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I had grown up seeing people in movies, and television shows get agitated during a Monopoly game (or other game) and wipe the table clean in a hilarious tantrum. One evening we had a casual dinner party at our house with three friends of ours.
My better half takes Monopoly very seriously. It is treated like a legitimate business deal and investment opportunity. It drives me batty. Monopoly is supposed to be a fun game where you watch a close family member take all your money and leave you crying in a pool of your own failure.
Back to the dinner party.
At one point, it was clear that Mr. I-have-an-impressive-stock-portfolio was about to leave everyone else in ruin. I knew it was my chance to replicate the always hilarious sitcom scene. So I did. I threw my hands up in frustration, made some sarcastic comments, and wiped all the pieces off the board.
Turns out, it isn’t funny in real life–especially when people don’t know you are joking. Instead, the room became uncomfortably still as faces told me our three friends were waffling between judgment and indifference. I hoped they would land on the lesser of two evils.
So now I know that even if my demise is imminent in a game of Harry Potter Monopoly, no matter how cute I look doing it, flinging the board up and off the table won’t get me the canned laughter it does on TV.
Bottomline Up Front
With my years of experience (no longer tossing the board), I have come to appreciate many models and iterations of a classic family game. However, there is absolutely no official Harry Potter Monopoly game because no agreement exists between Hasbro (the company that makes Monopoly games) and Warner Brothers (the company that made the movies).
Still, this best Harry Potter monopoly guide will help you choose from many other Harry Potter games, including some fan-made-Monopoly editions (unofficial). I recommend investing in the unofficial version. It will cost you less than $10 in a few hours of your time to put together, but then you will have a game that no one else has.
Selection Criteria
The items included in this best Harry Potter Monopoly guide are all subject to the same criteria. I picked games that were fun, challenging, suitable for a large family or just a couple, and of course, well made.
Unofficial Monopoly
If you are really set on playing Monopoly, there are unofficial Harry Potter Monopoly boards available on sites like Etsy. Out of all the homemade versions or unofficial versions, this one is pretty great.
It has corresponding cards to the different sections of a traditional Monopoly board with the same rules. The rent you pay on the shrieking Shack with 1 Cottage is 30 Wizarding dollars, and that doubles if you have two cottages, and then triples if you have three cottages, and so forth.
The creator made this as a gift for their wife and then created an unofficial version that you can download in English or French. It’s an instant download, so you get all the information you need and then create your own board game, but you have to open the zip file, print and cut the items (I recommend laminating them or using card stock for longevity).
Pros
- This model has everything you need to create your own game, including the board, cards, Wizard bills, and rules.
- You get an instant download, and you have to open the files yourself and follow the subsequent DIY steps to make the finished product.
Cons
- Not the best quality
- Because it is not official, it can be taken down at any time because of Warner Bros.
Pressman Harry Potter Magical Beasts Game
I own this Pressman Harry Potter Magical Beasts Game. I’ll say up front that when it arrived as an unexpected gift, I was thrilled. The board game is set up such that it has a hinged middle section that can flip over one way or the other to create the scene of being inside the castle or on the castle grounds.
The point of this game is to collect magical creatures. There are four different beast categories, and in order to collect a creature and win the game, you have to get all four of the corresponding category cards.
The trick is that you can only get a specific type of category card by rolling the die and moving the designated number of spaces, eventually landing on the different card places throughout the board.
Two of those card types are available on the outdoor part of the board, and the other two are available inside the castle. The game is perfectly fun, but it does get boring after a while because it has images from all the key places on the board, but there’s nothing to it other than rolling the die and moving the spaces until you get enough cards.
I actually printed my own set of cards to flesh out the game, make it more interesting, and add another element to it other than the collection process. I created both positive and negative cards corresponding to each location inside the grounds and outside the grounds.
So you have more incentive to move your piece around and land on a place like the Quidditch pitch or one of the classrooms. When you do, you pick a card corresponding to that area. It might be something like making your feather float successfully and earning 10 points to Gryffindor, which equates to 2 extra spaces you can move on the board. It might be something negative like getting hit in the head during a Quidditch game and having to go to the hospital, losing one turn. It’s much better now that I have the extra cards.
Pros
- Easy game, kids of all ages can play
- It has a centerpiece that flips to create the indoor or outdoor space, and it adds an unexpected element
- It is a beautifully designed board
Cons
- Only four players can go at a time
- There isn’t much to do other than roll the die and move your piece
Hasbro Gaming Trivial Pursuit
Hasbro might not have Monopoly, but they have the Hasbro Gaming Trivial Pursuit. This takes after the same world of Trivial Pursuit, but it’s designed in a wedge-shaped container. That Container makes it easy to bring the game with you on a family vacation. All the cards and the die are contained inside. There are six hundred questions based on some of the most iconic moments in the Harry Potter films. You get a range of categories, including magical creatures, potions and spells, magical objects, Hogwarts, the dark arts, and magical people. The first one to correctly answer 12 questions wins the game.
