“Puzzles & Spells” Arrives on Android, “Wizards Unite” Goes Old School

We've probably all spent some time during the pandemic reflecting on the good old days, and the team at Wizards Unite is continuing to feed our nostalgia with flashbacks to simpler times. This month, the focus will be on our first year at Hogwarts. We remember it like it was... well, technically never, but let's pretend it was yesterday.

For some mysterious reason, the Calamity is surfacing memories of Diagon Alley and new students at Hogwarts, but this must surely be more than a stroll down memory lane. This month, think back to your Standard Book of Spells, Grade 1 and help uncover the significance of these [f]irst[-y]ear flashbacks.

First on the docket is the August Community Day, which will run from 12:01 a.m. to 11:59 p.m. in your local time zone Saturday, August 8.

This event will be all about the Wizarding Challenges, so start brewing up those Exstimulo and Healing Potions now! Players will be heading into Fortresses of increasing levels of difficulty, meaning those of us who've attained Dark Chamber V cred will once again be forced to battle sadistically strong foes alongside maybe one or two helpful compatriots and two people who just sit there and wait for everyone else to clear the room for them.

On that subject, remember to play to your strengths! Aurors have an easier time taking down Dark wizards and Death Eaters, Magizoologists excel against Erklings and Acromantulas, and Professors are skilled at dispatching werewolves and Cornish pixies. Completed Challenges will award not only increased Challenge XP but spell energy as well, and Wizards Unite Hub reports that using any Runestone in Forest Chamber IV and above will guarantee you Exploration Foundable Fragments.

At 11:00 a.m. PT Tuesday, August 11, Part 1 of the First Year at Hogwarts Brilliant Event will commence, in which we'll be tasked with returning Brilliant Foundables from Diagon Alley, including the Monster Book of Monsters and other items hijacked by goblins. That event will end at 11:00 a.m. PT Tuesday, August 18.

We'll be on the hunt for Wonders of the Wizarding World, such as the Weasleys' Flying Car and the Whomping Willow, during August's Wizarding Weekend, set for August 21--24, and Part 2 of the First Year at Hogwarts Brilliant Event will kick off Tuesday, August 25. We'll fill you in on those events later in the month.

We'll delve into Hogwarts Mystery's ongoing story line in our next game update. For now, please settle for a recap!

While this recap could technically be one sentence long - Magical Milestones and Full Marks Events and side quests, oh my! - we'll elaborate a bit. MuggleNet's cache of Hogwarts Mystery devotees was pleased to see Pride-themed dorm sets and outfits featured in June, and most are of the opinion that recent changes made to the Duelling Club are a good thing. With both duelers now able to have a go at each other in every round, wins are easier to come by, and the risk of getting knocked out before ever even landing a spell - meaning more gold wasted in order to try again - has been greatly lessened.

Two new fantastic beasts have been added to the Magical Creatures Reserve, taking up residence in the Scorched Vale (formerly the Volcanic Pasture), and a new pet option is available as well. You can check out screenshots of the Fire Crab, salamander, and Moke below. And while the salamander is easily the most boring of the animals added to the Reserve thus far, it's sitting on a rock in what looks suspiciously like Mordor, so that jazzes it up a bit.

Adopt a Fire Crab! Just remember to stand clear of its rear.

“Hogwarts Mystery” gamers can now add a Moke to their menagerie of magical pets.

It’s a salamander. Then again, perhaps it’s a MAGIC salamander.

Elsewhere in the game, you can now further tweak your character's facial structure - which is great news for those of us who've long felt that video game avatars were just not doing our cheekbones justice - and if you're someone who's annoyed by wood accents, you can change the color of the panels on either side of your dorm-room bed. Just don't tell Joanna Gaines.

A quick peek at Hogwarts Mystery's Twitter account tells us that a new Magical Milestones event has begun (try to contain your enthusiasm), as has a new chapter in the story that will take us up close and personal with everyone's favorite homicidal tree: the Whomping Willow!

Android users, it's our turn to feel superior for once. We're finally getting access to something before the iPhone crowd: Harry Potter: Puzzles & Spells! The game - which we let you know about in early March - has made its way stateside after a soft launch in the Philippines and is currently available for final beta testing on Android devices.

We've been able to give the Zynga title a solid week of play and can report that it's pretty much what most gamers were expecting: a match-three game with a Harry Potter theme.

