HARRY POTTER FAMILY GAME NIGHT

Everyone in our family is a big fan of the wizarding world created by author J.K. Rowling and enjoyed an evening at home together having fun with a Harry Potter themed game night.  The nice folks at Costume SuperCenter helped get us into character for our Harry Potter game night providing us with costumes for some of our favorite characters.  Dressed up for the occasion we had an entertaining evening playing a Top Trumps card game, USAopoly's CLUE board game, and the LEGO DIMENSIONS video game.

My son dressed as the famous boy wizard in his Quidditch team robe along with his Firebolt Broom while my daughter was outfitted in the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft & Wizardry uniform of Hermione Granger.  I sported a Newt Scamander costume from the movie Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them.  The kids also brought out their magic wands we picked up during a vacation at Universal Orlando Resort's Wizarding World of Harry Potter to help set the mood.

TOP TRUMPS

We started our evening off playing a few rounds of the Top Trumps card game.  Top Trumps card decks have been popular overseas in the United Kingdom for decades. Teachers over there have been recommending students play this card game which incorporate a variety of themes ranging from animals to super heroes since the 1970's as a fun way to improve children's literacy and numeracy skills.  Over the last ten years, more than 80 million packs of Top Trumps cards have been sold in England making it one of the best-selling games in that country.  Top Trumps games are just becoming available in the United States and if you have children between the ages of 6 and 12 you should absolutely check them out.

Top Trumps has a variety of card decks themed around various Harry Potter movies including Prisoner of Azkaban, Half-Blood Prince, Goblet of Fire, Order of the Phoenix, and Deathly Hallows Part I + Part II.  Each card in one of these Top Trumps' Harry Potter movie decks is based upon a character from the film.  It has an illustration of the character from a scene in the movie, a paragraph describing the scene, and game rankings for the character in the categories of magic, cunning, courage, wisdom and temper for use in playing the game. We had the Deathly Hallows Part I + Part II Top Trumps decks to play for our Harry Potter family game night.

To start the game, shuffle and deal all the cards in the deck face down to the number of people who want to play.  Each player picks up the card at the top of their pile so only he or she can see it.  The player to the left of the dealer starts out by naming the character on the card being held and reading a category from it (Magic 95).  The other players then identify the characters on their cards and read out the same category.  The one with the highest value wins the hand and takes all the cards.  If there is a tie than the cards are placed in the middle of all the players and whoever wins the next round wins them from both rounds. You flip over one card dealt to you each round so players don't know what entirely they have in their stack as you are playing through the game.

So for example in one round I had Mr. Ollivander and called out WISDOM 72, my daughter had Ron Weasley WISDOM 60 and my son had Severus Snape WISDOM 76.  He won the round and took everyone's cards.  From a strategic standpoint you never want to let people know the character in your hand before the person who starts a round says who he or she has.  In another round it was my turn to start, I had a Harry Potter card and was about to call out MAGIC 95.  My son blurted out he had Lord Voldemort before I said anything.  Considering Voldemort might be more powerful in magic than Harry Potter I instead called out COURAGE 80.  My son replied COURAGE 0.  Ha Ha Dad won that round!

Players can choose two different ways to determine a winner.  One is when you win cards they can be shuffled into your deck and used in future rounds.  The game goes on until only one person is left with cards who is the winner.

The other version is players place the cards they win off to the side.  Once one player has lost all of his or her cards the game ends and everyone else counts all the cards they have.  Whoever has the most cards wins the game.

My kids always have a great time playing the Top Trumps card games and because they have a huge variety of decks to choose from it is always a nice option to include in a themed family game night.  Despicable Me, DC Comics, Marvel, and Star Wars are some of the brands of Top Trumps card decks available that would make great themes for a game night.  Plus when you are done playing Top Trumps, the deck comes with a sturdy plastic case to keep your cards stored in when not being played with.

BUTTERBEER BREAK

Between playing Top Trumps and our next game, we took a Butterbeer break.  Actually we substituted a Detroit classic, Vernor's Ginger Ale, for Butterbeer.  It was still a delicious treat for our Harry Potter game night!

