The best Harry Potter games
Picking up a Harry Potter game is a bit like sticking your hand in a bag of Bertie Bott’s Every Flavor Beans. You might come out with an absolute belter like cherry or apple, or you could end up with a total stinker such as earwax, or worse…
The wizarding world of Harry Potter has been capturing our imagination and inspiring us for more than two decades now, and with the imminent release of Hogwarts Legacy set to blow our minds all over again, we think it’s worth sticking our heads in the Pensieve to take a look back at the best outings of the boy who lived so far. Wands at the ready! Let’s dive in…
Contents:
- The Philosopher’s Stone
- The Chamber of Secrets
- The Prisoner of Azkaban
- LEGO Harry Potter Years 1-4, 5-7
- Deathly Hallows Part 1
- Quidditch World Cup
The Philosopher’s Stone
This game was everything a tie-in with the first movie in this epic franchise should be: fun, charming (no pun intended) and light-hearted. It’s got it all: classroom minigames where you learn new spells, exploring the castle in search of various collectibles, showdowns with gnomes and face-offs with Peeves the Poltergeist.
Besides the enjoyable gameplay, Philosopher’s Stone is notorious nowadays for its graphics, with character models that all look like they’ve gone a few rounds with a shovel, with their flat faces and gormless expressions. Of particular note are Malfoy, who looks like a smug baby, and Hagrid, who looks and moves like a block of wood.
The Chamber of Secrets
With the buzz around the Harry Potter franchise reaching fever pitch as the second instalment hit theaters, the tie-in game for Chamber of Secrets came in swinging and, safe to say, smashed it out of the Quidditch pitch.
The game built on and improved on almost everything from the first game, with significantly sleeker graphics (the characters now looked more like stylized cartoony people than amorphous shapes with faces slapped on the front), more exhilarating exploration, and slicker gameplay.
You also get to play Quidditch, go to classes to learn new spells, and during the night-time, sneak around the corridors looking for trouble. Just watch out for those pesky prefects, as they’ll scream at you all the way back to the dormitory.
The Prisoner of Azkaban
It’s only fitting that arguably the best film in the series should have one of the best games to go with it. Prisoner of Azkaban boasts a large open world that’s a joy to explore, as well as more of the puzzles, platforming and combat that its predecessors boasted.
This was also the gang’s first virtual outing where you got to play as Hermione and Ron as well as Harry, and each had their own unique abilities on top of the universal “Flipendo” and “Expelliarmus”.
Best of all, the game lets you jump on a hippogriff and take it for a spin around the grounds. Just make sure you’ve practiced your bow before you go trying to jump aboard the cranky beast.
LEGO Harry Potter Years 1-4, 5-7
It was bound to happen, and it was almost destined to be a hit, but safe to say, this dynamic duo of LEGO Harry Potter games are as good as a cold glass of butterbeer on a warm summer’s day.
With all the co-op multiplayer exploring, puzzles, simple but satisfying combat and zany humor we’ve come to expect from Traveller’s Tales’ LEGO games, the universe of Harry Potter fits seamlessly into this world of wonder.
The games also offer you an almost endless cast of characters to play as, including all the big names, as well as Shifty Wizard, Professor Binns, and of course, who could forget… Milkman!
The Deathly Hallows Part 1
This outing for Harry and the gang may not be the most fun entry in this list, but it definitely deserves a place here for the simple reason that it’s a Harry Potter shooting game.
Yes, that’s right; gone are the days of whimsical challenges and the light-hearted classroom minigames of the older games – now it’s time to lock and load as you solve your problems the Voldemort way: by blasting them to smithereens with the most powerful spell you can think of.
There’s nothing quite like watching Harry and the gang take cover behind a table before popping out to fire a few salvoes at some wizards dressed in overalls as you do battle in a train station café.
Quidditch World Cup
It was inevitable that some plucky studio would have a go at making a quidditch game, but it really could have gone either way. Luckily, EA grabbed their game-developing broomstick with both hands, deflected a bludger straight at the doubters, and came out with the snitch of a well-crafted video game fluttering in their palm.
The end result is an enjoyable and engaging sports game based on the game we all wish we could play, but can’t due to a lack of flying capabilities. Quidditch World Cup lets you get stuck into every aspect of the other beautiful game – seeking, chasing, and beating – as well as show off your silky skills in a variety of arenas around the world.