Pretty neat....yeah, I'm old-school!!!  
By: PKZ619 - Dec 9, 2009
Version: 1.0
Don't judge a book by it's reviews. I can understand how one can think thrice about spending $5 (I cringe when people say "my hard-earned..." it's not $1000) on a app that others claim doesn't work. But it does work. And rather well. I have an iPhone, so I can't comment on iPod touch compatibility. But I can comment on it's functionality on my beloved phone...So here it goes:It works beautifully if you control it right. It is true that the app tutorial doesn't fully explain how to do it, but it says enough. My 11 year old daughter figured it out in 2 minutes. I know she's bright, but she's making the adults here look less than sharp. You do have to hold your device horizontally (parallel to the ground). However, you don't horizontally trace the spell diagram with your device. You trace vertically while holding the phone horizontal. Act like you're going to trace it on the wall and you should get it. Clear? Good. She got 100 percent on all of them except Expecto Petronum (83), which is the challenge here.While it does need more than 14 spells, the $5 is more understandable once you duel with another device. Pure fun. That's my humble opinion, and I'm not even a HP fan! Try to remember which of the 14 spells to use under pressure! The voicings aren't as random as one reviewer said. If you trace the diagram wrong, the voice will tell you. I did trace one really fast and she said "too slow". But who cares, I knew I did it wrong. Anyhow, we get more "brilliant" & "wonderful" than "wrong" and "try again". And last (I think), if you don't like the house the hat places you in, you can keep trying until you get the one you want. We stopped trying to get Slytherin because it wouldn't appear. So we settled for Ravenclaw!Overall, this app is nicely done.

Great App! Be patient!  
By: Sniper Charlie - Nov 16, 2009
Version: 1.0
This is a great app for all HP fans. It does take some practice and sometimes you will cast a spell when you didn't mean to. None the less, it's great. I would like to see if they would take sound clips from the movies, rather then just the woman saying the spells. Or better yet, let you say them! That would be awesome! And would LOVE if the allowed the 3 unforgivable curses. Anyways, very cool official Harry Potter app for sure!

Wow! My phone is a wand!  
By: Royal Lush - Nov 15, 2009
Version: 1.0
This app is quite incredible. I havent seen anything like this in the app store and the quality is above par for anything on the app store. I'm a huge Harry Potter fan and can say this did not dissapoint. The detail on the wands is very cool and casting of spells is fairly easy after I figured it out. You have to hold down your thumb, wave the phone in a motion indicated on screen, then release your thumb. It took me a few tries, but I can now cast spells like a pro. My patronas is a hog! haha.

Worth Every Penny! Amazing App!  
By: acguard711 - Nov 24, 2009
Version: 1.0
As a die-hard Harry Potter fan, i have been waiting for something like this since the books came out. Now i can practice spells and duel!!! It's awesome. Honestly i've had this app for about 3 weeks now but i mastered all the spells with in the first couple days. Its not easy but with practice the spells arent that hard to execute. All the people who are complaining they cant do it it right or its too hard are just lazy and expected it to be easy like using the light saber app or something. If you dont have a friend to duel with than the game can get boring and pointless. Once youve mastered the spells completely the only thing left to do is duel your friends as many times as possible to earn more house points.
SUGGESTIONS: Should be able to duel your friends over the 3G or WIFI connection so you dont have to be in front of them.
After a certain amount of won duels or house points earned, you should be able to unlock the ability to learn more spells!!!
like all "Unforgivable" curses and Sectumsempra!!! (thats the Spell HP found in the half-blood prince potion book and he devastated malfoy with it.
Hopefully they make some supper cool updates. This version just came out so i think it will get way more cooler than it already is.

Great  
By: Artyfartydude - Nov 23, 2009
Version: 1.0
I am a hp fan and it realy does the series justice it is excellent and deserves it's props!!!!this game exceded my expectations and is challenging but I do have an issue or two and ideas for updatesThe online needs to be made world wide end of storyIn future updates there should beMore spellsUses for non combat spellsUnforgivable curses that insanely kill but r extremely time consuming or difficult to do Great job !!!

