important than her; it was a huge part of my ??childhood. The holidays are also a time when my parents watch the movies, so it's always something in the back of my mind during that time of year.

After a year of heavy guide writing, I decided to return to the Scottish highlands and finish my fifth year at Hogwarts. The game's visuals and storytelling entranced my family. However, it wasn't what they expected as they witnessed the end of Sebastian's dark storyline. Oh, and it was also fun to flip over a cow.

Did you finish a backlog game during the holidays?

With so many 2023 releases like Starfield or Baldur's Gate 3, games will fall by the wayside, especially if you have Xbox Game Pass. We all have busy schedules??????????????????????????, so getting one or two weeks off is a blessing. That's why it's so fascinating there are trophy and achievement hunters out there who finish a game to completion.

The patience and the reluctance to buy new games are something to be admired. However, as a guide writer who has to stay current, I move on fr??om games I love, which can be heartbreaking. It's part of the job, especially as a freelancer.

Have you conquered a backlog game over the holidays? Were you able to defeat the Mongols in Ghost of Tsushima or finally finish every world in Super Mario Odyssey to completion? Let us know ?in the comments below.

The post Did you finish a backlog game over the holidays? appeared first on Destructoid.

(And some building block wizarding game)

[Update: PlayStation has now confirmed that Nioh 2, Heavenly Bodies, and LEGO Harry Potter Collection will be November's PlayStation Plus Essential titles. They will be ?available to d?ownload November 1.]

There must come a time when a prominent leaker becomes so expected that they might as well be hired by the publisher �?Such is the case of leak-like-clockwork Dealabs user billbil-kun, who is once again out of the gate early with the PlayStation Plu??s Essential titles heading to all subscribers in November.

According to billbil-kun, next month will see PS Plus gain access to three new games: Team Ninja's celebrated action-RPG Nioh 2 (PS4/PS5), intergalactic gravity challenge Heavenly Bodies (PS4/PS5), and block-based adventure LEGO Harry Potter Collection (PS4). The three titles should be available to download from the fi??rs??t week in November.

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=QccheiQ7c34

Nioh 2

Released in the spring of 2020, Nioh 2 is the sword 'n' sorcery sequel to Team Ninja's 2017 original, and sees the half-yōkai Hide return for another demon-slaying jaunt through 14th century Japan. As they pick their way through the turbulent Sengoku Era, Hide will encounter many famous historical characters of Japanese history and folklore?, while doing battle with armies of unholy abominations, en route to a showdown ?with the mysterious entity, Kashin Koji.

Upon release, Nioh 2 was highly praised for ??its evocative visual style, deep and satisfying combat, and intense, but ultimately rewarding challenge. You can check out our own Jordan Devore's thoughts on this fine release in his original review.

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=m8ogIEQGvH0

Heavenly Bodies

Dr. Tom Pritchard and "Gigolo" Jimmy de??l Ray were one of Smoky Mountain Wrestling's hottest tag-teams, capturing gold from multiple territories including the SMW Tag Team Championship, the USWA Tag Team Championship, and ??the coveted NWA World Tag Team Championship an impressive three times. Managed by Jim Cornette, the duo would eventually appear in the then-WWF during the mid-'90s. Though the WWF Tag Team Championship would elude them, the Bodies would have barn-burners with amazing, legendary teams including The Steiner Brothers and The Rock 'n' Roll Express.

They would also have matches with The Smoki?ng Gunns.

Additionally, Heavenly Bodies is an inventive and unique sci-fi title from indie outfit 2ptInteractive. The compelling, yet-strangely-isolating game sees a team of cosmonauts performing a series of missions and minor chores in the deep reaches of outer space, challenging the player to adapt to the finesse of zero-gravity with sharp twin-stick controls and realistic "floating" mechanics. Heavenly Bodies has bee??????????????????????????n celebrated for its simple but exciting concept, as well as its depict??ion of golden age space travel.

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=tiv2tySHzQQ

LEGO Harry Potter Collection

Released by Warner Bros. Games way back in 2016, the LEGO Harry Potter Collection is a compilation of freshly remastered PS3 releases LEGO Harry Potter: Years 1-4 and LEGO Harry Potter: Years 5-7, bundled together alo?ngside all post-release DLC and expansion packs. Developed by LEGO stalwarts Traveller's Tales, the bundled titles feature all of the brick-building (and smashing) puzzl??e action typified by the franchise, set against stylized adaptations of Hatsune Miku's famous movie franchise.

