Why HeroQuest is so great...Again!
My own ode to the greatest fantasy board game of all time. I originally intended to submit this article to Gygax Magazine back in 2015. How time flies! Luckily, I finally have a blog now.
It was the summer of 1991, a lazy day in August that changed my perspective on gaming forever. As a seven year old, I was well versed in the ways of Monopoly, Sorry!, and even the occasional game of Yahtzee, and I was ready for something different. After I had bought up Park Place and BoardWalk a few times and exhausted the thrill of wild cards in Uno, I thought games had little left to offer.
It was during this time of despondency with my family’s regular selection of games when my stepdad, James, walked into the house with a smile on his face carrying a large box. This box was unlike any I had ever seen before: Instead of the normal “happy-go-lucky” images I commonly associated with board games, there was instead a grim depiction of warriors and monsters locked in a desperate battle in the spot where the guy with the monocle and top hat should have been. A larger than life, muscle-bound barbarian of Conan-esque style stood poised with a great broadsword raised high over his head, prepared to strike at a horde of Orcs that were spilling out of the passageways of a dark dungeon; A dwarf and an elf battled against swarms of zombies, skeletons and mummies; A wizard prepared to deliver a death-blow with a lightning-bolt shooting directly from the palm of his hands. This was unlike anything I had experienced before: this was HeroQuest!
My intro to HeroQuest was a meeting with fate. From that point on, I was addicted to not only the world of tabletop games, but also to fantasy in general. Like most of us, I would go on to play more advanced games - Dragon Strike (which I’ll discuss later), Warhammer, Advanced Dungeons and Dragons, etc. But it all began with HeroQuest. Some have labeled it and other games of a similar mold as “gateway drugs” into the hobby of miniatures collection and modeling, but for me it was more than just the models (although admittedly, some became action figures when not actively engaged in a “Quest”). Exciting, simple, and with fantastic components, it was a game that had the power to conjure in the young imagination a deep appreciation for adventure, storytelling and maybe most importantly, teamwork.
HeroQuest was a collaborative effort between Milton Bradley and British games manufacturer, Games Workshop (GW), during an era when the tabletop game to mass market crossover was gaining traction (see also BattleMasters). GW was seeking to draw potential hobbyists into the Warhammer Fantasy Universe. Released in 1989, it has been out of print for more than 22 years. Why then is it that I believe this game has more visceral impact than any dungeon-crawler released since? A variety of reasons sway my thinking. Many of them are purely nostalgic, but there are still many elements of the game that I believe hold up to modern standards. In this review, or perhaps trip down memory lane might be a better description, I would like to illustrate the many strengths and weaknesses that in my mind made this the best introduction to adventure gaming for the young and old alike.
First, however, a disclaimer: HeroQuest is not the perfect dungeon-crawler (I doubt a perfect one has been made yet). In fact, it possesses gaping flaws in gameplay and is certainly an imperfect mimicry of the “roleplaying experience” familiar to those who play D&D or any other RPG. These are faults that experienced gamers would probably consider glaring and a turnoff altogether. To me, however, these faults are the very thing I find endearing about the game - quirky and unwieldy, yes, but a truly satisfying introductory experience for a gamer just getting into our hobby.
COMPONENTS
HeroQuest with some custom components (cards, 3d stairs, etc)
Unboxing this game for the first time is truly a wonderful experience. It is a well known fact that it possessed, bar-none, some of the finest game components for a complete-in-one-purchase box set in its day (and still does to a certain extent).
In HeroQuest, GW did what GW does best: miniatures!
Fantastic in detail and in their ability to convey the pure grittiness of the Warhammer world, the HeroQuest miniatures were awesome for the time period. You would be hard pressed to find another GW box set that would give you the same bang for your buck (most GW products these days cost an arm and leg anyway). The devil was certainly in the details, but not just in the bundle of skeletons, orcs, mummies and fimirs - remember fimirs? - that you got in the box, but also the litany of doors, bookcases, armory racks, tombs, treasure chests and an assortment of other goodies that would quickly cause a new gamer’s eyes to grow as big as Ovid’s Orb.
Skellies, mummy and orcs. The rest of the gang still in progress.
The cards were also of excellent quality. There were Monster Cards, each with detailed artwork depicting the stats and abilities of each of the creatures in the game. Looking back on these now, they certainly had an old-school, dark look that you don’t get in today’s games. There were also Treasure Cards which were drawn when you searched a room, revealing either a rare ruby in the heel of an old boot, or an infamous Wandering Monster that would jump out ready to kill you. The contents of the UK and U.S versions varied slightly on what was included (the UK version included Equipment Cards), but generally they were the same thing. The U.S version included a large cardboard Armory “store” that you would use to purchase weapons and equipment between adventures. With only a finite amount of relics and treasures included in the base game, players would soon be hungering for the expansion sets - Kellar’s Keep,Return of the Witch Lord, Wizards of Morcar etc, which brought additional treasures, monsters, and other challenges to veteran heroes.
Old school art at its finest
The combat dice included were also fairly good looking, each with “skulls” to reflect hits and “good guy” white and “bad guy” black shields to reflect defensive parries by both the heroes and monsters. The system for combat, which we’ll go over in more detail, had a simple charm.
Shields mean you're alive. Skulls mean you're dead!