CLUE

Next we played a Harry Potter version of the mystery board game CLUE from USAopoly.  The plot of the game revolves around a student at famous Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry vanishing.  It is up to the players in the game to solve this mysterious disappearance.  Playing as Harry, Ron, Hermione, Ginny, Luna, or Neville you try to discover WHO did, WHAT spell or item they used on the student, and WHERE the attack took place.

Just like how the staircases move at Hogwarts in the Harry Potter books and movies, as players move around the game board trying to solve the mystery each turn wheels are shifted changing the setting by revealing blocked doorways, secret passages and even the Dark Mark!  You'll need to protect yourself from the Dark Mark with spells, allies, and items provided through Help Cards.  If you can make it around the USAopoly Harry Potter CLUE game board and protect yourself from the Dark Mark you should be able to gather enough evidence to solve the mystery.  Get to Dumbledore's office and make your accusation to win the game!

USAopoly Harry Potter CLUE is meant for 3 to 5 players and recommended for ages 9+.  To get a better description of how to play the game and more detailed look inside the game's box from USAopoly please CLICK HERE.  My daughter won our evening game of CLUE proclaiming it was Dolores Umbridge with the sleeping draught in the potions classroom who made the Hogwarts student go missing.

LEGO DIMENSIONS

We wrapped up the evening playing the Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them story pack for the LEGO DIMENSIONS video game on our PlayStation 4.  This expansion to the video game is based upon the prequel movie to the Harry Potter series of films and provides six new levels of gameplay revolving around Newt Scamander's efforts to find his escaped magical creatures within New York City.



As Newt Scamander, players can utilize magical spells including Diffindo, Reparo and Lumos plus interact with fantastic beasts like the Niffler, Swooping Evil, Bowtruckle and more.  The story pack also unlocks two Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them themed open play areas, an Adventure World and Battle Arena.  Within the Battle Arena up to four people can play at once with split screen views as they compete against one another in different types of matches.

In addition to playing as Newt Scamander, you can also use any other character available in the LEGO DIMENSIONS collection within the story levels, Adventure World and Battle Arena.  So of course we added Harry Potter and Hermione Granger into our gameplay!  Our whole family always has a good time playing LEGO DIMENSIONS together and the video game was a great fit for our Harry Potter game night.

Kids grow up so fast!  Adding a bit of flair to a night of fun playing games together is a great way to get children engaged in participating while allowing adults to have a good time too. Plus nights like these make for some great family memories!  We really had a magical time during our Harry Potter Family Game Night that we are sure to remember.

Harry Potter Potions and Elixirs at Universal Orlando Resort

A visit to Universal Orlando Resort is a fantastic opportunity to immerse yourself within J.K. Rowling's Wizarding World of Harry Potter.  Watch a dragon breath fire right in front of your eyes at Universal Studios' Diagon Alley or fly a broom across the grounds of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft & Wizardry and through the Forbidden Forest at Universal's Islands of Adventure Hogsmeade.  After selecting a wand, or maybe a wand selecting you, at Ollivanders and casting some magical spells with it amongst the theme parks interactive features take a moment to take in your surroundings while enjoying some of the variety of potions and elixirs available at Universal Orlando Resort's Harry Potter attractions.

Some of these delicious beverages are referenced directly within the Harry Potter books and movies such as Butterbeer and Pumpkin Juice while others such as Fishy Green Ale are simply inspired by the magical works of J.K. Rowling.  These non-alcoholic beverages are the perfect cure for handling a hot Florida day while exploring Diagon Alley and Hogsmeade.  The theme parks also offer some alcoholic potions for those over 21 years old who wish to indulge in them.  Drink a shot of Fire Whisky followed up with a pint of Wizard's Brew or Dragon Scale which are all alcoholic beverages exclusive to Universal Orlando Resort's Wizarding World of Harry Potter.

Butterbeer

Butterbeer appears to be one of the favorite beverages amongst the witches and wizards within the pages of the Harry Potter novels and in the corresponding movies.  While it is referenced getting house-elves drunk in the books, the Butterbeer at Universal Orlando Resort is non-alcoholic.  It is a tasty sugary concoction that blends together the flavors of cream soda, butterscotch, shortbread cookies and whipped cream.