Nioh 2, Heavenly Bodies, and LEGO Harry Potter Collection will be available to download for all PlayStation Plus subscribers from November 1. Until then, previous PS Plus offerings Hot Wheels Unleashed, Superhot, and Injustice 2 are available to all users.

The post PlayStation Plus November gam??es: Nioh 2 and Heavenly Bodies appeared first on Destructoid.

A late start to the new term

The start to a new year at Hogwarts will be slightly delayed. Open-world magic RPG Hogwarts Legacy has hit a new delay, an?d is now ??aiming for a February 10, 2023 launch.

It's the latest 2022 game to get hit with a delay into next year, and it comes with an addendum too. While the PlayStation, Xbox, and PC versions of Hogwarts Legacy are set for February 10, 2023, the Nintendo Switch version has no date. News about the Switch's date will be revealed soon, the Hogwarts team says.

//twitter.com??/HogwartsLegacy/sta??tus/1558121248814759939

It's the latest delay for Avalanche Software's game, which had already been pushed out of 2021 and into this year. We did get a gameplay deep dive earlier this year, where we saw a bit of what wizards and witches can get up to in the ??wizarding world. But it looks like players will be waiting a bit longer to get their owl.

Back to school

The delay isn't totally out of the ordinary, as several major 2022 games have been moving out and into later dates. Earlier this week, Firaxis and 2K confirmed that Marvel's Midnight Suns has been delayed out of its October date, only sp?ecifying that it will launch sometime before the end of March '23.

Even Metal Slug Tactics is taking a little extra time. Only a few, like God of War Ragnarok, are standing firm in this coming holiday window.

A little extra time will hopefully at least be good for the team, in helping them deliver the experience they want to. I'm admittedly not too keen on Hogwarts Legacy, especially as it's based on a series whose author seems determined to keep chipping away at any goodwill the books garnered. WB Games did note in 2020 that Rowling isn't directly involved in the game. But hey. There's always Witchbrook.

The post Hogwarts Legacy has bee??n pushed back to F??ebruary 2023 appeared first on Destructoid.

The Pokemon Go follow-up is closing its doors in January

Harry Potter: Wizards Unite is gradually shutting down over the coming months. Niantic and Warner Bros. announced today that the wizarding alternate-reality game will officially clo??se on Jan. 31, 2022.

The magical mobile game was launched in 2019, following not too long after the immense success of Niantic's previous AR game Pokemon Go. The idea was you'd venture out into the real world, casting spells and haunting magical objects using your phone as a lens into a magical, virtual world. Initial impressions were less fervent than its Pokemon predecessor, however.

In a blog post, Niantic and Warner Bros. run down the shutdown process for Harry Potter: Wizards Unite. The game will be removed from the App Store, Google Play Store, and Galaxy Store on Dec. 6, 2021. Players will no longer be able to make in-game purchases on or after that date, either. Then, on Jan. 31, 2022, the?? game will officially close down.

//twitter.com/HPWizardsUnite/status/145558245979??4395140

As part of the shutdown process, Niantic is providing a few gameplay changes and content drops in Harry Potter: Wizards Unite. Starting on Nov. 2, ??many updates will offer more rewards, remove caps, and reduce timers for players. And over the months between now and the end of this mobile game, a number of special events and encounters will roll out.

It's a shame to see online games die out, though that's also an inevitability as players move on from one game to the next. Pokemon Go has had an unusually lon?g lifespan, likely thanks to both its initial launch hype becomi?ng a point in cultural history and a lot of support in the time since.

But not everything can stay, and at least now, Harry Potter: Wizards Unite can close down with a bang, and even get to avoid any tangential book author-related controversies that arise in the future.

Harry Potter: Wizards Unite will be shuttered on Jan. 31, 2022.

The post Niantic’s Harry Potter: Wizards Unite is shutting down appeared first on Destructoid.

'COME ON OUT, BAT!.. guess it was nothing...'

In very surprising news, Warner Bros Interactive will apparently not be showing three of its biggest upcoming releases during its upcoming E3 2021 stream. TechRadar reports that Gotham Knights, Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League, and Hogwarts Legacy will all be sitting out this year's festivities when the Warner stream rolls around. A succinct tweet from Summer Game Fest seems to confirm this.