Perfect harry potter app, better than the game for Wii.  
By: Puzzled by iTunes - Nov 22, 2009
Version: 1.0
I was pretty sceptical of the game, since it was 5 dollars, and after trying Wii Harry Potter I figured there just wasn't a way to make a good spell casting game. But this game is amazing. The spell's are tricky to master, which makes you sort of feel like you are actually learning spells from professor flitwick, but once you get the hang of them, they're pretty easy to do. This biggest thing to remember while spell casting, for me at least, is that you move your ipod in a 3D pattern, not on a flat plane. The desginer of the game has a video on the app's website with good tips and tricks. And lastly, they incorporated some of the story and music in there too. When you launch the app they play Hedwig's Theme, and after you create a basic little profile (really easy, takes maybe a minute) you go to olivander's to get a wand. You try out a few uniqe wands, until you get your own, which looks pretty cool. Then you get sorted, and if you don't like your house you can sort again. (Of course, that means that the majority of people sorted until they got into either Grifindor or Slytherin.) Then you can learn and master spells with your uniqe wand which really takes advantage of the built-in accelerometor. Anyway, good game, worth the 5 bucks.

well done!  
By: Schmetty - Nov 21, 2009
Version: 1.0
for those who say this game is to hard and bad, i highly disagree. first of all for a start of the game its great, and sure they will make more improvements. and to everyone that sais that game is hard, just practice and READ THE DIRECTIONS CAREFULLY and stop giving this game bad ratings! after all its got great gameplay and graphics for an itouch! things that could be added•global play•a real expierience as a real character in hogwarts•you actually get to choose the wand not just the wand on your third try.overall great game i give this game four and a half stars but i cant so five. if people buy this game and give it good ratings, the company of this game will give it a great update.

Wow!  
By: Reviewer Plus - Nov 20, 2009
Version: 1.0
Wow. Incredible. IT WAS EPIC AND EASY TO PULL OFF! AS IF MY PHONE WAS A WAND! THATS INCREDIBLE! Buuuut... to make it even better I have a few suggestions! Friendly, and constructive suggestions of course, not to offend but to improve! Okay here they come:
-MORE SPELLS! And to be more specific: Flipendo, Wingardium Leviosa and all kinds of spells found in the movies! Or even better... Ones not found in the movies, but made newly, and specially for this game made by WB. You should also add Abaracadabra but not in Combat use as it would make it unfair.
-POINT AND CLICK ADVENTURES! Make it as if you WERE in Hogwarts, a little scene from Hogwarts as you touch the stairs, leading you up, or touch a door that might say you need ''Alohomora for this'' and maybe even Battles where enemies could come up on the screen and it's battle time! EVEN DEMENTORS, and being able to dialogue with movie characters.
-QUIDDITCH! Who could forget Quidditch in HP? Make it like, you choose the broom and connect to other players, practice, or Bots, adding House Points everytime you win! You could hold your Itouch or Iphone in Landscape mode and move it as a car, as you POV through the screen, shake to catch or throw, or even touch the screen to catch a ball coming to you and aim and touch where you want to throw, the choices are ENDLESS!
-PETS! Be able to keep an owl that you could feed, or maybe not an owl but a cat!
-CHARACTER! Be able to design your very own Witch/Wizard!
-MEETINGS AND FURTHER STORY! You could add a story mode, that is updated weekly or monthly, each week or month getting about 1 or 2 mission stories following the movies, and also meetings in the dining room!
-MAKE FRIENDS AND CHAT...SAFELY! Make a safe kind of chat, where you add your friend's e-mail and play Co-Op with them! Chat with them! Or meetings with them...EVEN MORE! ENDLESS FUN! AND SAFE FUN!
-EASY MODE! As the spells may be kind of hard for children, you should make an easy mode, where at the bottom right side of the screen it says: ''Spells'' and you get a list of spells you choose, so children don't have a hard time doing this!
-Legends and Mysteries! Fill the game with legends and mysteries that players can solve, and gain a trophie, which gives me the idea...
-ROOMS! You're own shared, or own room and the main room for youre team, and while on this, A TROPHIE AND NEWS SHELF!
Remember, I'm not saying this game is bad, I FIND IT GREAT!

