Book of Spells - A Magical Game!

A couple of weekends ago, thanks to Mumsnet, Big Boy, Top Ender, Daddy and I went down to London to get a chance to play with the new PS3 game Book Of Spells at Sony Head Office. As regular readers may remember Top Ender and I are HUGE Harry Potter fans and we knew that JK Rowling had had a hand in this game and we were eager to have a play. We spent an hour in Sony HQ playing on the game and Daddy and I were amazed at the technology that has gone into this "children's" game. We then got a copy of the game and a PS3 to play it on to take away with us.

Book of Spells and Wonderbook

The game is brilliantly simple. You are a student at Hogwarts, who has permission to take a special book out of the restricted section of the library where you meet a professor who helps guide you through the book/game. I think anyone who has ever seen a Harry Potter film, or read one of the books has a secret desire to actually go to Hogwarts and discover that they too are a Wizard and this game helps you to live this dream.

The game works thanks to augmented reality, which is a clever (some might say magic!) way in which computer graphics and the real world environment you are in combines to make an augmented reality. You see yourself on your TV screen but with the magical world of Hogwarts around you. This enables you to watch stories about various Wizards of note from history and be able to interact with the stories (you get to choose the answers in some stories and make various things happen) and also allows you to visit different areas all within the book.

It's probably easier to tell people who ask though that it works because of magic.

The book happens to be a guide for young Wizards to learn basic spells, and as you work your way through the book you learn spells that Potterheads (like me and Tops) have learnt from reading the Harry Potter series and you get to actually put them into practice. It's so much fun to actually be casting magic and see yourself doing it on your TV in your own living room rather than just imagining it. Take a look at Big Boy and Tops having a play with the game to see what I mean.



Tops and BB are loving playing The Book Of Spells. When Tops and I were out, Big Boy managed to play the game by himself for an hour (Daddy was around he was making lunch and doing the dishes though) as the game is easy enough for a four and a half year old to play without adult interference and Tops finds the game stimulating enough that it isn't leaving her feeling bored because it's so simple that her four year old brother can play it. Daddy and I have even managed to have a go when the children are in bed and as the game can link up to my Pottermore account, it already knew what wand had chosen me (14 1/2in Hawthorne with Phoenix Feather core) and house (Hufflepuff) I had been put in.

There are plenty of little touches that make this game as magical as every child knows Hogwarts to be and I got choked up a couple of times seeing Top Ender and Big Boy experience this magic. Actually, even Daddy and I got drawn in and at times couldn't believe how real the magic was.

This is a brilliant game and so beautifully made that anyone who loves either Harry Potter or magic is sure to be thrilled when playing with it. Just make sure that if there are a few adults around who also love Harry Potter or magic that they get to have a go too, otherwise you might find that if they ever do get accepted to Hogwarts they might share their Canary Creams or Ton-Tongue Toffee with you...

I am a member of the Mumsnet Bloggers Network, a group of parent bloggers picked by Mumsnet to review products, services, events and brands. I have not paid for the product or to attend an event. I have editorial control and retain full editorial integrity.

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