Few games have been able to scratch the same itch as Hogwarts Legacy, but it’s far from the first RPG out there to capitalize on the desire to create your own personalized magical school experience. Offering its own magical world combined with gameplay inspired by both Final Fantasy and Pokémon alike, there’s one classic social game that has already paved the way years ago for a multiplayer wizarding experience.
While Steam has no shortage of free games added each month, some of the best offerings have been around for so long that they’ve become largely forgotten despite their initial popularity. Whether you’re still patiently waiting for Hogwarts Legacy 2 or are looking for a world to get immersed in outside the Harry Potter franchise, this classic and completely free Steam game that I can’t recommend enough to try at least once.
Wizard101 Will Scratch Your Harry Potter Itch
A Magical World With Plenty Of Offerings To Customize Your Experience
Having been released all the way back in 2008, Wizard101 started off as a simple turn-based MMO with a deckbuilding twist, which went on to become fairly popular back in the day as a family-friendly alternative in the genre. Choosing your own school of wizardry and building your own elemental summoning deck that you’ll slowly improve over time,
While the servers aren’t as active as they used to be, there’s still plenty of content to experience with friends or on your own in Wizard101‘s colorful cartoonish world, which has aged surprisingly well despite its clearly outdated visuals. With rumors that the sequel to Hogwarts Legacy is already making the swap to a live service multiplayer experience, Wizard101 is an excellent way to live out your magical fantasies in the meantime.
Combined with the fact that Wizard101 still gets updated to this day, and even received its latest expansion as recently as November 2025, this free turn-based deck-builder is more than worth checking out if you’re looking for a more relaxing wizarding MMO with some surprisingly engaging RPG mechanics.
It’s Completely Free On Steam Now
Plenty Of Hours Worth Of Free Content To Jump Into
Being playable through its independent launcher or straight through Steam itself, Wizard101 is one of the better free games on the platform if you’re looking for a cozy RPG with room for socialization and PvP content. Despite its simplistic presentation, Wizard101 also offers a surprisingly good story to accompany the charming 2000s style, with a world that has been well-developed over the years for you to explore.
Unfortunately, despite not having an upfront cost to get started, several areas and content experiences within Wizard101 do require a paid subscription or individual purchasing using premium credits, which can suddenly halt your progress with little warning.
Thankfully, over the years, many of these segments have been opened up to free players as more content gets added, meaning you have plenty of time to try Wizard101 out for yourself and decide if you want to pay to keep going and see what else its time capsule of a world has to offer.