Instead, the entire stream is expected to focus on one game and one game alone: irreverent Left 4 Dead-alike Back 4 Blood. Currently in development for PlayStation, PC, and Xbox platforms, Back for Blood is a multiplayer monster shooter that makes no blood 'n' bones about its role as a replace?ment for the dormant L4D series. Having been hit by an unwelcome delay, the gory shooter is now expected to hit in October, so it's understandable Warner Bros. wants to get the ??hype train up to speed.

Still, it's odd to see Warner Bros not using the summer spotlight to stream its mega-selling DC Comics releases, let alone titles such as LEGO City Undercover 2. It's also worth noting that WBIE? is currently embroiled in the recent AT&T merger, which has no doubt thrown several plans and ?schedules into disarray.

As we know E3 is no longer the be-all-and-end-all of games media shows, and with Gamescom?, PAX, Comic-Con, D?C Fandome, Paris Game Show, and many other streamfests on the horizon, I'm in no doubt we'll be seeing Harley and co. again before the summer is out. The Warner Bros. Interactive live stream will take place on Sunday, June 13.

Don't expect Hogwarts Legacy or Gotham Knights at E??3 202??1 [TechRadar]

The post Warner Bros. reportedly not bringing Gotham Knights, Suicide Squad, or Hogwarts Legac??y t?o E3 2021 appeared first on Destructoid.

I can't help but wonder if Gotham Knights is next

Avalanche Software is pushing its open-world action-RPG Hogwarts Legacy from 2021 to 2022.

The delay was announced on Twitter this morning, with a short statement thanking Harry Potter fans for their "tremendous reaction" to Hogwarts Legacy. "Creating the best possible experience for all of the Wizarding World and ga??ming fans is paramount to us so we are giving the game the time it needs."

We've only gotten one good look at Hogwarts Legacy – there was a reveal trailer back in September during the PS5 showcase event – but otherwise, we've been left to glean details from an FAQ.

In case you need a brief refresher, this is a single-player (I think that's wort?h bolding) spell-casting action-RPG about Hogwarts students in the 1800s – so no 'arry and friends. You can pick your house! And the FAQ is quick to point out that "J.K. Rowling is not directly involved in the creation of the game."

Even as someone who could take or leave Harry Potter during its peak, I like the pitch for Hogwarts Legacy, and I feel like it's the one folks have been waiting for – an earnest a?ttempt with some real ambition behind it. That said, for many people, it's simply the right game at the wrong time.

Also, I'm starting to wonder how many of the games?? pegged for 2021 are act??ually 2022 games.

The post Hogwarts Legacy just slipped to 2022 appeared first on Destructoid.

Back to academia

The third game shown in this afternoon's PlayStation 5 showcase was technically a reveal but it didn't really feel like one. Rumors have been swirling for a long time now that Avalanche Software is working on a Harry Potter game for PS5 and Xbox Series X.

Abracadabra, that's exactly what we have.

Hogwarts Legacy is set in the late 1800s, about 100 years before the Harry Potter books took place. As the trailer puts it, Hogwarts Legacy is about "adding your own story to these hallowed walls." It's literally about forming th?e? legacy of Hogwarts.

This is the part where you should get a load of the reveal trailer. There's a lot more action than you might expect. In a press release, we're told that Hogwarts Legacy is also an RPG. ??So, a??n action RPG based on one of the most popular media franchises of all-time. This could shape up nicely.

Hogwarts Legacy is coming to PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series S/??X next year. School's back in session.

The post All the Harry Potter leaks were cor??rect,?? Hogwarts Legacy is coming to PS5 next year appeared first on Destructoid.

The game's long-time-coming reveal will happen after August, Bloomberg reports

After surfacing in October 2018 with promising yet far-from-finished leaked footage, Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment's open-world Harry Potter RPG has stayed out of sight. The publisher still hasn't announced the game (due to E3's cancellation), but that doesn't mean it was scrapped or put on hold. The current plan is a late 2021 launch on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X, according to Bloomberg.

Sources noted that the original video leak was legitimate, most of the follow-up rumors were not, and the Harry Potter project is on track at former Disney Infinity powerhouse Avalanche Software.

