Video comparison: The Harry Potter Minecraft mod is delightfully faithful to the movies

Minecraft modding team The Floo Network spent nearly a half-decade making Witchcraft and Wizardry, a Harry Potter RPG built inside Minecraft. The mod finally went into full release earlier this week, and it looks very impressive—far outstripping expectations for conventional Minecraft mods. But how does it compare to the real thing?

We put together a video matching famous locales in the Harry Potter films to their counterparts in Witchcraft and Wizardry, and the blocky build stands up very well. The scale is impressive—the exterior shots of Hogwarts are striking—but it's the attention to detail that really sells it: Things like the candles floating in the Great Hall, the moving pictures on the walls, and the morphing text on the Daily Prophet. Robbie Coltrane looks a little weird, but I suppose there's only so much you can do with such a round face on a such a square head.

It's a remarkable recreation of a literally magical cinematic setting, and the fact that it's fan-made makes it even more extraordinary. Witchcraft and Wizardry experience requires Java 1.3.2 to play, and is available for free from Planet Minecraft.

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Andy has been gaming on PCs from the very beginning, starting as a youngster with text adventures and primitive action games on a cassette-based TRS80. From there he graduated to the glory days of Sierra Online adventures and Microprose sims, ran a local BBS, learned how to build PCs, and developed a longstanding love of RPGs, immersive sims, and shooters. He began writing videogame news in 2007 for The Escapist and somehow managed to avoid getting fired until 2014, when he joined the storied ranks of PC Gamer. He covers all aspects of the industry, from new game announcements and patch notes to legal disputes, Twitch beefs, esports, and Henry Cavill. Lots of Henry Cavill.