We've tried themed sodas available at grocery stores and diy recipes at home, but have to say the Butterbeer my family has had at Universal Orlando Resort is by far the best.  It is available in three varieties at Diagon Alley and Hogsmeade -- cold, frozen and hot.  Cold Butterbeer is a creamy, buttery confection combining the taste of butterscotch and shortbread topped off with a foamy froth cap of deliciousness. Imagine mixing together a butterscotch sundae with a glass of cream soda and giving it the appearance of a pint of British ale and you have yourself a mug of Universal Orlando Resort's cold Butterbeer.

Butterbeer is also available heated up and the hot version is a nice way to warm up your belly on a mild weathered winter day or when there is a bit of an evening chill in the air during a night time visit to Diagon Alley or Hogsmeade.  My personal preference though is frozen Butterbeer.  This variation is like drinking a Butterbeer slush.  Oh it is good!  Plus frozen Butterbeer is the only one of the three you can drink with a straw because in the other two versions that utensil instigates a carbon dioxide overload that will turns your beverage into a bubbling cauldron which will quickly overflow from your cup like a school volcano science project.

Tongue Tying Lemon Squash

Made from real lemons this tart drink with a hint of vanilla has become the favorite lemonade among the Muggles who visit Universal Orlando Resort.  You may be enchanted to give someone a kiss after drinking a Tongue Tying Lemon Squash as its tangy flavor is sure to have your lips puckered.

Otter's Fizzy Orange Juice

Oranges and Florida go together like magical spells and wands so you'd have to expect something like Otter's Fizzy Orange Juice being available at Universal Orlando Resort's Wizarding World of Harry Potter.  It is a carbonated orange creamsicle flavored soda with a cinnamon and sugar coated rim to a cup that is garnished with a fresh orange slice.  It is not your typical orange juice but is a perfect beverage for a Florida vacation combining the State fruit with whimsical Harry Potter flair.

Fishy Green Ale

While the non-alcoholic specialty drinks at Wizarding World of Harry Potter are meant to be exclusive aspects of the Universal theme park experience, Fishy Green Ale stands out as being uniquely available at Diagon Alley.  It has a greenish coloring providing the appearance of a magical potion and a sip will provide you a creamy mint taste with a hint of cinnamon to it.  Take a look at the bottom of your cup and you'll notice it is filled with "fish eggs!"  Well not really fish eggs...they're plump blueberries.  Your Fishy Green Ale comes with an extra large straw so you can suck up these fish eggs through it.  Beware the blueberries absorb the cinnamon and mint from the drink combining with the fruitiness of the berries for a flavor explosion within your mouth.

Peachtree Fizzing Tea

Take a peach cobbler, mix it up in a blender, then drink it and you have yourself a Peachtree Fizzing Tea.  Featured in the Harry Potter movies, this drink has been brought to life at Universal Orlando Resort.  The resort boasts that this bubbly peach and ginger flavored concoction has a fizzing volume of a whopping 87%.

Pumpkin Juice

At first glance of a bottle of Pumpkin Juice at the Wizarding World of Harry Potter, I thought to myself how disgusting is that? Ugh!  But I mustered the courage to try out the drink and have to admit it really was delicious.  Pumpkin Juice combines the taste of apple cider with pumpkin pie.  Hints of spices and brown sugar compliment the main two flavors so that it is like enjoying Thanksgiving Day desert within a bottle of juice.  Don't hesitate in picking up a bottle of Pumpkin Juice while you are at Diagon Alley or Hogsmeade.

Gillywater

Visitors will notice bottles of Gillywater being sold throughout Universal Orlando Resort's Wizarding World of Harry Potter.  At first glance it will appear this is just normal bottled water with a Harry Potter themed label.  And that is all it is ... unless you add a secret ingredient.

