Muggle Mystery (Harry Potter Mystery at Hogwarts Board Game)

Member Name: fluffypup

Product:	Harry Potter Mystery at Hogwarts Board Game
Date:	07/02/01 (1825 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Its a good Cludeo-esque Harry Potter Game

Disadvantages: £19.99 and characters Draco and Crabbe are blacked out rather than illustrated

Hooked on Harry Potter? Have you read the first four books? Are you waiting impatiently for the two spin-off Harry Potter books, “Quidditch Through the Ages'' and “Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them'', coming out on 12th March for Comic Relief? Are you waiting with tremendous excitement for the film to come out? Well, I think there may be a suitable substitute for all Harry addicts (or Cluedo addicts come to think about it!). Those nice guys at Mattel games have brought out a Harry Potter game called “Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone: Mystery at Hogwarts Game”. The game has just been launched in the UK. Why did they hold off and wait until after Christmas to release this game? God (or JK Rowling as she commonly referred to) only knows!

Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone: Mystery at Hogwarts is a board game where you have to turn wizard/witch detective and determine who broke Dumbledore’s (headmaster) rules and cast the secret spell and where! It’s heavily Cluedo-esque with a Harry Potter theme, as it’s a case of “who conjured what spell or potion and where” Was it ‘Draco Malfoy’ who cast the ‘Pertificus Totalus’ spell in the ‘Defence Against the Dark Arts Class’? Only those who own the board game can find out! It is very similar to Cluedo but without Colonel Mustard, the murder and the candlestick with a few nice touches added.

Question, where is the Mystery at Hogwarts is based? Do you want a 50:50 or want to phone a friend? Well if you would have guessed Hogwarts School for witches and wizards you would have been right. If you failed then this game isn’t for you – you are the weakest link goodbye! Do you fancy acting as a wizard detective and trying to discover who carried out the dastardly deed?

There are nine rooms within Hogwarts School to explore. These rooms include all the favourites
from the books: The Great Hall, History of Magic Class, The Library, Potions Class, Transfiguration, Defence Against the Dark Arts, Filch’s Office, Flying Class and Herbology.

Each player starts off on the ground floor foyer, on the Hogwarts Seal, in this great, magical and mysterious institution. At the beginning of the game, one card from the character, spell/potion and room cards are placed in Fluffy’s folder. Fluffy is a vicious beast of a dog that guards the cards at the very top of the Hogwarts stairs. The remaining cards are then shuffled and dealt to each player. The players can then tick off the cards they have on their game sheet depending on what character, room and spell cards they receive. Players are then free to roam the school, in turn, and solve the mystery. The player whose birthday is nearest to Harry’s starts first.

As well as character, spell and room cards there are also mystery cards. Mystery cards can help you in your elimination progress. If you throw a one (Hogwarts’ crest) on the dice you are lucky enough to get one of these cards. Maybe you get the secret passageway card, Dumbledore’s pass, the key or the ladder to be able to reach Fluffy’s folder and announce to the world who cast the spell!

One great edition to this game is the ghastly ghost! Not only can you move your own character around the board you can also move the ghost! You can use the ghost to your advantage and bump your opponents back into the Hogwarts seal in the foyer. The ghost also allows you to see one of any player’s cards. This aids you progress by allowing you to eliminate a character, spell or room from your investigation. You can choose to play with or without the ghost. You have the option to split up however many moves from the two dice thrown. You can use the ghost to block people in rooms, as all only have one entrance and exit, and players can’t move through the ghost!

You elim
inate characters, spells and rooms by making your way into any room in the school and making an educated guess. You have to name the room that you are currently in your guess. Thus, you could say Harry Potter with the Alohomora Spell in the Transfiguration Spell. All the other players have to prove you wrong by showing you a card contained within your guess. If they can’t maybe you have deduced enough information if they can’t or maybe you are bluffing! Solving the mystery maybe one thing getting to Fluffy’s folder is another. You need to find the secret passageways and ladders to make it up all those stairs! Once you make it up to Fluffy’s folder, you have to say these immortal words “I believe I’ve solved the Mystery at Hogwarts. I think it was …” You then to delve inside the folder and look at the cards. If you guess correctly you win the game and Fluffy’s turns into a nice puppy dog. If you guess incorrectly, you have to don the dunce’s wizard hat and carry out detention for the rest of the game.

It’s a great and highly enjoyable Cluedo-esque game with a Harry Potter theme. The game is great fun. Games can last for between 30 minutes and an hour, depending on the questions asked by the players. The addition of the ghost (not named, by the way) makes it miles better than Cluedo as you get to bump people and see one of their character, spell or room cards. Seeing and playing with actual characters based on the JK Rowling books is great fun, although the magic of the characters held in your imagination from reading the books can never fully meet all your expectations in any board game, computer game or film – well not in Harry Potter’s case!

Our 9-year-old daughter loves both the books and this game. I suppose this game could appeal to others who haven’t read the Harry Potter books. If this game interests you and you haven’t read the books then I would highly
recommend reading the books, whether you are an adult or child. As the suspense and mystery of this game compares only a tiny fraction to the books. You’ve probably heard it all before but the magic of the writing of JK Rowling is just out of this world – hence the spin offs into games and films.

This game is recommended for 8 years and upwards. Although, some of the spells are quite difficult to read or let alone pronounce. Try pronouncing ‘Alohomora’, ‘Wingardium Leviosa’ or ‘Hermione’ when you’re nine or come to think about when you are thirty! Another minor criticism is the board. The squares between the rooms are on the small side although the board has great illustrations. The character cards for Crabbe and Draco Malfoy are blacked out which I find very disappointing. I know I would have liked to see illustrations of what these characters. Why Mattel? Also, £19.99 may be a little steep for a board game. If you are a Potter fan then it’s a must have! Its a game for between three and six players.

If you like the magic of Harry Potter and/or Cluedo type games then this board game comes highly recommended.

[Available at Toys R Us and Argos]

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