Heroquest remake by Hasbro - The BIG discussion thread

[Kurgan]

If you take the survey here is what I would suggest:

This new "companion App" needs to be usable on regular computers (not just on mobile phones).
To access the Apple App store or Google Play, you need to own a smart phone. Yes, there are emulators out there, but they are very slow and buggy and don't support all features. Just like not all of us use Twitter, not everyone does all (or even most) their computing on a phone. Yes, you can hook a bunch of stuff up to your phone, but it's like watching movies on a gameboy, why do that when you have a nice computer that will do it better? HeroQuest isn't portable, so other than the app making a complete 1:1 copy of the board game (replacing the free Vassal Mod) you can play solo in the backseat on road trips, you are going to be sitting at a table with a bunch of people and the big board, so why limit it to a phone?

We already have HeroScribe. A free official quest creation tool would be great. How will they make money off of this?

They could have fan votes, editor's picks for quest of the month, and contests. Maybe those contests could have an entry fee. They could support it with ads. But making it exclusive property and going after people who leak the quests outside of it as pirates would be absurd (how are you going to handle that... are only pledgers allowed to play with other pledgers? Because if you create or download a quest, then your entire gaming group would have to sign up too... or something).

I figured this would be something they would do, because while we all want printed quest books for new packs, it would be far cheaper (and easier for them to edit on the fly and control) to make them all digital at a certain point. Maybe still sell "limited run" deluxe editions for hardcore collectors (as is the Hasbro Way tm).

A fully featured quest (or even character) creation-suite, even if they don't go full "Super Mario Maker" with it, would be fantastic, and they could still make money off of it and use it to keep up community good will and promote their product. Even though every Zoomer has three smart phones, it would still be good if the thing didn't require you to have a cellular data plan to access legally.

It should be usable Offline as well. What do people do when they don't have internet access? Break out the books and board games! Imagine a world where that never happens...

Now back to the App, if they make it really "fully featured" with all kinds of special effects and scripting for the base quests, okay, but that means they'll have to release new updates to go with each expansion. That makes it tougher for homebrewers who may have tons of unique characters and things that aren't going to be in there. Will it be easy to edit and add new stuff? Because if it isn't, and you can't do homebrew stuff easily, it will be pretty limiting.

If it's an actual "game" in itself, this will be especially true. If it's just a digital pile of tiles and text boxes essentially, allowing you to shuffle the pieces around, more like a visual aide and number tracker, then it won't be so hard. You could move a monster differently than his default stats, set stuff up differently than the rules normally allow, etc. I mean, would the game limit you in ways the "real thing" would? Or can you set it so that you have six Barbarians running around in a dungeon playing freeze tag with hundreds of Chaos Warriors and the Pit Trap tiles are trampolines that toss you across the board or something?

The whole "mobile game re-creating HeroQuest" was kind of the thing many of us thought of when we saw the original "countdown." As cool as this would be, most of us would be happier with the physical game, and that allows the most freedom to create and play... the main reason why HeroQuest was fun in the first place. If they think "everybody hates to be Zargon" I beg to differ, for many of us, that is the most fun way to play! But I'm sure some people would use it, even once for the novelty of it all. I could see it being used to teach n00bs how to play for the first time, like a visual "rules of play."

But there would certainly be "no hard feelings" if the (powerless) automated GM is fighting against all the players together. "We beat the computer, yay!" kind of like some other board games that did something similar but have been less popular over the years.

And if they do release this, how cool would it be to have a "Classic Artwork" mod? I suppose they wouldn't allow that, since you'd be using GamesWorkShop IP then. The graphics look icon-based rather than using 3d scans of the actual pieces, so this isn't going to replace the (buggy and unplayable for me on my system) TableTop Simulator mod.

And finally, cool as it would be to part of some live focus group that would have an actual say in improving the product, I'm not signing a 10 year NDA, so others may feel free to participate.

[Daedalus]

So now Zargon will no longer be Mentor, but instead Android? What a basket case!

This just in: Revival Hero Quest will have a companion ap

We also have a look at the Witch Lord, who will be getting his own mini.

A link is needed . . . where does the news originate?

[Daedalus]

. . . Has there been any word on whether or not the reboot will continue to print?. . .

It has been announced several months ago in an interview that the AH design team expects the new game to see retail release. Goblin-King also mentioned his local game store (in Sweden?) has recently taken his order for the new game.

[Oftkilted]

We already have HeroScribe. A free official quest creation tool would be great. How will they make money off of this?

Basically it’s a value add that encourages boardgame sales for solo players.

[Super Saiyan Musashi]

So now Zargon will no longer be Mentor, but instead Android? What a basket case!

This just in: Revival Hero Quest will have a companion ap

We also have a look at the Witch Lord, who will be getting his own mini.

A link is needed . . . where does the news originate?

