Hogwarts Legacy Meets Stardew Valley In New RPG You Can Try Free Now

Published Sep 19, 2026, 3:30 PM EDT Sharmila is an engineer-turned-gaming hardware journalist and freelance contributor at ScreenRant who has been covering the gaming and tech industry since 2021. While she first built her expertise writing about video games, she has since pivoted towards gaming hardware, with a focus on PC components, peripherals, handhelds, and performance-driven tech. When she’s not testing gear or writing about the latest hardware trends, she can usually be found diving into competitive shooters or keeping up with the evolving esports scene. Remember the first time you walked around the magical world of Hogwarts Legacy and thought, “I could just live here?” Now, imagine taking that magical school life, removing most of the giant spiders and ancient evil, and adding a healthy dose of the cozy Stardew Valley factor. That is pretty much the appeal of this charming new Steam RPG, where you can attend magic classes, grow plants, make friends, explore a magical island, and cast spells by playing music. Even better, you can try it for free right now. You can now download and experience quite a bit of Songs of Glimmerwick through its playable demo available on Steam ahead of its full release on September 30. Developed by Eastshade Studios, Songs of Glimmerwick puts you in the shoes of a student at the University of Magic in the woodland world of Glimmerwick. I’m sure you get the Hogwarts Legacy reference by now. You are not exactly being thrown into some massive battle against an ancient dark wizard, though. Instead, much of the game revolves around simply living in this strange little magical community and figuring out what makes it tick. And this is where Stardew Valley comes in. You can tend to the university garden, grow ordinary plants alongside more magical ones, go fishing, collect seashells, explore the island, and spend time with the people who live there. There are also festivals, clubs, rumors, and smaller stories involving the students and townsfolk, giving the world plenty to do outside of the main storyline. There is one rather important difference, though: you are a witch, and your magic comes from music. Rather than relying on a traditional spellbook full of fireballs and curses, your character carries a flute and songbook. You can use songs to communicate with trees, enchant tools, manipulate the environment, and even help with mundane jobs around the garden. Hell, you can even talk to frogs at one point of time. All of this gives Songs of Glimmerwick a slightly different take on the whole witch-school fantasy. Classes are part of your routine, but so are after-school activities and wandering around to see what strange things you can find. You can even join a band or head out on forest expeditions with the Green Sprites. There is also a substantial story underneath: with Glimmerwick’s magic fading, the forest is dying, and the people living there have different ideas about why it is happening. The mystery is spread across the main story as well as the smaller stories surrounding the game’s characters, and you get to uncover every bit of it. For anyone who likes the idea of a magical school game but wants something quieter than Hogwarts Legacy, Songs of Glimmerwick looks like an interesting alternative. It’s less about becoming the most powerful witch around and more about spending a year in a strange, cozy little world where going to class, growing plants, and playing a song can all be part of the adventure. And since there’s a free demo on Steam, there is no real reason to wait until the September 30 release to see whether this Hogwarts Legacy-like gem is really your kind of place. Systems Released February 10, 2023 ESRB T For Teen Due To Blood, Fantasy Violence, Mild Language, Use of Alcohol Developer(s) Avalanche Software Publisher(s) Warner Bros. Interactive Engine Unreal Engine 4 Cross-Platform Play Hogwarts Legacy doesn't have crossplay or crossplatform support Cross Save you can freely use your saved data between each console as long as you are connected to the internet and signed into the same account where the saved data was created Franchise Harry Potter Number of Players Single-player