Time to Get Wicked: “Wizards Unite” and “Hogwarts Mystery” Are Celebrating Dark Arts Month

by · October 9, 2019

Twilight is falling earlier, pumpkin spice products abound, the trees are taking on their autumn hues, and the air is filled with Dementors. Welcome to Dark Arts Month, wizarding world gamers!

Both Harry Potter: Wizards Unite and Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery are celebrating the witchy season this month, and we’ve got all the details on Halloween festivities in your favorite mobile games. Wands at the ready…

Wizards Unite Update

"Harry Potter: Wizards Unite" has several events planned for Dark Arts Month.

 

The arrival of a new Brilliant Event is, of course, the big news in Wizards Unite this week, but WB Games and Niantic, Inc. have announced a full October slate of special in-game events. The companies are calling on gamers to "protect the wizarding world from the most sinister forces and ancient evils slithering in the dark." Cue the Malfoy family! Malfoy Manor is the subject of the current Fighting Forces Brilliant Event Part 1, ongoing now through October 14.

 

The "Harry Potter: Wizards Unite" Fighting Forces Brilliant Event Part 1 features a Brilliant Death Eater and Brilliant Azkaban Escapee.

 

This first quest finds you squaring off in the wild with a Brilliant Death Eater and Brilliant Azkaban Escapee (no, not that one... yet). A high number of Foundables relating to Malfoy Manor during the time Lord Voldemort was using the home as his headquarters have been reported, and it's up to you to find them. Rewards will include Restricted Section Books and exclusive Ministry ID Portrait items. Other items for which you'll need to be on the lookout include the Brilliant Malfoy Family Crest (available in Wizarding Challenges), the Brilliant Death Eater Mask and Brilliant Azkaban Prisoner Number (available in Event Tasks), and the Brilliant Ollivander in Chains (available through Brilliant Portkey Portmanteaus).

October 19 will bring Wizards Unite's next Community Day, during which players can expect to see Vampire, Werewolf, and Doxy oddities prowling their cities with added frequency.

Part 2 of the Fighting Forces Brilliant Event will run October 22--28, this time featuring Brilliant Sirius Black (squee!) and a Brilliant Dementor. You'll be charged with returning items related to the Order of the Phoenix to their rightful time and (number twelve, Grimmauld) place. Those items also include the Brilliant Troll Leg Umbrella Stand, Brilliant Kreacher with Locket, and Brilliant Phoenix Patronus (available in Event Tasks); the Brilliant Portrait of Phineas (available through Brilliant Portkey Portmanteaus); and the Brilliant Order of the Phoenix Photo (available in Wizarding Challenges).

 

The "Harry Potter: Wizards Unite" Fighting Forces Brilliant Event Part 1 features a Brilliant Sirius Black and Brilliant Phoenix Patronus.

 

Last but not least, an Exclusive Halloween Quest will commence on the big day itself, October 31, featuring a Dark Arts-themed Wizarding Challenge Fortress and limited-time rewards! Make sure you share your adventures on social media using the hashtag #DarkArtsMonth.

 

 

Wizards Unite also recently underwent an update to Version 2.4.0. Here's a recap of the highlights of that update.

Encounters: If you're one of those wizards who just doesn't like to wait, you can now skip through the animation that follows the successful returning of a Foundable by tapping the screen, provided you've already returned one fragment of that item.

Registry: Bogrod the Goblin is now available in Photo Mode.

Ministry ID and Portrait: Players will no longer have to tap each Lens, Frame, or Sticker in their Ministry ID Portraits to dismiss the new-item notification. You can also tap and hold Achievement Badges in your Ministry ID to view a reminder of which Achievement you completed to earn that badge.

Wizarding Challenges: An issue with the Recommended Grade for Chambers being displayed in red text despite the player's Grade being equal to that Grade has been resolved.

Spell Energy: Spell Energy has been added to Wizarding Challenge rewards at Sponsored Fortresses.

Portkeys: Opening multiple Portkeys at once will now only result in one dialogue box letting you know you've unlocked one or more Portkeys. Also, the Portkey Rewards Screen will appear even if you've been unable to tap five Wrackspurts or if you've left the Portkey unexpectedly.

If you, like us, enjoy snapping augmented reality (AR) photos of Foundables in interesting locales, Wizards Unite Hub also has an informative guide to which Foundables are available for AR photography, along with a few tips and tricks.

Hogwarts Mystery Update

You had to jump through some serious hoops (no pun intended) to do it, but with any luck, you're now your House Quidditch team's newest Chaser! Now, all you have to do is help said team win the Quidditch Cup or risk the ire of your new little trio of friends.

 

Skye Parkin tells you there's no pressure, and she doesn't mean it at all.