How to cast a spell:  
By: tastycakes4 - Nov 19, 2009
Version: 1.0
This game is awesome bit it takes some getting used to. If it always says "too slow" when you try to cast the spell, here's what to do:1) put your thumb on the screen. Hold it there for a second before you start the motion.2) Trace the spell in the air. Be sure to make precise, quick movements. Make sharp turns and straight lines. *hint: it seems to be easier when you are standing.3) This is the most important part, and the reason why you always get "too slow." When you finish thracing the spell, stop at the endpoint and HOLD YOUR THUMB THERE FOR A SECOND OT TWO. Once you do that and let go, if you traced it right, you will cast the spell!!Please read and try this before you give it a bad rating. It worked for me, it will work for you to. Great game

Love it!!!  
By: Mamomu - Nov 18, 2009
Version: 1.0
I have never found this app "slow," and found all the spell movements fairly easy aside from Expecto Patronum (well, I passed it fine - I just personally don't move on until I get 100%), once I realized all the movements are supposed to be vertical, not horizontal. (Oops...) It helps to pause ever so briefly when you change direction during a wand movement, so the iPod recognizes the direction change.I really like this game - although I wish you could get different Patronuses within a single House.I love it, will recommend it to all my iPod-owning friends, and would buy it again!(Oh, and to my fellow iPod Touch owners - you CAN record your voice instead of the default if you get a mic like Apple's or cheap mics on Ebay for a couple dollars - though you need separate earphones for some of them.)

Brilliant!  
By: Kaela M - Nov 17, 2009
Version: 1.0
I think almost any Harry Potter fan would love this! (I know I do!) It is a little difficult sometimes to master the spells; but if we could cast spells in real life like they do in Harry Potter, I'm sure learning a new spell wouldn't be as easy as the movies make it look. Though people with very little patients might get annoyed of it, but other then that I think the game is amazingly brilliant!

WOW!  
By: Appddicted - Nov 17, 2009
Version: 1.0
I was totaly blown away by this app. Once I started dueling my brother I got hooked. Got a few of my friends to buy it after they saw us playing. It took a while to get used to casting spells but I figured it out. It's not as difficult as people are saying. I got sorted into Ravenclaw, my Patronus is a rabbit. I'm wondering how many Patronus there are? I have 5 friends with the game and we all have all different ones. Love the wand and spell graphics! I want more Harry Potter games for the iPhone!

HP  
By: Hdujfffidscvbjdfbb - 28-Nov-2009
Version: 1.0
Although difficult to begin with, harry potter spells gets alot easier after abit of practice-which is an obvious thing to state. I find if you keep your arm straight whilst casting and exaggerate your gestures then you have a higher success rate. I also find that for the Z and O shape spell if you turn your device so that it is vertical to the floor then your device should be more receptive to the spell that you are trying to cast. Hope that helps! Also some updates would be cool.

So much potential but please keep going  
By: Streakist - Dec 8, 2009
Version: 1.0
Don't listen to people that say it's too hard to do spells, they are doing it wrong. With a little practice you can do any spell easily.Dueling is super cool but needs the following fixes/improvements. 1. Defensive spells - Currently there's no reason to use any defensive spell besides "protego". It works on anything and can bounce most spells. "Aguamenti" and "finite incantatem" need a bump in power to make them useful. I suggest making "aguamenti" the ONLY spell that works on fire spells, and make it hurt the oppontent sometimes. I think "finite incantatem" could be improved if it would cancel "episkey"(currently unstoppable).2. Disabling spells - They don't seem to disable. There's no reason to not spam "Confringo" as it clearly does the most damage while the disabling spells ("stupefy, "petrificus totalus", "expelliarmus", "oppugno") just do less damage and don't really disable the opponent. When you lose your wand you should have to do something to get it back, perhaps have it bounce around the screen and you have to touch it. When you're frozen you should shake the iPhone to break free. Care needs to be taken to prevent infinite spell juggles tho. Perhaps make it so you can't do offensive spells when someone is disabled, but you could use the time to heal or something.3. Paper, Rock Scissors - Make it so each offensive spell trumps certain other offensive spells if cast simultaniously. If both players do the same spell make them bounce. This may take work to make sure it's balanced. 4. Single player duels - The computer cheats. Casts spells in chains that are faster then a human can do. If you are good at defensive spells you should be able to block all spells on the Novice setting at least. Give some house points for single player dueling too, not everyone has a friend with a Jesus phone.This would be such an awesome game with these changes.

