Published Jul 1, 2026, 3:00 PM EDT
Nicholas Becher is a gaming journalist with an MFA in Creative Writing from FAU. With extensive experience playing video games, he covers all forms of gaming content at Screen Rant, from breaking news to the latest fan theories. Most-played games range from Clair Obscur to Civ to Elden Ring to Halo 2 and beyond.
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With the upcoming launch of HBO's new Harry Potter series, excitement for the franchise is officially higher than it has been in years. With a fresh cast, a more book-faithful focus, and longer runtime that will allow more content from the source material to be adapted on screen, the HBO series has a chance to reintroduce Harry's epic journey to an entire new generation of fans and reignite interest in longtime Potterheads.
With hype this high for Harry Potter's 2026 return this December, fans are also looking forward to the official Hogwarts Legacy sequel, which will reportedly tie in to events in the HBO series itself, an interesting albeit controversial approach to the next game in the franchise. However, there's another official Harry Potter RPG in the pipeline that Potter fans may have overlooked, and the project is already blowing players away.
Image via MovieStillsDBHarry Potter fans may have missed the announcement of an incredible new RPG called Defenders of Hogwarts, an epic new tabletop board game experience from the graphic designers who worked on the Harry Potter film series, MinaLima. The project launched on Kickstarter on June 9, 2026, and has already blown past its goal by an incredible margin, reaching over half-a-million dollars in pledges so far of its $60k-ish goal.
The board game rulebook is currently available to download for free if you're interested in what's on offer and thinking about pledging before the Kickstarter campaign expires on July 23, with shipments expected to arrive by October this year (and March 2027 for the Collector's Edition).
Here's a brief description from the rulebook itself:
Hogwarts Castle has been infiltrated by Death Eaters and Dark Forces. It is only a matter of time before Lord Voldemort himself arrives, perhaps changing Hogwarts—and altering the course of the wizarding world—forever.
If you choose to remain loyal to the famed School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, you will represent one of the four Hogwarts houses as you hone your spell-casting skills, potion-making talents, and effective use of various items and artefacts to defend key sections of the castle in preparation for battle.
If you decide to represent the Dark Forces, you will follow a dark path in an effort to undermine the students and staff who are working to protect and defend the castle from Lord Voldemort's followers, readying the school for a new, dark chapter.
The game is designed as a semi-cooperative role-playing game for 2–5 players, and has players "exploring" Hogwarts, moving token pieces around the castle, learning new spells, and gearing up for the final epic showdown between good and evil. There are currently three different tier options available to back on Kickstarter, each with unique exclusives included that you will only be able to get if you back the project before it ends later this month.
Fans of Harry Potter are flocking to the campaign by the minute, and the project itself has been in the works for over five years at this point and has already gone through several rounds of play-testing since 2022. If you're looking for an exciting new Harry Potter experience and an actual high-quality board game set in the universe, Defenders of Hogwarts should definitely be on your radar.
English (US) ·