Pros
- You can play with just two platters
- There are six categories
- It comes with a compact travel design so you can take the wedge-shaped game with you on a camping trip or outdoor picnic
Cons
- It is meant for kids eight or older, so younger members might not like it
Hasbro Gaming Clue: Wizarding World Harry Potter Edition
If you want something almost as challenging as Monopoly (without the financial strain of debt added to your world of make-believe), try the Hasbro Gaming Clue: Wizarding World Harry Potter Edition. In this game, a student has gone missing, and you have to move the pieces to find them. There are secret passages revealed by sliding sections of the map. The Dark Mark, however, can cast itself upon your game at any time. When you think you know who did it, go to Dumbledore’s office to reveal the culprit!
Pros
- It is a fun, creative game with more to it than just moving spaces
- The gameboard is beautiful, with different areas of Hogwarts
- There are secret passages that are revealed with sections on the board that rotate underneath like a kids’ book.
- It can have up to 5 players, so it’s better for a larger family.
Cons
- It says it is for children ages eight or older
Scrabble World of Harry Potter Board Game
Scrabble World of Harry Potter Board Game is a game of scrabble, but the theme is the Wizarding World. This Harry Potter Scrabble-themed game is a great deal of fun. The bags that have the letters in them have the Hogwarts crest stamped on top.
There are extra cards involved, which include bonuses. The board really puts to the test your knowledge of Harry Potter lingo and its spelling. The game board itself is laid out to be just as strategically challenging as a traditional Scrabble game, but the cards give you fun things like adding 20 points to your score if you’re in last place or adding an S at the end of one of your existing words to make it plural and to double your score as a result.
Pros
- You can have between two and four players, so it is perfect for smaller couples
- It has customizable magical bonus cards and Harry Potter cards for extra points
- You can apply your knowledge of Harry Potter words
Cons
- It’s Scrabble; if you don’t like spelling based games, it won’t be for you
Ravensburger Harry Potter Labyrinth
Ravensburger Harry Potter Labyrinth is another fun family game. This is a shorter family-friendly game, one that’s perfect for children around age seven or older. It doesn’t last more than 20 or 30 minutes on average. It does take creativity, of course, having to move the pieces around the maze in order to rescue Hedwig, Harry, Ron, Hermione, Professor Dumbledore, and Hagrid.
Pros
- There are four playing pieces, so up to four people can play at the same time
- The board has a fun print on it
Cons
- It doesn’t have as many moving elements as Monopoly; you just move through the Labyrinth
Harry Potter Potions Challenge Board Game
If you want something suitable for young kids especially, then consider the Harry Potter Potions Challenge Board Game. With this game, you are given a challenge by Professor Snape to make a certain potion, just like you were sitting in potions class.
When you choose your potions card, you have to be the one to find all of the ingredients. Argus Filch is watching you the entire time, so you have to move across the Hogwarts grounds to collect the cards associated with your potion before Filch catches you.
Pros
- It is suitable for smaller kids
- You can have up to four players
- It is easy to understand and complete
Cons
- It won’t be much fun for adults or older kids alone
USAOPOLY Harry Potter: Hogwarts Battle
With this game, you need to work together with other players to save Hogwarts. You learn spells, you acquire skills, and you use them to fight dark magic. As you unlock new secrets, the game gets more difficult. USAOPOLY Harry Potter: Hogwarts Battle contains the Charms and Potions Expansion/Second Expansion to the Harry Potter Deckbuilding Game with new abilities and new cards. Be advised this is not something you play when you just want some quick entertainment; this is at least a 60-minute game, so it’s perfect for a family game night.
Pros
- New abilities and cards in this all-in-one-expansion set
- You can find the basic Hogwarts version or four other extended versions
Cons
- It is a cooperative game, so you need a larger group
- As a strategy game, it might be too advanced for younger family members
FAQs
Answer: There are a lot of different board games that focus on similar themes, although they don’t necessarily have the financial element of Monopoly. As someone who doesn’t treat the game of Monopoly like a legitimate investment opportunity, I prefer the Hasbro alternative of Clue because it still has the same type of fun, and you get to move throughout the game board, but no one ends up crying at the end.
Answer: There is no information on whether there will ever be an official Harry Potter Monopoly game released because negotiations are ongoing. However, it seems likely that at some point, JK Rowling will choose not to ignore the potentially lucrative agreement.
Answer: The creator of all Monopoly games, Hasbro, don’t have a licensing agreement (yet) with Warner Bros. There are rumors that JK Rowling hates the game (maybe she, too, flung aboard once at a dinner party) so much that she doesn’t want there to be a Harry Potter version. However, when Hasbro created a Scotland Monopoly game, she was included as one of the features.
Bottomline
This best Harry Potter Monopoly guide might not be what you expected since there is no official Harry Potter Monopoly game. But that doesn’t mean you can’t find a wide array of entertaining board games suitable for families of all sizes. I recommend spending the minimal investment in The Unofficial Monopoly versions even if it takes some effort for you to put it all together because then you would have something that no one else has.
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