The appeal of Harry Potter is simple - we all want to live at Hogwarts. Yes, the epic narrative of good and evil is captivating. Of course, the magic and monsters are thrilling. The true reason we devour every book and queue up for every film, however, is simply that we wish to spend as much time in that wild and wonderful school as possible. We don't need to duel Voldemort or outrace a dragon so long as we can hang out in the common room with Ron and Hermione.

The games understand this desire... sort of. Between the half-baked action sequences, poorly designed puzzles and spoiler-free cutscenes, several of them enable you to explore a fully realized Hogwarts at your leisure. You can visit everything from the highest astronomy tower to the deepest dungeon. The only problem is that unless you really, really enjoy collecting jelly beans, or love endlessly fixing suits of armor, there's practically nothing to do in any of those beloved settings.



The fictional boarding academy in Rockstar's Bully, on the other hand, provides players with an almost overwhelming list of activities to pursue. Classes, jobs, sports, romances, fights, errands, races, holidays, parties, cliques, students and teachers all have a role. The template for Harry Potter is obvious. Bully's chemistry class becomes Potions; biology becomes Herbology. Replace dodgeball with wand duels and bike racing with brooms. Sling shots and spitballs transform into Dungbombs and Stink Pellets. The bullies are Slytherins; the preppies, Ravenclaws; the nerds, Hufflepuffs.

We could go on for paragraphs. Instead, watch this video and just count the similarities. If you want to feel like a real student at Hogwarts, not just an observer, this formula's a no brainer.