 

Between Skye Parkin's intensity, Murphy McNully's detailed play-by-play of every single conversation ever, and Orion Amari's yoga-instructor-from-Sedona-Arizona vibe, the whole Quidditch-tryout process was a bit of an exhausting one, but hey - we learned to stand on one leg on our broomsticks during a Cornish pixie attack and to have the "tenacity of a Niffler chasing a golden Galleon down the steepest stairwell," so there's that.

 

Orion Amari is impressed with your meta outlook on Quidditch.

 

Skye Parkin doesn't know how Orion Amari avoids driving himself bonkers, and neither do we.

 

If you earned enough stars in your classes last week, you're also now the proud owner of a pretty sweet deathday party outfit. And although the appearance of another Full Marks Event just a few hours later made us want to plan several deathday parties, this time around, we're competing for a bat. And our competitors will have to pry that adorable flying rat from our cold, dead hands.

 

If you earned enough stars in your classes, you'll have received a Deathday Party outfit.

 

 

On the story front, there is (as usual) no telling how far you've gotten if you give in to the intrusive temptations of side quests and events, but without giving too much away, Beatrice Haywood is still being a total brat.

 

Beatrice Haywood was at first just annoying and is now really annoying.

 

Agreed. And now, it's really annoying. Meanwhile, we've surely got plenty more Dark Arts Month fun to look forward to this month in Hogwarts Mystery as we await the return of the gorgeous jack-o'-lantern decorations to the Great Hall and also, according to this teaser from the game's Twitter account, some good, old-fashioned danger! It wouldn't be Hogwarts without it.

 

 

Wizards Unite Press Release

DARKNESS FALLS IN HARRY POTTER: WIZARDS UNITE
San Francisco, Calif. – October 7, 2019 - Dark forces are on the loose in WB Games and Niantic, Inc.’s Harry Potter: Wizards Unite. #DarkArtsMonth will allow players to enjoy exciting in-game events and activities throughout October. Players all around the world will have to work together to protect the wizarding world from the most sinister forces and ancient evils slithering in the dark.

The full schedule for Harry Potter: Wizards Unite Dark Arts Month is as follows:

• Fighting Forces Brilliant Event Part 1: October 8-14
- A new quest featuring the spine-chilling Brilliant Death Eater and an Azkaban Escapee

• October Community Day: October 19
- Expect more uncanny creatures including Vampire, Werewolf, and Doxy oddities appearing more frequently in the game

• Fighting Forces Brilliant Event Part 2: October 22-28
- A new sinister quest featuring the Brilliant Sirius Black and a Dementor

• Exclusive Halloween Quest: October 31
- Get ready for an exciting and exclusive Dark Arts-themed Wizarding Challenge Fortress Chamber and quest with limited-time rewards

Check out WB Games and Niantic’s new blog post for more details here.

To stay up[-]to[-]date on Harry Potter: Wizards Unite, upcoming event details, and additional game content releases, including new Portkey environments and Ministry ID lenses, during this eerie month, please visit to receive the latest information at www.wizardsunite.com and follow the game on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube.

Harry Potter: Wizards Unite is co-published and co-developed by WB Games San Francisco and Niantic, Inc., under the Portkey Games label.

We’ve also got a few other tidbits for you this week! Remember that supposedly leaked footage of a potential Harry Potter RPG game? Its legend continues to live on to this day, with Game Rant speculating this week about which Warner Bros. game studio could possibly be developing the game and Entertainment Weekly imparting that there are rumors the game could be in the works for PlayStation’s new PlayStation 5 console, which is slated for release prior to the 2020 holiday season.

And in not-quite-official game news, two more titles have arrived in the “nobody used the name Harry Potter specifically, but… yeah, this is all about Harry Potter” camp. The PC game Broomstick League made its debut late last month at TwitchCon in San Diego, California, and this is Quidditch. Enough differences exist to keep the developers safe, however, including the fact that there’s only one ball, and everyone’s objective is just to get it through the other team’s lone hoop while using magic to dodge enemies and defend the goal. The game is expected to appear on Steam Early Access in early January 2020.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i03dM3WuHjU

 

Available now on Steam Early Access, meanwhile, is Spellcaster University, and if you’ve ever wanted to be on the Hogwarts Board of Governors, this one is for you. You’ll be creating your own Hogwarts-esque school of magic, designing coats of arms for the school’s houses, sorting students, and trying to keep your pupils from being bludgeoned by monsters. Sound familiar? You can choose the classes that will be available, the students’ uniforms, and whether you’ll be a Weasley-esque headmaster who lets the kiddies go bonkers or an Umbridge-and-Filch hybrid who threatens them with shackles. There are also dragons and an evil villain lurking in the wings because of course there are.

 

 

And that’ll do it for this month’s comprehensive game update! Which ones are you playing? What do you like and dislike about them? Let us know in the comments, and keep an eye out for our next installment of gaming news!