Defenders of Hogwarts: new Harry Potter board game by MinaLima

A new officially licensed Harry Potter board game is on its way. Defenders of Hogwarts comes from MinaLima, the studio behind the graphic props of the films, and Kickstarter backers can expect their copies in October.

A board game from MinaLima

Defenders of Hogwarts is an asymmetric deckbuilding board game for two to five players, reports CBR. It was funded on Kickstarter, where it has already passed its $66,780 goal.

It is the first board game from MinaLima, the studio founded by Miraphora Mina and Eduardo Lima, who created the graphic props and artwork for the Harry Potter films. The game is officially licensed through Warner Bros., according to tbreak, and carries the studio’s visual language from the films over to the tabletop.

When you can play it

Backers are due to receive the game in October. After that comes a limited autumn release online, at selected retailers, in Harry Potter Shops and at House of MinaLima, tbreak reports.

A wider release in multiple languages is planned for spring 2027. If you missed the campaign, late pledges were still open at the time of writing, according to eGamers.

Playing for the Dark Forces

The setup is a castle under attack. Players cast spells, explore the school grounds and prepare Hogwarts for battle, as tbreak describes it, but not everyone at the table has to defend it.

You choose your allegiance: loyal Hogwarts student, or a member of the Dark Forces seeking a new era of darkness. In board-game terms, asymmetric means players don’t all share the same role, rules or goals.

That choice of side is what eGamers singles out as the feature most likely to set it apart from other Harry Potter games. Hogwarts Legacy already let players lean into the Dark Arts, but turning on Hogwarts itself, with friends around the same table, is a different kind of temptation.