The Truth about Heroquest - Review

To be honest, I don’t have that much nostalgia for...

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Pre-pandemic, I attended a monthly board game group hosted by a hipster couple. Just before I joined the group, the husband acquired a 1990 MB edition Heroquest at an auction at GenCon. He was excited to play it, due to childhood nostalgia, and got so excited that he spilled a fancy craft brew all over the board. He wanted to play through the whole campaign over the course of the next several monthly game nights, but we only played about once every six months. I was the wizard. The game was tolerable but not great, and I would much rather play Warhammer Quest: Silver Tower.

I remember playing a lot of Advanced Heroquest for maybe a month or two when my brother got it, probably in '89 or '90. We had good fun with it, and it was also my first experience with a DM-driven board game which was unique, and nice that it didn't take the preparation and dedication of a full-fledged RPG. But it never became an all-time favorite. I have no idea of the differences between Heroquest and its Advanced counterpart, but I mostly hear about nostalgia for plain ol' Heroquest. Wonder why.

Shellhead wrote: Pre-pandemic, I attended a monthly board game group hosted by a hipster couple. Just before I joined the group, the husband acquired a 1990 MB edition Heroquest at an auction at GenCon. He was excited to play it, due to childhood nostalgia, and got so excited that he spilled a fancy craft brew all over the board. He wanted to play through the whole campaign over the course of the next several monthly game nights, but we only played about once every six months. I was the wizard. The game was tolerable but not great, and I would much rather play Warhammer Quest: Silver Tower.

Wait, there is FANCY craft brew???? ;P

The price is the killer for me. I can coax my kids into some basic board games with a moderate amount of effort but few keep their attention (as games, if they have play-doh monster books as toys that is a bit different) for long. $125 or whatever is firmly out of the "yeah, let's give it a shot" category and I agree a de-miniaturized kid version would be awesome.

The best thing about Heroquest is this video review of Heroquest:

Shellhead wrote: The best thing about Heroquest is this video review of Heroquest:

It still amazes me that The Bard didn't use the triumphant return of Heroquest to re-launch his channel in any significant way. He was doing the nerd unboxing stuff before a lot of folks & could have parlayed it into a ton of eyeballs (because he is very watchable, albeit also quite pervy.) Major opportunity gone by the wayside in a day-and-age where everyone under 40 seems to harbor secret dreams of being an online YT celebrity.

I don't think I seriously thought about HQ, since I'm not sure how available it was before Christmas, but I bought my 12yo nephew a box set of the three core D&D 5e books and the beginner set (for the dice, if nothing else). Could he have probably "benefitted" from a milder slope into the hobby in the form of HQ, D&DAS, etc.? Possibly, but for about the same price he'll have the resources for years of adventure if he wants it.

fightcitymayor wrote:

Shellhead wrote: The best thing about Heroquest is this video review of Heroquest:

It still amazes me that The Bard didn't use the triumphant return of Heroquest to re-launch his channel in any significant way. He was doing the nerd unboxing stuff before a lot of folks & could have parlayed it into a ton of eyeballs (because he is very watchable, albeit also quite pervy.) Major opportunity gone by the wayside in a day-and-age where everyone under 40 seems to harbor secret dreams of being an online YT celebrity.

Not just under 40!

Alas my well produced series of game reviews of vintage Avalon Hill games whilst nude in a hot tub failed to garner enough attention. Anyone got some waterproof game recs for a middle aged dad bod to play????

The hot tub makes a great terrain board for the VG Fleet series of games.

jason10mm wrote: Not just under 40!

Alas my well produced series of game reviews of vintage Avalon Hill games whilst nude in a hot tub failed to garner enough attention. Anyone got some waterproof game recs for a middle aged dad bod to play????

Shot fades in to scene of steamy sauna room...
jason10mm slowly stands up out of hot-tub, with strategically-placed PanzerBlitz box cover hiding his dong...
"Oh, hello there, I didn't see you come in!"
jason10mm towels off, revealing paunchy dad gut...
"You know what I like? A good Jim Dunnigan game design, like this... 1976's Panzergruppe Guderian, from the good people at Avalon Hill"
takes game box off the shelf before launching into game review...

I remember using the minis from Advanced Heroquest to kickstart a Skaven Warhammer Fantasy Battles army. Big mistake for cash poor me. Yeah, more a gateway than great game. Like the idea of getting the core books for a kid instead.

HeroQuest was a huge hit with my friends and family. We played and created dungeons and had a blast. It was a step up from Dungeon!, which was a game that really captured my imagination.

This lead us to other dungeon crawlers of the day. Dark World was disappointing. Space Hulk was fun, but mainly for the marines. Siege of the Citadel was a favorite.

Later on, out of nostalgia for HeroQuest, we picked up the disappointing Descent and Doom.

I was really tempted by the reprint. HeroQuest and Dungeon! generated a love for dungeon crawls. I suspect that it may not live up to recollections, and I want to keep those memories positive.

My hot take is that the furniture is the main part of why HeroQuest was so great. When you opened the door, and Zardoz put down a weapons rack, a bed, and a treasure chest, it felt like you were going into a place — something actual and visceral and lived-in, not just a bunch of five-foot squares.

Jerry Hawthorne (Mice and Mystics, Stuffed Fables,etc) is a big Heroquest fan, and I think it shows in his games. A lot of the times people look at the combat or other systems in his games and think “is that it?” but I think it’s a conscious choice to keep the games kid friendly and pretty rules-light.

Personally, I played more Dragon Strike after my friend’s dog peed on their HQ board. Then we kinda did a bunch of AD&D 2e for awhile.

Jexik wrote: Personally, I played more Dragon Strike after my friend’s dog peed on their HQ board.

I should have done that the time I was forced to play Agricola.