GAMEPLAY
The rules consisted of 11 pages of elegant simplicity: move, fight, search for treasure, disarm traps- repeat. While this seems limiting to veteran gamers, the rules accomplished their objective: they sought to boil down the complex “roleplaying experience” into a set of simple principles that conveyed the “flavor” of adventuring, exploring a dungeon, and working as a team. Each of the heroes possessed unique abilities: the Barbarian was the best hand-to-hand fighter; the Dwarf was tough and able to disarm traps easily; the Elf was skilled at ranged combat and had a limited usage of magic; the wizard, while frail physically, could wield powerful spells that could destroy enemies instantly. The element of teamwork was an important facet of the HeroQuest experience, particularly for young gamers. Learning to work not just as an individual, a powerful hero, but as part of a team was extremely important. None of the heroes could accomplish a quest on their own. They would quickly be overwhelmed and killed if they attempted “lone wolf” adventures, learning the hard way that no matter how tough you thought your hero was, there was always a monster out there that was a lot tougher.
The element of teamwork was reinforced by the game immediately in the first adventure, called “The Trial”. In the caption read to the players before the game begins, Mentor (the player’s sagely advisor) states simply, “You must seek out and destroy Verag, a foul gargoyle who hides in the catacombs. This quest is not easy and you must work together in order to survive”. The Trial certainly was a crucible for the inexperienced gamer-going head to head with some of the toughest monsters in the game, the dreaded Gargoyle and a Chaos Warrior in the same room. In fact, when I played this the first time, I died. Heroically, my Barbarian (aptly named “Conan”) bravely attempted to face Verag and his hordes single-handedly and was magnificently slaughtered along with the other heroes.
The fifth player, Zargon (Morcar in the U.K), controlled all the monsters in the game and basically acted in the “Dungeon Master” role, telling the story as the heroes progressed in the quest book. Usually it was tough for Zargon to defeat the heroes, but occasionally it did happen. One of the flaws with Heroquest, again in my opinion, revolved around this fifth player. While it did provide opportunities for more experienced DMs to expand the story and provide the details of the particular adventure, it frequently devolved into a dice-fest of trying to kill the heroes as quickly as possible. This, partly due to the simplicity of the game, was a natural result of trying to appeal to a younger audience of players; a rewarding game experience for 7-10 year-old Zargons usually meant the total destruction of the heroes. For more mature, imaginative DMs, HeroQuest could provide plenty of room for embellishment of story and rulesets, hence the multitude of “house-rules” and modifications available in online forums (see Allied HeroQuest). However, in its base form, HeroQuest could become the “beer and pretzels” game that many of us know it as. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with that of course (who doesn’t like beer and pretzels?), but I feel like it’s worth mentioning in case you want something with more depth.
The mechanics of HeroQuest were extremely simple and were accessible to the target audience. Each hero had only four attributes:Attack Dice, Defend Dice, Mind and Body points. As you probably guessed, Attack and Defend dice represented the number of dice the player would roll when resolving attacks and defending against monsters (basically representing Strength and Dexterity attributes). Mind points represented a hero’s intelligence, wisdom and resistance to magic. Body points were hit points or the amount of damage a hero could sustain. Movement, which began each hero’s turn, was resolved with 2 six-sided dice. After moving, a hero had the choice of six actions:Attack (if there are monsters present), Cast a spell, Search for treasure, search for secret doors, search for traps, or disarm a trap. Following this sequence, it would be Zargon’s turn, with any monsters present having the option to move, attack or cast a Chaos Spell.
Strategy within the game involved what is now considered the standard for dungeon-crawlers. The Barbarian could withstand the brunt of attacks and usually took up the lead as the “meat-shield” for the rest of the party, going toe-to-toe with the biggest baddies. The Dwarf was similar, although he had the special trap disarming ability. The Elf was decent with a sword and could use his Earth Spells to cast “Bark Skin” or “Heal Body” on himself or other heroes. The Wizard had a few powerful spells that fell under the elemental categories of Fire, Air and Water. The powerful offensive spells such as “Genie”, “Fireball” or “Fire of Wrath'' could inflict several points of damage on enemy monsters - the “Genie” was especially powerful and could either open any door on the board or attack any monster within sight with 5 combat dice! Basic strategy involved protecting the wizard and allowing him to cast spells at the toughest monsters.
While the mechanics were simple, they could provide a lot of entertainment for those getting into fantasy gaming. Fortunately for me, my stepdad had a penchant for storytelling that enhanced our gameplay experience. Every encounter, every opening of a new door or the discovery of a coveted Artifact Card, held with it a special narrative that James would weave for our benefit, making each quest something special. As I mentioned earlier, I don’t advocate that every game of HeroQuest has to contain descriptions of the sites, smells or details surrounding the heroes, but it certainly makes the game more enjoyable. Adding any kind of roleplaying flavor to the game builds upon the basic rules and is easily accomplished with little effort from the Zargon player. Games Workshop understood this as well, with later (and more complicated) games such as Advanced HeroQuest and Warhammer Quest including additional roleplaying rules that built upon the basic premise of dungeon crawling.
WHY GET HEROQUEST?
HeroQuest, particularly for someone looking to get their children involved in gaming, is a perfect entry that offers something visually enticing and uncomplicated. As the junior gamer gains experience and wants something more sophisticated, there are similar avenues in the RPG board game arena like those mentioned previously (Warhammer Quest, etc) or they could move directly into a “true” RPG like D&D. Another plus is that in the event one becomes bored of HeroQuest, it’s board,parts and miniatures can be used as a dungeon in any RPG rule system.