You don't have to be a Harry Potter fan to appreciate well-designed game mechanics. The game board is a 3 x 3 sliding maze (intended to depict the shifting staircases of Hogwarts castle). Players move around the shifting game board, trying to get inside each classroom to collect a homework item. The trick is to slide the maze and move your figure so you can get to the door, or be lucky enough to roll a map and find a secret passage. The mini figures have no part in the basic game, they're just there to inspire new rules. But Including them gives this game tremendous scope for experimenting with the game rules and resulting dynamics - especially for Harry Potter fans who know the characters well enough to create meaningful rules based on back story. A couple of rule suggestions are given for the Dumbledore figure and Filche's cat, to jump start your imagination. But you're on your own to think up rules for the other four characters. For example, inspired by her double-timing escapades...