Stop by Eternelle's Elixir of Refreshment located in Diagon Alley to purchase a vial with a potion that will transform your normal Gillywater into a flavorful treat.  Pick from one of four elixirs, pour the potion into a bottle of Gillywater, and shake it up.  Voila! You have one of these concoctions:

Babling Beverage that is the flavor of fruit punch;

Draught of Peace is a mixture of blueberry, blackberry, cherry and raspberry;

Fire Protection Potion which tastes like watermelon mixed with peach and strawberry;

Elixir to Induce Euphoria is pineapple flavored with a touch of mint.

Looking for a stronger drink than a Butterbeer? Try a Dragon Scale, Hogs Head Brew or Wizard's Brew.  These actual craft beers are brewed exclusively for Universal Orlando Resort by Florida Beer Company which also produces the Duff beers for The Simpsons area of the Universal Studios theme park.

Hogs Head Brew can be found at Universal Orlando Resort's Islands of Adventure theme park.  Stop by the Hogs Head Pub in Hogsmeade to get yourself a pint.  Hogs Brew tastes quite a bit like George Killian's Irish Red with a Scottish ale twist to its flavoring.  If you want to be a bit more adventurous try yourself a Deathly Hallows, which for some sort of copyright or other legal reasons the resort can't refer to the drink as but the bartenders will know what you are talking about, when visiting the Hogs Head Pub.  It consists of golden Strongbow hard cider, topped with amber Hogs Brew and capped with the dark coloring of Guinness.  Each beverage has its own level creating an interesting look within the cup and create an interesting blend of flavors as you drink it.

Hogs Head Pub doesn't serve soda but rather provides apple and pear ciders as non-alcoholic beverages.  These also make for great mixers in alcoholic drinks.  Try a Hogs Tea which is essentially a Long Island Iced Tea that instead of soda uses raspberry iced tea mixed together with a combination of gin, rum, tequila, and vodka.  You may also want to try a Pear Dazzle which is vodka mixed with pear cider and lemonade.

Dragon Scale and Wizard's Brew, like Fishy Green Ale, are unique to the Diagon Alley area of Universal Studios theme park.  Wizard's Brew is a dark stout with coffee and chocolate flavoring.  This sweet stout is a strong drink but remarkable not bitter.  Those who like dark beers like Guinness or Bell's Kalamazoo Stout will definitely appreciate a Wizard's Brew.  Dragon Scale is an amber lager similar to the regular Duff's beer available in The Simpson's area of Universal Studios theme park.  This brew is more for people who enjoy pale ales.  A Deathly Hallows drink mix in Diagon Alley is a combination of Strongbow Cider, Dragon Scale and Wizard's Brew.

In the Harry Potter books, Fire Whisky is an alcohol partaken by witches and wizards described as causing a burning sensation when drunk that fills one's body with courage and that is too potent for Muggles to drink.  A shot of Fire Whisky can now be enjoyed though by Muggles who venture to Universal Orlando Resort's Diagon Alley and Hogsmeade attractions.  Created by TerrePure Spirits, Blishen's Fire Whisky is a Harry Potter branded cinnamon flavored alcohol that is a bit mellower than Fireball Cinnamon Whiskey but still has that great Red Hots candy style taste to it.  Have a shot by itself or toss it in a pint of Dragon Scale, Hogs Brew or Strongbow Cider for an extra jolt to your drink.

As you can see there are a lot of great Harry Potter themed beverages to help enhance your experience while visiting this fantasy world of wizards and witches at Universal Orlando Resort. These really are some great elixirs to help you have a good time. From family friendly non-alcoholic potions like Butterbeer and Pumpkin Juice to alcoholic elixirs for the Over 21 crowd like Dragon Scale, Hogs Tea and Fire Whisky there is something for everyone to help put them in a Wizarding World of Harry Potter mood.  Which of these beverages either is your favorite or one that you would like to try?

Harry Potter HOGWARTS BATTLE Game

**A Geek Daddy received the featured product for free to review**

Grab some butter beer and magical wands as you venture to the Wizarding World of Harry Potter when playing USAopoly's cooperative deck-building card game HOGWARTS BATTLE.  We had a fun Harry Potter themed Family Game Night that my kids really got into dueling the villainous forces of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named.  In this card game, four players each take on the role of a Hogwarts student (Harry, Ron, Hermione, or Neville) to defend Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry from the sinister Death Eaters.  During each player's turn he or she needs to gain influence to utilize powerful spells, recruit allies to render assistance, and uncover magical items for a chance to be victorious in winning HOGWARTS BATTLE.