Of course, there's nothing wrong with a time killer... unless you count the fact that it ultimately wants your money. If you've played other match-three titles by Zynga, you can sing this chorus by heart. You'll start out zipping through levels like a champ, feeling like Viktor Krum taking on the Chudley Cannons reserve team. As you progress, some of those last-minute matches start coming down to the wire, but still - no big deal. Then, before you know what hit you, those primo, power-up-yielding matches don't seem to surface anymore, the obstacles start filling up the majority of the board, and speaking of power-ups, where did all of yours go? You could swear you didn't use them, but... Shh. Don't think on it too hard. Just hit that little button that says $4.99 and a few more power-ups - plus these awesome imaginary glasses for your creepy-looking avatar - can be yours!

In fairness, the same can be said (in varying tones of annoyance) of all the Portkey Games mobile titles, so we'll move on from the money trap issue. Just know that this game contains a $99.99 button. Please don't push it.

As you start the game, you'll be able to enter your name, choose your Hogwarts House, and select a wand before performing some basic customizations on a pretty unremarkable avatar. As you move through the early levels, you'll unlock access to your profile and a selection of daily challenges that will earn you extra power-ups and gold. You'll also begin receiving a daily allowance of free gold that will get you approximately nothing unless you save it up for a week. Think 100 free coins a day when buying five extra moves to complete one puzzle costs 900. A magical creatures feature allows you to collect cards to unlock different animals. They'll give you a few extra power-ups per puzzle and also pop up on the board from time to time to provide a helpful boost. You'll also be able to join a club, where you can interact with other members, collectively qualify for benefits such as faster refills for lives, and - when that's not enough - bum extra lives off one another.

The graphics are cute enough, with scenes progressing chronologically from Privet Drive onward.

Successfully opening treasure chests while solving puzzles results in free gold.

Spells earned by completing puzzles can be upgraded to yield even more rewards.

The Sorting Hat awaits as scenes change in “Puzzles & Spells”.

Gamers prepare to take that boat ride across the Black Lake.

Vernon and Petunia Dursley star in their own version of “The Birds” on Privet Drive.

Pictured are a selection of ways in which virtual puzzles can make real money disappear.

All aboard the Hogwarts Express!

Hogwarts letters fill the screen as a puzzle is successfully solved.

Harry Potter and Ron Weasley watch as Harry’s Chocolate Frog makes its escape aboard the Hogwarts Express.

“The Daily Prophet” reports on the departure of the Hogwarts Express as you switch scenes.

Daily events give you a chance to earn additional gold and power-ups.

Collect all the necessary cards in a set, and you’ll earn the assistance of a magical creature.

Characters make appearances as well, with Rubeus Hagrid introducing you to your magical heritage, Albus Dumbledore and Minerva McGonagall turning up to congratulate you on a puzzle well solved, and the golden trio saying hello aboard the Hogwarts Express. Odd little voices deliver occasional in-game messages, but you'll also hear sound bites ripped directly from the films.

Hermione Granger, Harry Potter, and Ron Weasley welcome you aboard the Hogwarts Express.

Rubeus Hagrid shouldn’t have said that.

Filius Flitwick offers up a special set of daily puzzles.

Albus Dumbledore and Minerva McGonagall are here to tell you what a sensational job you’ve done.

As you go, you'll unlock spells that can be cast - after wasting several of your moves to collect the necessary activators, of course - to help you out of binds. Lanterns, Fanged Geraniums, and Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans serve as obstacles. Power-ups also follow the theme, including bombs that pop out of what look to be boxes from Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes and flying keys. Characters will appear on occasion - once you manage to maneuver their tokens off the game board - to help out, such as Hagrid adding column- and row-clearing power-ups with his pink umbrella, Harry Potter doing a broomstick flyby to drop in needed stones, and Hermione Granger casting space-clearing spells.

Free Bertie Bott’s Every Flavour Beans from their sticky prisons to solve puzzles.

Chocolate Frogs croak their way across the board; players must send them hopping away to finish the puzzle.

To clear feathers away from the board, players must collect enough crystal balls to cast the Levitation Charm.

Harry Potter flies over the game board, dropping needed stones as he goes.

The moral of the story is that you now have a new Potter game with which you can distract yourself while waiting on your pizza to arrive. Just be mindful of the fact that puzzles will become intentionally harder to complete the higher you go, and that'll leave you with a simple and familiar decision to make: Turn the thing off until your lives refresh or fork over a few bucks for a little extra playing time.