Clever, and not difficult!  
By: Baritoneboy1114 - Nov 25, 2009
Version: 1.0
Let me begin by saying that I just got this app yesterday, and I never had a problem with any of these spells. There was one I couldnt get right away, but could do it after about 5-10 minutes of practice. If you or your kid cant do something right, its you or them, not the app! Just practice, it makes you do things better.
Personally, I think this app is a fun idea. I like the fact that one can play online if they have wifi, so a partner is not necessary. I look forward to see what future updates have in store!

Really, 2G iPhone not supported on Wifi  
By: Gorgydan - Nov 24, 2009
Version: 1.0
So, when I tried to duel somebody via bluetooth, it said my 2G iPhone was not supported....if I had known that I wouldn't of spent the money. And I cal foul on the makers of this game in that in a teal wizard duel, don't they take turns? When playing the computer, it seems the computer gets it's spell on the first try, and beats me before I can even cast a spell. I don't see why can't you just draw the pattern for the spell with your finger, that would make this dueling thing alot more fun.

Still needs an update  
By: Xmdjx - Nov 23, 2009
Version: 1.0
Great concept and great work thus far. But this game is in desperate need of an update. Real time magic dueling is the kind of app I've been looking for. Better recognition is a must. The spells you picked out are fine for now: there are plenty. But I can never connect to anybody online, and the novice computer has really inconsistent difficulty. And sometimes I'll cast expelliarmus and the computer stupefying, and instead of meeting in the middle, my animation gets cut short, I take damage, and the computer takes nothing.And finite incantatem always registers as incendio. It hasn't worked for me yet.Still, great concept, great animation sequences, and great work.

As Advertised But Needs Better Documentation  
By: 10FeatherDuster - Nov 22, 2009
Version: 1.0
Gets 4 stars (rather than 5) from me as it is a tad too high priced, and because lack of clear documentation is making it too hard for many people to have fun with it. After I understood the following two points, I and my 15-year old son had no problem casting spells. Hey, it is a little tricky, but don't Hogwarts students spend HOURS practicing? In some cases I realized I thought I was moving the device horizontally but really wasn't. 1) The spell chart needs to be read holding the iPhone/iPod VERTICALLY (like against a wall), but you cast the spells holding the device HORIZONTALLY (parallel to the ground). 2) You really do need to hold your thumb on the device just the right fraction of a second AFTER you stop the arm movement.Other points:a) Web links to instructions and tips should be accessible directly from the app's options page.b) If a "critical mass" of people master this game, then WB could make a lot of money selling Harry Potter adventure games that have spell casting as a prerequisite. Not just other apps, but web games too, where you control your avatar with your iPhone/iPod as you watch the action on your computer screen. This app has the potential of keeping the Harry Potter experience fresh and exciting, but WB needs to do some more work to pull that off. I hope they take the long-term view.

This is how to play the game (for all the 1 star reviews)  
By: Lunx - Nov 19, 2009
Version: 1.0
It is not at all clear from the in game instructions but here is how to cast the spells. I am going to overlay a compass onto the in game picture of how to cast the spell. If the picture says to move east, move the ipod to the right. If the picture says to move west, move the ipod to the left. If the picture says to move north then move the ipod up towards the sky. If it says to move south then move the ipod down towards the ground. If the picture says to move south-west then move the ipod both to the to the left and towards the ground.
At all times the ipod should be held flat so the screen is facing the sky and the back is facing the ground. Hopes this helps. Once you do this, the game is not very hard.

Getting the hang of it  
By: Stevious42 - 23-Nov-2009
Version: 1.0
Brilliant idea for an app, and the video that turned up online really helps, when casting a spell, imagine you're drawing it on a blackboard in front of you, not on paper like the app seems to suggest. I can see too many kids getting upset at the constant sound of "you failed". I hope an update comes out soon as this app could be fun, love the chance to dual over the net with ppl from aroud the world.