When will we get to see it in an official capacity? Assuming WBIE's plans don't shift – and they could if author J.K. Rowling continues to make provocative, transphobic remarks – then the next-gen Harry Potter game should be revealed sometime after DC's FanDome event in August. (That's where we're expecting to see teasers for WB Games Montréal's Gotham Knights and Rocksteady's Suicide Squad.)

As Bloomberg's Jason Schreier put it, Rowling "continues to play a role in most projects associated with the Harry Potter brand, and the game is no exception. However, one of the people working on the game stressed that Rowling has very little direct involvement." The developers are said to be uncomfortable with her views, and studio manageme??nt reportedly hasn't addressed her recent anti-trans comments.

The promise of an honest-to-goodness, big-budget, open-world Harry Potter? game is fascinating to so man?y people – fans or otherwise – but the circumstances surrounding it are incredibly unfortunate.

Some Harry Pot?ter Game Developers Rattled by J.K. ??Rowling Backlash [Bloomberg]

The post Avalanche Software’s leaked Harry Potter game is aiming for PS5 and Xbox Series X in late 2021 appeared first on Destructoid.

A free fan-made experience releasing later this month on PC

[Update: The Minecraft School of Witchcraft and Wizardry map can be downloaded here for free.]

Harry Potter fans have banded together to build not just a recreation of Hogwarts in Minecraft, but a multifaceted map with spellcasting, Quidditch, obstacle courses, and lots of familiar faces. You don't have to be super into Minecraft or Harry Potter to ?appreciate the attention to detail and since?rity.

The project is ambitious enough to be considered a game in its own right, and given the current slate of Harry Potter titles – whatever happened to that leaked Warner Bros. RPG? – it's a sight for sore eyes.

It also brings back fond memories of the early adaptations for PlayStation, PC, and even Game Boy Advance. Admit it – you can vividly picture the box art for Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone.

The team behind the map, The Floo Network, expe??cts to release it for free "before the end of January."

The Minecraft School of Witchcraft and Wizardry is years in the making, so aft??er all the hard work from a "small team consisting primarily of poor students," let's hope there aren't any last-minute setbacks.

The post Minecraft meets? Harry Potter in this heartfelt RPG map appeared first on Destructoid.

Harry Potter, Batman, and Rick and Morty

In today's contest, we're giving away some Funkoverse board games featuring Batman, Harry Potter, and Rick and Morty characters!

Remember board games? They're the best. My fiance and I spent a couple of heated hours going at it at Sorry! over the weekend, and let me tell you -- it was a blast! ??Nothing ruins relationships like drawing that stupid goddamn Sorry! card and sending your significant other's pawn from 17 spaces away from Home back to Start. I'm still trying to convince her to come out of the bedroom.

Hopefully these Funkoverse games won't ruin your lif?e! We've got some to give away featuring the Batman, Harry Pott?er, and Rick and Morty universes, so come win one and put your marriage to the test!

Ok kiddos, here's what we've got up for grabs.

Move through memorable locations – Arkham Asylum or Catwoman's Penthouse -- and use your characters' unique abilities to capture points and achieve victory! Check out more on Amazon.

The Harry Potter-themed Funkoverse game features unique playable figures including Hermione Granger, Harry Potter, Lord Voldemort and Bellatrix Lestrange. More deets up on Amazon.

Wubba lubba dub dub! Go on an epic sci fi adventure with Funkoverse, a strategy board game that brings the worlds, characters and stories you love home for you to enjoy again and again. Amazon has more info.

To enter to win, use the widget below to enter. Be sure to tell us which board game you want! There are multiple ways to gain bonus entries, so click around and figur??e it out, fool!

??While you're waiting, tell us wh?ich universe would make for a fun board game. I think the raucous and exciting world of Paint Drying Simulator would be perf for a tabletop experience. Make this happen, Funko.

We have one of each game to give away; you must have a United States shipping address in order to win. Win??ners will be drawn Monday, December 9. Hammer, don't hurt 'em.

You can check out all the cool Funkoverse board games on their website.

Contest: Get your game night on with one of three Funkove??rse board games

The post Contest: Get yo??ur game night on? with one of three Funkoverse board games appeared first on Destructoid.

Quite Dursley-ish

The Harry Potter franchise is a riddle gaming just hasn't been able to crack yet. There have been many attempts over the years, with different developers and publishers taking a swing at the book and film series, with mostly middling results. We've seen terrible adaptations of the movies, a decent take on the nonsensical sport of Quidditch, a couple of okay LEGO titles, and one of the worst mobile games I've ever had the misfo?rtune of "play??ing."

