Ye Olde Inn

Kurgan
4 star rating out of 5
02/25/23
Breath of Fresh Air: A Nostalgic Remake "Done Right" (from a 30+ year veteran player)

HeroQuest is a "dungeon crawler" that is heavy on dice rolling combat and exploration, where players work together against a common enemy to win a series of adventures with different goals (usually terminate a specific bad guy or find a specific treasure... sometimes just to get from point A to B without dying). The original game required another player to take on the role of "Zargon" both the evil sorcerer who controls all the bad guys, and also the "game master" who hides the secret map behind the screen and lays out the board as it is slowly revealed, prompting the other players to draw cards when they search for treasure or roll dice for traps and things.

The "Hero" players (1-4) take on roles of archetypical fantasy characters (Wizard, Elf, Dwarf and Barbarian) on a dice rolling, card flipping adventure through a board laid out like a dungeon, tomb, treasure vault, castle, etc. moving their sculpted plastic pieces into combat with other plastic pieces representing archetypical fantasy monsters (orcs, goblins, skeletons, etc). The rules and basic structure of the adventures is painstakingly recreated with a more "modern" art aesthetic (think "World of Warcraft" more than anything) and given a (completely optional) digital option to have the "Zargon" (bad guy GameMaster) role be taken over by a free mobile app (don't worry, you can still make your own adventures and ditch the app for a flesh and blood antagonist). The rules are a little more complicated than Chess, but can be learned within a single session (the original age recommendation was 9 or 10 to adult; "14 and up" is apparently more of a safety requirement). The level of complexity here does not reach the level of some other RPG or War games out there like Warhammer or Cyberpunk. Game sessions (covering a single quest) can last an hour or two (later expansions up the difficulty and may double that time, and may require multiple sessions to finish, depending upon your skill level, but we're not talking Axis & Allies level of game time here... unless you're talking an entire campaign!). Savvy GMs can modify the quest to their liking to adapt the difficulty to those playing. The game is very flexible and over the years many fans have come up with their own "house rules" and ways of interpreting some of the more arcane or vague aspects of the original, so the internet is a treasure trove of mods and suggestions which each "Zargon" is free to use as inspiration for his or her own decisions in-game. European and Japanese fans may be disappointed that their local version was snubbed over the North American rules. However with some patience and time, one can modify the rules back to those regional editions using the modern assets (just look online).

Gave this four stars only because it wasn't a straight up re-print of the 1990 edition I grew up playing. Hasbro (the owner of the now defunct Milton Bradley) re-created HeroQuest, the game remembered by Europeans from 1989 and North Americans (with heavily revised rules and tweaked names/storyline) from 1990. This remake started as a crowd funded haslab project which many had fears would not come to retail. Thankfully the developers at Avalon Hill (also owned by Hasbro) were given the greenlight to create a retail release, which, while it was missing many of the bonus extras that the haslab pledge version contained, is nevertheless a solid board game in its own right and a fairly faithful recreation of the old game.

Fans of the classic version will be interested to know that the furniture is now solid plastic (everything is made from a bendy type of plastic that allows hot water to straighten out bent swords without breaking them) which makes them appear a bit bland (since they're begging to be painted, being monochromatic), the character figures have round bases and everything (except the furniture) is slightly larger in scale than their 1990's counterparts. Also, due to GamesWorkShop no longer being involved in the project (as in the originals), explicit references to their properties are altered or removed ("Chaos Warriors" are now called "Dread Warriors," "Fimir" monsters are now changed to merpeople "Abominations"). A few small nods have been given to political correctness (Zargon is never depicted and is referred to in very generic pronouns) but not nearly what a lot of fans feared, given the direction of many rebooted franchises. Quests are identical down to typographical errors from 1990, but Avalon Hill has been releasing bonus quests free online and a new pack is promised this year with all original content for those itching for new "official" adventures. The blank quest book at the end was the highlight for many a child of the 90's and still exists with the developers encouraging fans to make their own creative remixes and brand new campaigns and characters. I disagree slightly with the decision to replace the small wooden dice with the rounded corners with larger plastic dice that have "sharp" corners. This is a small preference difference but some might argue you'll get fewer cockeyed results rolling these. The Mythic extras are still the domain of scalpers online but Avalon Hill has hinted many times that they will attempt, as far as within their power, to re-introduce those elements in modified form in other ways to the retail market over time. The familiar "Armory" board from the original is replaced by a deck of "Equipment" cards (familiar to European fans). A few new artifacts are added to this set that don't feature in any of the official quests included, but provide fodder for your imagination to include them where you see fit. The sculpted figures some regard as lacking detail in places due to quality control issues in the early print runs, and some don't like the very dynamic poses that can lead to crowding on the board (see the "Abomination" for the most egregious example). Others have reported that the larger quad fold game board tends to wear and tear more easily along the seam but so far Hasbro has been receptive to criticism in the replacing of defective components, so I would contact them if you're one of those people. The cards are now poker size, with a nice linen finish that has a slight tack to it (not as smooth and waxy as commercial decks of standard playing cards) and character sheets are printed on a slightly larger, thicker paper than before. Overall the game appeals to adult fans of the old HeroQuest game who want to introduce it to the next generation and to casual game fans looking for an entry level introduction to fantasy tabletop adventure gaming with a light Role Play feel (even so, it's enough of a fun game on its own that it doesn't have to be the appetizer, it can be the entree).

The version released in January of last year is slightly different, the box being redesigned to make it easier to box and unbox the plastic figures (the original box was harder to open and the figures tended to be tightly stuck into their plastic trays which many chose to throw away altogether due to annoyance) so even though there are mere pennies of difference in the price, I would recommend that one over the original release from 2021. I like this game, and while the Companion App leaves a lot to be desired, it is a marvel of programming that so many gimmicks of various adventures are covered and yet as it uses the "honor system" many things are still left up to the players which sidesteps ancient debates over the interpretation of rules found online (the players decide together how to handle it). The cards and dice are still mostly required to enjoy the Board Game Companion App (it is really meant to be kept at the table while things are setup, preserving the surprises for the players as normally Zargon would see everything ahead of time). Love it!