Book of Spells is a fantasy augmented reality game where the game on the screen is played through a combination of the Move motion controller and the Wonderbook, a book-shaped peripheral bundled with the game. Using the Eye camera, the player's environment is projected on the screen and interaction with the Wonderbook using Move is displayed. At the same time the player can manipulate the Wonderbook, for instance rotating it, picking it up, or opening and closing it, with the screen following all motions. The Move controller is displayed in-game as a magic wand. The wand is often used with flicking motions to cast the spells and the wand can also distort the in-game environment, for instance pushing elements out of the way.

The game is developed with the help of Harry Potter writer J. K. Rowling as a companion to the series. The book is introduced as a tome to learn spells at the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, the fictional British school of magic where students are trained. The game is divided into five chapters with four spells to learn in each chapter. Each spell is introduced through a short story sequence and a practice session. For instance learning the Levitation Charm (Wingardium Leviosa), the player has to lift a jar with the wand, move it to another location, and drop it. The tale about the spell is often told through a puppet show in a paper theatre that pops up from the pages.

The game uses a Pottermore account system where a profile is created using a photo. Players can also choose one of the four houses and three types of wands.