If any game had a chance to break the spell of average-or-below titles, it was Harry Potter: Wizards Unite. Taking the gameplay made world-famous in Pokémon Go and injecting a heaping dose of?? Wizarding World into it seemed like a surefire bet. Turns out, it's not as good of a combination as I would have hoped for, and after nearly a month of playing, I'm about ready to give the whole thing up.

Harry Potter: Wizards Unite (Android [reviewed], iOS)
Developer: Niantic
Publisher: Portkey Games
Released: June 21, 2019
MSRP: Free-to-Play w/ Microtransactions

Harry Potter: Wizards Unite is about the closest we've come to being able to live out our Wizarding World fantasy in a video game. When you download the game, you'll create your wizarding ID, upload a picture of yourself, and get to task retrieving all of the Foundables located in your area. Like Pokémon Go, this is not a game for couch pot??atoes. You need to get outside, get some fresh air, and really explore? if you want to get the most out of it.

I started playing Wizards Unite right after I moved to a new town and it really did an exemplary job of introducing me to my new surroundings. Wizard's Unite uses a lot of the same points of interest for its cafes, fortresses, and greenhouses that Pokémon Go used for it??s gyms and PokéStops. While playing during the cool periods of the evening, I discovered a great bakery, a bike shop, and what I suspect to be a meth house.

The key conceit of the game is you're hunting down Foundables, different objects, creatures, and characters from the various movies and books in the Wizarding World. A wizard known as Grim Fawley may be responsible for the event known as the Calamity, so any and all wizards are being asked to join the Statute of Secrecy Task Force to find all?? the Foundables and return them to their rightful place and time.

Collecting a Founda?ble means selecting an icon on the map and doing battle with whatever Confoundable is keeping it from returning home. Battling a Confoundable is as easy as tracing a line on the screen with your finger to cast a spell. Do a good job and you'll have a better chance of freeing the Foundable. If it's too strong, there are potions you can use to improve spell power. Foundables you free are entered into your registry, though some require several encounters before they're truly added. This can be as little as freeing the same Foundable three times or, especially with rare, event Foundables, repeating the process a dozen times.

It's clear Niantic used Pokémon Go as the blueprint for this game. Catching all these Foundables is similar enough to catching all the pokémon that the formula is immediately recognizable to anyone who downloads Wizards Unite. But I don't think this is the best fit for the Harry Potter franchise. It doesn't quit??e make enough sense to work and it completely lacks the novelty factor that other game continues to ex??ploit to this day.

When most people imagine pokémon in the real world, chances are they imagine themselves as a trainer. That's the wish-fulfillment Pokémon Go has effortlessly going for it. It tapped into that shared imaginative experience millions of gamers have daydreamed about since the '90s to massive success. Wizards Unite doesn't have such a luxury. I don't think when anyone read any of the Harry Potter novels or saw the movies, they imagined themselves as wizarding stamp collectors, traveling around town collecting pictures of different objects they can put in a book. Pokémon Go did what it could to make you feel like a real-life trainer and while Wizards Unite does do a decent job of giving players a sense of what it's like to be a wizard or witch; the cen??tral conceit is so ??drab and uninteresting that it became more and more difficult for me to even boot up the game on the nightly basis knowing that I'd no doubt have to save Filch and Mrs. Norris from a bewitched ball & chain for the umpteenth time that week.

One compliment I will pay Harry Potter: Wizards Unite is it does craft a somewhat unique arc for each player. With the profession system, you can choose between three skill-trees -- Aurora, Professor, or Magizoologist -- that are unique enough to warrant carefully choosing whic??h to pursue. I went with Professor and found myself well-suited for battles against dark wizards and creatures at the fortress??es, though I would have been more useful if I could literally find one other person in my town playing this game.

Beyond that feeling of individuality, I'm just not sold on what Niantic has created here. There are small, annoying issues with storage, access to necessary potion ingredients, and the wild inconsistency of how well it rates my spell tracing, but the far bigger problem with Harry Potter: Wizards Unite is its inability to utilize the IP and the technology in a way that is not only engaging but also distinct from Niantic's other games.  I have no doubt in my mind there is a great Harry Potter AR game out there. This just isn't it.

_{[This review is based on a retail build of the game downloaded from Google Play]}

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