about
What is this game?
This, of course, is the Much-Needed, Book-Only Ultimate Unofficial Harry Potter Trivia Game.
It’s a card deck trivia game based on Harry Potter, appropriate for all levels of Harry Potter fandom. There are many playing styles that equalize the playing field, keeping games even between the superfans and casual fans alike.
The set up is simple - there are 350 cards. There are 7 Levels, Level 1 being the easiest and Level 7 the hardest. Each card has a question on the front and answers on the back. You might be asking yourself, is there a need for this game? Don’t we already have Harry Potter trivia games? What sets this game apart? I’m so glad you asked.
The Need for The Game
The problem with trivia games in general is that most questions are formatted to have just one answer. Often questions are either too easy or too hard. You know it or you don’t. Then, there is the occasional sweet spot where you’re not sure about the answer... you think about it... and bam, you come to the right answer! But that’s few and far between. The current popular alternative is multiple choice, which is a cheap thrill that is for the skill-less and weak-minded.
That’s why I’ve created a Harry Potter trivia game where every single question has multiple answers, allowing the “sweet spot” of trivia to happen more and more frequently. For example, you might very quickly know the first five people who taught Defense Against the Dark Arts while Harry was at school, but you have to think for a bit to get the sixth. Or maybe you only know three of them and have no clue on the last three, but either way, it’s not an all or nothing sum game. You get to have fun thinking of half the answer, and you avoid the temptation to immediately shut down because you didn’t know the answer right off the bat.
The other problem, Harry Potter specific, is that all Harry Potter trivia games produced by Warner Brothers are based on the movies! And the movies are full of inconsistencies, lack of depth, and stray from, and even contradict, the canonical text. Also, who the heck cares where the actress who plays Cho Chang was born?! So many useless questions come out of those games. And worst of all, they have Daniel Radcliff’s face all over them. He’s a fine human being. I like him well enough in many other movies. But he is not Harry Potter. Not. Even. Close.
And so, of course this game is solely based on the seven books! No more answering questions about who directed more than one Harry Potter film (its incredible that they let any come back after one film). In addition, each answer will have the Book and Chapter where it can be found, so as to not leave you in the dark wondering, “When, where, how? I don’t remember that!”, or even worse, as when playing the movie based games, “That is just plain wrong.” Now you might be asking why I am qualified to make this game. I’m probably not, but keep reading to see how we got here.
The Genesis of this Game
Like so many of my generation, I grew up reading Harry Potter. As did so many others, I fell in love with the stories and the characters and daydreamed of the magical world. My sister also enjoyed Harry Potter and as no other members of our family enjoyed them quite as much, it created a bond between us. Also, I, as do many members of my family, enjoy competing and, more importantly, winning. At times, this competitive desire would demonstrate itself in the form of trivia. My sister and I often competed in online Harry Potter Trivia quizzes or questions we thought of ourselves.
After high school, while I was away from home, my sister wrote me a letter. Included in the letter was a list of Harry Potter Trivia questions. I very much enjoyed trying to guess the answers, as I did not have access to the books or the internet at the time. If memory serves, I think I got most of the questions wrong. I shared the letter with one of my roommates at the time. We will call him William. William astounded me by getting every single question right, with no hesitation. When he immediately identified “The Goblin Rebellion of 1612” as the historical headquarters located at The Three Broomsticks, I knew that I had met someone special.
Actually, at the time, I accused him of cheating, certain that he had read the letter when I wasn't looking. I have since learned that he is never cheating, he simply has a photographic memory and a love of Harry Potter. I immediately wrote back to my sister and told her about my roommate and asked her to write more questions! She happily obliged, as she, like myself, enjoys the challenge of looking for thought-provoking trivia questions. When I received the next letter, I again shared the questions with William. Once more, he answered the questions with ease, furthering my understanding that I was not dealing with a mere mortal.
Once we returned home and regained access to the books, I spent the next decade re-reading the Harry Potter books. As I did, I constantly sent William (and my sister) Harry Potter trivia questions. William continued to have no trouble with any of them. A desire grew in me to stump him; I felt like it was my calling to do so. He was called "to know," and therefore, someone had to be called "to ask". So in that effort, I attempted questions that were more and more obscure, asking him to recall one innocuous word amongst hundreds of thousands of words, spanning thousands of pages. During this evolution, two things happened: (1) It didn't work; William still knew the answer to nearly every single question. (2) I found no joy in this. Picking a random person from the book who has no bearing on the story, and then asking William if he remembers their name is neither artful nor skillful. Anyone can open a Harry Potter book, select a word, and frame a question around it.
As I lumbered around in this pit of despair, one day a lightbulb went off. As I had already reached the peak of obscurity but was still looking to master him, I pivoted. Instead of asking obscure questions, why not ask questions that scope all seven works? I had done this in small pieces previously, like, "list every name called during Harry's sorting ceremony", or "name the first 8 people who utter ‘Voldemort’ aloud”. I realized I could take this to the next level. Using technology that I didn't have access to when this journey started (a kindle), I searched the name "Voldemort" and went through each and every one of the 1,239 results. I cataloged every single unique person to say it. Then, I asked William to "name 19 people who utter the name ‘Voldemort’ aloud". William was aghast at the scope of the question and simultaneously delighted at the challenge. Half a day later, he came back with 19 people who utter the name aloud, but one of his was not on my list. We compared notes and correctly identified the 20 people who say the name aloud (I missed Kingsley Shacklebolt because the description of his utterance is not accompanied with the actual written word “Voldemort”, but we know that he says it).
The entire experience from end-to-end was filled with joy, fueling and combining the competitive nature and the love of Harry Potter into one. It was everything that had been missing from this unspoken challenge of trying to stump him. The goal now was not to stump, but to challenge and expand our horizons. The experience of finding out that my answer was wrong was even more enjoyable because it meant that a great question could become an even better one. From this point on, no question I offer up has a single answer, nor do I assume I have all the answers. It's an iterative challenge that grows as the trivia questions are pondered and researched. Since then, I have cataloged these questions (and added a lot of easy ones that I would never ask William), and now I want to give everyone a chance to be a part of the joy that is this trivia journey. Playing the game will almost certainly inspire you to re-read the books one more time. The questions create connections between each year at Hogwarts, remind you of the greatest moments throughout the series, and ultimately make you want to revisit ALL the moments.
If you actually succeeded in reading this far, congrats! You might be thinking that this game is only for "William-level" Harry Potter experts. While he was certainly an inspiration for the game, and there will be plenty of "William-level" questions, there are also questions for all levels of Harry Potter fandom. Questions range from Level 1 to Level 7. Currently there are 50 questions at each level (we're working to expand to 100 each). Level 7 is certainly "William-Level", while level 1 should be attainable by people who have read the books only one time...or movie-only fans. And as I have mentioned now about 15 times, these questions don't have just one answer. For example, you likely don't know 11 brands/models of brooms. But you might remember Harry's Nimbus 2000, Malfoy's upgraded Nimbus 2001, and Harry's world-class Firebolt. Well, getting three out of eleven is worth points in many of the open game formats in which these cards can be used.
So, if you’re intrigued at all, please sign up for our email list to be notified when the game is available for purchase! We’re currently in Beta version production while I print cards game at home and get feedback on how to improve the game, but soon we’ll have artwork, branding, and professional printing ready to go!
