50 MACWORLD AUGUST 2019
iOSCENTRAL HARRY POTTER: WIZARDS UNITEWizards Unite’s
map is far
more visually
interesting than
Pokémon Go’s.Pokémon Go’s experience for a different
sort of crowd. After spending some time
with Wizards Unite, I’m fairly certain I
number among them.
After all, I’m one of those fantasy-loving
nerds who keeps a replica of Sting from
The Lord of the Rings hanging on his
bedroom wall. As such, I admire how
Wizards Unite leans more into the lore of
its parent franchise than Pokémon Go ever
did, which becomes apparent as soon as
you see the massive, detailed sheet
explaining the significance of the different
types of wood used for your prospective
wand. The Pokéstops and gyms of
Pokémon Go become Wizards Unite’s
inns, greenhouses, and fortresses, and
that approach neatly complements the
Potterverse’s idea of a wizarding world
that exists alongside our own. Here you’ll
find charm to go with your charms,
manifesting itself in everything from the
lovely overworld map to the oh-so-British
cadences of Constance Pickering as she
shows you the ropes.
I always loved the business of hunting
and collecting Pokémon in Pokémon Go,
but it tended to lose me once I had to
venture into the business of evolving
creatures and using them to battle for
control over gyms. I couldn’t bring myself
to care. Suddenly, though, I find myself
interested in Wizards Unite’s theme of
finding and stopping creatures and events
that threaten to expose the existence of
the wizarding world to us lowly muggles
(although I’m still not too sure why this is
such a bad thing). Later on, Wizards Unite
will allow me to be an auror, a magical
zoologist, or a professor and make my
own potions so I can get back into the
fight and the hunt.
Indeed, with all these options, it’s a
wonder that Wizards Unite doesn’t come
with any kind of sorting-hat quiz: Instead, it
simply lets you choose whether you want
to be a Ravenclaw, Gryffindor, or whatever.
It’s a weird oversimplification considering
its complexity over its forerunner. Worse,
it’s a weird flex in light of the teams in