''Book of Spells'' (or ''Wonderbook: Book of Spells'') is a 2012 augmented reality video game for the

PlayStation 3 The PlayStation 3 (PS3) is a home video game console developed by Sony Computer Entertainment. The successor to the PlayStation 2, it is part of the PlayStation brand of consoles. It was first released on November 11, 2006, in Japan, November ...

. It was developed by

London Studio London Studio is a British video game developer based in London. Founded in 2002, it is a first-party studio for PlayStation Studios. The studio was most known for developing the '' SingStar'' series, as well as games for PlayStation's exter ...

in conjunction with J. K. Rowling and

Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment (WBIE; also known as Warner Bros. Games or WB Games) is an American video game publisher based in Burbank, California, and part of the newly-formed Global Streaming and Interactive Entertainment unit of ...

as a companion to the '' Harry Potter'' series. The game is based on ''Book of Spells'', a fictional book by Miranda Goshawk released about 200 years from the event date. ''Book of Spells'' received mostly positive reviews from critics, praising the use of augmented reality and the PlayStation Move, while criticizing the game's short length.

Gameplay

The user casts spells by drawing shapes with the

PlayStation Move is a motion game controller developed by Sony Interactive Entertainment. Initially released in 2010 for use with the PlayStation 3 home video game console, its compatibility was later expanded to its successor, the PlayStation 4 in 2013, its Pla ...

controller, while the book itself uses augmented reality technology to appear on screen via the

PlayStation Eye The PlayStation Eye (trademarked PLAYSTATION Eye) is a digital camera device, similar to a webcam, for the PlayStation 3. The technology uses computer vision and gesture recognition to process images taken by the camera. This allows players to i ...

. The Move controller itself appears on screen as a wand, and may draw patterns on screen to launch spells. ''Book of Spells'' is designed to be an interpretation of learning spells at

Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry () is a fictional Scottish boarding school of magic for students aged eleven to eighteen, and is the primary setting for the first six books in J. K. Rowling's ''Harry Potter'' series and serves as a m ...

in the '' Harry Potter'' universe, with the "book" itself having been written in the ''Harry Potter'' universe over 200 years ago by Miranda Goshawk. At the end of each chapter, a poem will describe a failed Hogwarts student in order to teach the user a lesson in the manner of

Aesop's fables Aesop's Fables, or the Aesopica, is a collection of fables credited to Aesop, a slave and storyteller believed to have lived in ancient Greece between 620 and 564 BCE. Of diverse origins, the stories associated with his name have descended to ...

. At the start of the game, players choose one of the four Hogwarts houses, and one of three different wands. If, however, the player has a Pottermore account, they can link it to the game, in which case the in-game choices will reflect those they made on the site. In addition to the specific spells covered by each chapter, the player is sometimes given the opportunity to briefly make use of other spells, such as the Oppugno Jinx. The player, however, does not actually learn the gestures for these spells and thus is not tested over this material.

Development

PS Move couple at Igromir 2012 (8057121240)

To develop the game the

Sony Computer Entertainment Sony Interactive Entertainment (SIE), formerly known as Sony Computer Entertainment (SCE), is a multinational video game and digital entertainment company wholly owned by multinational conglomerate Sony. The SIE Group is made up of two legal co ...

team worked with ''Harry Potter'' author

J. K. Rowling Joanne Rowling ( "rolling"; born 31 July 1965), also known by her pen name J. K. Rowling, is a British author and philanthropist. She wrote ''Harry Potter'', a seven-volume children's fantasy series published from 1997 to 2007. The ser ...

, who described it as "the closest a Muggle can come to a real spellbook". Rowling had previously worked with Sony on her

Pottermore Wizarding World Digital is the digital publishing, e-commerce, entertainment and news company. It offers news, features, and articles as well as new and previously unreleased writing by J. K. Rowling regarding the Wizarding World. The site featu ...

website, and the company at one point had an exclusive contract to release ''Harry Potter''

e-book An ebook (short for electronic book), also known as an e-book or eBook, is a book publication made available in digital form, consisting of text, images, or both, readable on the flat-panel display of computers or other electronic devices. Alt ...

s. The game was launched as the first title for the Wonderbook on the

at the 2012 Electronic Entertainment Expo. It was released in the United States on 13 November, 15 November in Australia, and 16 November in Europe.

Reception

''Book of Spells'' received mixed to positive reviews from game critics. It holds a 72 on

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created by Jason Dietz, Marc ...

, indicating "Mixed or Average reviews." Critics praised the use of the Wonderbook technology by the use of both the PlayStation Move and augmented reality, while criticizing the game's short replay value. The ''Book of Spells'' was nominated for a ''BATA'' in the ‘Game Innovation 2013′ category.

Sequel

The second Harry Potter-themed ''Wonderbook'' game is '' Book of Potions'', released in 2013.

References

External links

PlayStation UK pagePottermore page
{{Authority control 2012 video games Fantasy video games Harry Potter video games London Studio games PlayStation 3 games PlayStation 3-only games PlayStation Move-compatible games PlayStation Move-only games Single-player video games Sony Interactive Entertainment games Video games developed in the United Kingdom Wonderbook games