Board Game Codenames - Back to Hogwarts

Welcome to Hogwarts! This ancient castle is filled with magic almost as much as it is with secrets… Even Dumbledore himself never thought he knew all its secrets. Take on the roles of Headmaster and First Year, brace your nerves and set out to become the first house to uncover all the secrets of the wizarding school, using clever clues to explore its many halls and corridors.

This is a brand new Codenames experience inspired by the wizarding world. Team up and play the classic social word game as you represent your favorite Hogwarts houses, using the special abilities of Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff and Slytherin to strategically gain an advantage for your team.

This is the first competitive game of houses competing against each other, inspired by the wizarding world. It puts a fresh spin on the classic word association game, offering new themed mechanics that change the gameplay for longtime fans and new players alike.

How to Play

As new first-years at Hogwarts, players will be divided into two rival houses, each with its own headmaster who knows the secrets of the school’s legendary card grid. On their turn, the headmasters give their team of students a clue consisting of a single word and a number indicating how many cards are associated with that word. The students must then follow these clues to explore Hogwarts, guessing the corresponding words and revealing one card at a time.

If they guess correctly, they can continue guessing the words up to the specified number of times. If they encounter a rival house card, a dead end, a closed door, or other obstacle, their turn ends. However, be careful not to fall into the hands of the caretaker, Argus Filch, as this ends the game and means the opposing house wins. Each win also earns their house points, which can be tracked over multiple play sessions in the House Cup.

At first glance, this should feel very familiar to existing fans of the series — at least from a mechanical perspective. The game also adds new levels of strategic depth to the classic gameplay in the form of unique asymmetric abilities.

Each house has access to two powerful and different special abilities. These abilities have been designed to fundamentally change the game, giving both Muggles and wizards some amazing new gameplay opportunities. Since there are two different houses in each game, and each house will only use one of its two abilities, players can explore and play in a multitude of possible combinations!