It's an email sent to backers; I could forward it to you if you'd like?

[Kurgan]

No offense of course, but we all knew about the Witch Lord mini back during the kickstarter, the only "news" here is that it's going to ship unpainted, apparently so you can pick the color. Yes, this is the first official pic of the actual sculpt (instead of a 3d rendered model), but still...

Guessing then it will be shipped in basic gray (plenty of minis have appeared beige and now white in pics, but they all say not final colors, and we know the rest will be color coded like the original sets, and it could just be the lighting but to me they look closer to EU colors than NA). Troublingly, I'm seeing more pics of pointy cornered dice and white pips on red, I guess they don't have any good spares to use or these are the "final" designs. They were better before in the first trailer (more like the originals).

Where can we read about the "it's really coming to retail" news? That to me is way bigger than all this other fluff. The two game shops I talked to in the midwestern US both said they were getting nada (unless they pledged or got a "pre-owned" copy from a pledger... at markup).

[Leathaface79]

I don’t know it will come to retail or not. I saw screenshot in a post on Twitter showing a conversation with Hasbro and they said it was only going to be available in the Pulse. But that could of been a customer support rep that doesn’t have any additional information.

However, the app could have been the goal all along, the pulse backing may have been the the funding for the true end goal of an app with digital quest expansions, the remake of the game is just the bonus for the backers. Again just something I wouldn’t put past them.

I hope it will hit retail and they are just hush hush on it. Things like the following hint to me it may come to retail:
“This version of Sir Ragnar will only be available during the pulse.”
Box art of expansions have language suggesting retail purchase.

We shall see, I’m really hoping for the rest of the expansions being made. Even if it’s another pulse. I already have the OG base game, WOTWL and KK. Was never able to get the rest. Would love a change to get them, even if is a remake.

[FainFlynn]

So now Zargon will no longer be Mentor, but instead Android? What a basket case!

This just in: Revival Hero Quest will have a companion ap

We also have a look at the Witch Lord, who will be getting his own mini.

A link is needed . . . where does the news originate?

It's an email sent to backers; I could forward it to you if you'd like?

I am a backer and I got no such email. I even logged in and see both my Mythic tier orders in. Weird.

[Kurgan]

Actually Sir Ragnar (like Witch Lord and "Mentor") is a PLEDGE (kickstarter) exclusive.

The fact that they differentiate this "limited time" bonus from the "Pulse Exclusive" Heroes pack (the four gender swapped basic heroes) makes me think they will continue to sell it, if nothing else, through the Hasbro "Pulse" website after the pledge drive. That says nothing about retail.

So at any point somebody could order it from Pulse and then sell it to some local game shop, or scalp it on ebay or Amazon. Maybe you'd see a used copy at some thrift store (before it gets snatched up, etc). But without anything official, I'm bummed about the idea that we wouldn't see it in stores, so I am REALLY looking for anything official, not wishful thinking at this point.

The idea that the "real reason" was the App and the "physical version" was just for us hardcore fans would be nutty and annoying if it were the truth, but like you say, it wouldn't surprise me at this point.

What we all wanted was for HeroQuest to "come back," the everyman's boxed tabletop RPG, which means it needs to come to retail stores or it will remain a niche collector's item for hardcore fans and fodder for scalpers only, meaning it will be just like everything else they produce on their page. Instead it should be like their regular products.... like Monopoly and such. Anybody can walk into any store and buy it... kids can save up their allowance, parents can get it for family game night, friends can pool their money for the weekend board game group on a whim. Without that, HQ is dead, just a nostalgic relic box of plastic I'm sorry to say. And a mobile app will be forgotten without true love of the game. It may motivate a few people to guy buy the physical thing, but that's not where the love of the game begins, because it's not going to be a full fledged Gauntlet type game, but an icon based simulation of the board game meant to assist you learning it and then keeping track of stuff.

[Leathaface79]

Actually Sir Ragnar (like Witch Lord and "Mentor") is a PLEDGE (kickstarter) exclusive.

I know but the wording is "This version of the character miniature will only be available during this campaign!" leads me to believe that there may be a different version of the character available later on, could be another pulse store purchase but since Avalon Hill is also marked on the Heroquest page, I have to believe they are planning something a little bigger than more pulse purchases. If I could run their sales division, I would have this through Avalon Hill with their re-seller partners and launch this full retail. I think it can be a successful game if they have the correct goals in mind. Targeted releases in certain markets and very minimal marketing and they can achieve the same success as Axis and Allies or the Betrayal branded games. IDK, I could be way off in my thinking, I'm hoping they will give it a chance. I just don't understand going through all the effort of making a companion app just for Pulse Backers, I mean that wasn't in the Crown Funding as a goal so why go through the effort and cost if you don't intend on adding more "customers" to your base???