There are 7 individual games each associated with one of the books from the Harry Potter fantasy novels packaged together within HOGWARTS BATTLE which increase in difficulty as players progress through them.  The first two are meant to serve as an orientation for the rules and a chance to learn to play the game.  Once players are comfortable with playing they can really dive into the action of the next five games culminating with a final showdown versus the Dark Lord and his cronies in Game 7.  Players can play through all seven games consecutively all at once or they can just focus on individual games in shorter increments depending on their skill level and available time.  For our family game night, we spent an hour and a half on Games 1 & 2 of HOGWARTS BATTLE mastering how to play and had a lot of fun.

The game revolves around a master board that contains cards identifying locations (that the heroes and villains battle for control of), villains (that each have special abilities) and dark arts (which have a variety of detrimental effects brought about each turn). If players defeat all the villains before the evil doers gain control of all the locations (which number varies in each of the seven games) the forces of good prevail to win the game; but if the bad guys gain control of the locations first the game is lost!

The game board also includes six face up HOGWARTS cards which players can acquire to enhance their personal decks by earning influence tokens to select cards.  Only six of these cards are showing and available to select at any time but a new card is pulled from a deck on the game board to replace selected ones ensuring all the spots are filled throughout the game.  These cards allow players to utilize magical items like the Sorting Hat, have an ally like Hagrid come to their aid, or utilize a spell to conjure up a special benefit.

Each player then sets in front of them a layout that includes cards that identify his or her selected hero (Harry, Ron, Hermione, or Neville) and serve as a reminder about how to progress through your individual turn.  There is also an individual players board that tracks your characters health and the tokens that have been earned.which can be used to attack villains or purchase HOGWARTS cards.  Additionally each player has their own personal deck of cards with spells, magical items and allies unique to each character.  For example Harry has a Hedwig ally card, Hermione has a Time-Turner magical amulet, Ron has Every Flavor Jelly Beans to get out of a jam, and Neville has his frog Trevor.  Each of the characters has a variety of these special allies and items available just to them in their personal decks but all of their spells are pretty much the same which make those available through the HOGWARTS deck even more valuable to obtain.

Your hero's deck consists of ten cards which are shuffled so you start out with five random cards in your playable hand.  All your up-facing cards need to be utilized during the turn and placed in a discard pile.  Each new turn you draw five new cards from your down deck plus HOGWARTS cards gained are also incorporated into each player's personal set of cards as the game goes on.  When a player runs out of cards to draw from they reshuffle the discard pile and place them down in the starting spot to pull as allowed.

While these rules at first may seem difficult and complex, once you start playing HOGWARTS BATTLE they are very easy to get a grasp on and the game very quickly becomes a very exciting and entertaining experience.  With every turn you'll enjoy the challenge overcoming adversaries and obstacles while defending locations from the Harry Potter books and movies including Diagon Alley, the Chamber of Secrets, and the Hogwart's Quidditch Pitch.  HOGWARTS BATTLE can be played solo but I'd recommend playing it with the full four players to enjoy the comradery of tackling the threat of Lord Voldemort and his Death Eaters along with a group of your friends.



What's really nice about HOGWARTS BATTLE is that instead of competing against each other players act as a team to win the game.  Players have to think strategically and communicate with one another.  Utilizing character's individual strengths and gaining HOGWARTS cards ally characters, spells, and magical items draws all the players into the game and gets everyone participating.  It really is great for a family game night or to play among a group of friends.

The HOGWARTS BATTLE cooperative deck-building card game from USAopoly has earned A Geek Daddy nod of approval for being an out-of-the-ordinary game playing experience that is really fun to engage in plus is filled with many of the elements that have made the Harry Potter franchise popular with kids and adults alike.  For more information about the game, please visit the USAopoly website.  Harry Potter HOGWARTS BATTLE is available to purchase from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Entertainment Earth, GameStop and the Warner Brothers Shop.