J.K. Rowling created a magical universe teeming with wizards, spells, goblins, and most importantly candy. The Harry Potter books are great despite all their flaws and proph-outs (when a fantasy series resorts to prophecies). But this is a game-design blog, so by Merlin’s beard we’re going to talk about the Dumbledore of games: Quidditch. From a writing perspective I would have preferred it to involve spells - you know, that thing that makes Wizards unique and interesting - but let’s talk about the mechanics as they are. At first glance the game is zany and creative, but digging deeper I become more and more glad that Rowling stuck to books rather than game design. Quidditch does a great job of showing HARRY POTTER single-handedly winning the day, but it’s not a sport anyone would ever play in reality (and not just because Americans would be too fat to fly).
