The next LEGO castle we need is obvious – and it could be hiding in plain sight

The obvious counterpart to this summer’s LEGO Creator 3-in-1 31168 Medieval Horse Knight Castle could be hiding in plain sight on its box.

The LEGO Group has introduced two fresh Castle factions in the newly-released 31168 Medieval Horse Knight Castle, in the Horse Knights and Serpent Knights, and there’s a decent contingent of the former in the box. But the Horse Knight Spearman, Horse Knight Champion, Horse Knight Archer and Horse Knight King only need to defend their fortress from a lone Serpent Knight. Easy. Almost too easy…

The logical next step for LEGO castles is a base for the Serpent Knights, giving medieval fans young and old a rival fortress for the Horse Knights’ opposing faction. Their black and yellow colour scheme would lend itself well to a castle that’s completely distinct from 31168 Medieval Horse Knight Castle’s grey and blue hues, too – and the set in question could actually be hiding in plain sight.

Peek at the far left of the box art for 31168 Medieval Horse Knight Castle and you’ll see a tiny depiction of a towering fortress, cast in shadow (or perhaps built in black) and topped off with a yellow flag. Given its placement (the Serpent Knight's yellow flag is situated just below), there's an implication that the valiant warrior has journeyed from there to scope out and attack the Horse Knights’ castle all on his own.

The LEGO Group doesn’t typically drop hints for new sets on the boxes of current products, but this particular line of medieval builds has already proven the exception to the rule. 31168 Medieval Horse Knight Castle could be seen in the artwork for January’s 31161 Medieval Dragon, a set that also returns in the background art of this August’s castle.

LEGO Creator 31161 Medieval Dragon box crop castle 1024x576

So while there’s an element of wishful thinking here – especially as we had to wait for 31120 Medieval Castle to retire before 31168 Medieval Horse Knight Castle came along – there’s also a possibility that the LEGO Group could be teasing its next 3-in-1 castle already. It would certainly be visually distinct enough to share shelf space with the current model, and the other big LEGO fortress – 10305 Lion Knights' Castle – is retiring at the end of 2025.

The current roster of LEGO Creator 3-in-1 sets rumoured for January 2026 includes no mention of a Serpent Knight castle, but that doesn’t mean much at this stage. It could always turn up later in the year, and we don’t even have a complete picture of the January wave yet – but we're only speculating here. And maybe even trying to manifest it into existence, because we definitely need more Serpent Knights in our lives, whether in a Creator 3-in-1 set, a new Icons castle or something else entirely.

31168 Medieval Horse Knight Castle is available to buy now.

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