How to play · Rulebook-based, checked 12 Oct 2026
How to Play Defenders of Hogwarts
Set up the castle, take your first turn, and understand the one decision that shapes every game: when to Replenish. Every rule below traces back to the official rulebook (printed page numbers cited).
01 · Setup
Set up a first game in 7 steps
- Adjust the Dark Arts pool to the player count
With 1–4 House players, give the Dark Arts player 4, 5, 6 or 7 pawns. Put four on the mask-marked Deployment Spaces; keep extras off-board. Each house starts with three pawns in the Great Hall and its fourth pawn on the first Loyalty Track space.
- Prepare the castle
Shuffle the six Defence Shields onto the six shield spaces. Place all seven Hogwarts Tokens on their marked spots. Keep the Room of Requirement and D.A. Coins beside the board — the room is revealed later.
- Lay out the shared card supplies
Side Board above the castle. Reveal two Library Books, two Advanced Acquire cards and two ordinary Acquire cards. House and Dark Arts Location Decks stay face-down and separate.
- Set the two tracks and item supply
Dark Arts Marker starts at the first path space. Put the three Progress Tokens on their path positions. Place the Dark Detector on its Loyalty Track space and the Parchment Scrolls in supply. Loyalty pawns track progress; they are not castle pawns.
- Give each house its own starting deck
Each House Player shuffles their seven-card Starter Deck, draws five cards and receives three Location Cards. Return unchosen houses to the box.
- Prepare the Dark Arts cards
Dark Arts Player gets their board, Starter Deck and a separate Acquire Deck. Divide Event Cards into white, orange and red decks. They draw five cards too. The rulebook recommends an experienced player in this role while the group learns.
- Start with the house on the Dark Arts Player's left
That House Player takes the first turn; play then continues clockwise. Keep every player's Draw and Discard piles distinct all game.
Source: official rulebook, printed pp. 6–10, 12–13
02 · House turn
Take a House Player turn: Explore, Learn or Replenish
Choose one Main Action, add any eligible Free Actions around it, resolve the spaces you land on, then discard the cards you played.
Explore
Play one card and resolve its movement and/or effect — you choose the order. If the card permits a second card, finish the first before starting the second.
Learn
Requires a pawn outside a Protected Area. Discard 1 card for an ordinary Acquire card, or 2 cards for an Advanced card plus one Loyalty step. Acquired cards go on top of your Draw Deck, not your hand.
Replenish
Discard any number of cards, draw to five, stand up your stunned pawns — then advance the Dark Arts Path one space and resolve any Event. That path advance is the cost.
Source: printed pp. 12–13, 16–17 · Rules FAQ →
03 · Dark Arts turn
Take the Dark Arts turn: deploy, bump, build pressure
- Explore with cards
Same card-play rules as houses. Use only unstunned pawns for movement.
- Deploy for one movement point
Bring an off-board pawn onto a mask Deployment Space for one movement point, then keep moving. You cannot deploy onto a space already held by any Dark Arts pawn, even a stunned one.
- Bump by ending on a House pawn
The bumped house pawn returns to the Great Hall; your pawn returns to the off-board pool. Take that house's House Marker if you don't hold it. Passing through is not ending on.
- Complete a marker set to advance the path
Hold every participating house's marker: advance the Dark Arts Marker one space, then return the markers. Extra bumps on houses you already marked give nothing new.
- Take the bump's card reward once per turn
After any bump, draw two Acquire cards, keep one on top of your Draw Deck, return the other to the bottom. Once per turn, regardless of how many bumps.
- Unlock effects by path colour
White effects work from the start; orange unlock at the first orange path space, red at the first red. Locked effects are skipped, but the card's movement still works.
- Replenish without discarding
Stand stunned pawns, draw to five. You may not discard unwanted cards, and this Replenish does not itself advance the path.
Source: printed pp. 20–21
04 · Movement
Read the map: routes, obstacles, landing spaces
Movement values stay together
A single "4" moves one unstunned pawn up to four spaces. "3+3" moves two pawns up to three each, or one pawn up to six — it cannot become 2+4. You choose which printed value to use first.
Walls block; dividers don't
Move between spaces sharing a full border. Space dividers (including the red entrance/exit dividers) can be crossed; castle walls cannot. House pawns may share spaces but can't backtrack in the same turn.
Obstacles need permission
Locked Doors, Protective Spells, Physical Objects and Water block House movement unless a card effect permits it. Dark Arts pawns cross those four freely — but walls are still walls.
Protected Areas are Dark-Arts-proof
The four blue-shield spaces can't be entered or crossed by Dark Arts pawns, ever. They are different from the six collectible Defence Shield Spaces.
Source: printed pp. 10–11, 16, 20 · Movement FAQ →
05 · Items
Books, Scrolls, Tokens and Loyalty
| Item | How you get it | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| Hogwarts Token | End a move on a token space (hold one at a time) | From your next turn, return it and play a matching card for an extra Explore |
| Library Book | Visit the Library with an empty book slot | Its effect resolves immediately; one book per house |
| Parchment Scroll | Occupy two of your three Location areas at once | First Scroll replaces two Location Cards; second ends your Location supply |
| D.A. Coin | Enter the Room of Requirement when revealed | Third item for coin-type shields; one per house |
| Dark Detector | Lead the Loyalty Track at 5+ spaces | Third item for Detector shields; spending it moves you back 3 Loyalty spaces |
Source: printed pp. 11–12, 17–19