Kickin’ Orcs Old School: The Return of HeroQuest, Part II

HeroQuest, if you don’t already know, is a “dungeon crawl” game. A “dungeon crawl” typically features a small team of classic fantasy heroes exploring an underground labyrinth, encountering dangerous monsters and deadly traps which they must overcome or escape, while looting the place of all sorts of fabulous (or even magical) treasures. And if you think “that sounds like Dungeons & Dragons” you would be right— the whole idea is lifted straight from the origins of the famous father of all role-playing games. But unlike D&D, which typically places heavy emphasis on developing and improving a “realistic” fantasy character in an in-depth, grand fantasy world, a dungeon crawl just deals with the basic guts— kill the monsters, take their stuff. The heroes don’t have elaborate backgrounds or long lists of equipment. They’re archetypes— the Barbarian, the Elf, the Dwarf and the Wizard— and their abilities are largely static and unchanging. And while there may indeed be a thematic plot sold in epic hero terms, that’s really just fluff— the game isn’t about that, it’s about “shootin’, lootin’ and scootin’.” 

And that’s essentially what HeroQuest is— each player controls one of four archetypal heroes, working together as a team to defeat the monsters, complete the goals of a quest, and get out with plenty of gold. There’s no heavy roleplay involved, nor any character or world development.

The heroes are ready. The quest awaits...

Now, as I said, this game is actually quite “old,” being essentially a reproduction (and minor revision) of the original Milton Bradley game of 1989. So this review probably won’t cover any ground-breaking revelations. There aren’t any “cool” new mechanics or ideas involved. It’s old school, 1980’s era game design— but that old school style is still a lot of fun, and worth the reviving.

How It Works

Play is simple. The game can be played by 2 to 5 people (or, with the new app, solo— which I’ll touch on in a later blog). One person must be “the evil wizard Zargon,” which is really just the person who controls all the monsters and reveals the areas and surprises of the dungeon as the game goes along. The other players take on the roles of the four heroes, who must enter the various dungeons in the game and face Zargon’s vile minions. Ostensibly, Zargon “wins” by defeating the heroes— either killing them, or forcing them to flee without completing the goal of a given quest. The heroes “win” by achieving that same goal and acquiring treasure in the process. However, Zargon losing isn’t really much of a loss— the pleasure of being Zargon comes from seeing the others struggle against the challenges of the quest, even if the heroes win. So while the game is set up as oppositional, that’s not the heavy emphasis, and it doesn’t have to be played that way.

Heroes take turns, in order, performing a limited selection of possibilities: Move and take one of six possible “Actions:” Attack, Cast a Spell, Search for Treasure, Search for Secret Doors, Search for Traps, or Disarm a Trap. The action can be taken before or after moving, but moving cannot be split around an action. Two dice are typically rolled to see how far a hero can move, but the hero doesn’t have to move the full amount (and at times won’t be able to do so).

An attack is done by rolling a number of dice equal to the attacker’s Attack Strength; the target may then roll a number of dice equal to the target’s Defense Strength. The dice are unique to the game, featuring images of skulls (three of these), two white shields and one black shield. Hits are made when skulls are rolled; shield results block hits (white shields for heroes defending, the black shield for monsters defending).

Spells are on cards. Cast a spell, and it’s gone— it cannot be recovered for the current quest. Spells typically do things like heal heroes, cause special attacks against monsters, boost a hero’s attack or defense, or grant a hero a one-use special power (as moving through walls).

Once all heroes have each had a turn, the monsters take a turn, moving and attacking as the Zargon player wishes, in the same manner as the heroes. Some monsters can also cast spells.

Those are pretty much the rules, aside from some details about how traps and secret doors are handled. Treasure is found in two ways— certain rooms have unique treasures or other discoveries defined by the Quest Book. Otherwise, treasure is randomly drawn from a deck of cards— but this deck also contains surprises like “hazards” (unavoidable traps) and “wandering monsters” which immediately attack the searcher. Otherwise the whole game simply involves exploring the dungeon and dealing with what you find, then getting out.

How It Plays

I started my experience with the game playing solo against Hasbro’s new (free) HeroQuest Companion App (I have the iOS version for my Apple iPad). This app handles the role of Zargon, so that a game can be played solo (with the player controlling all four heroes), or so a group of four can play the game with everyone being a hero, and the app being Zargon. (More about the app itself in a later blog.)

At first, I’ll admit that I found the board game play very simplistic, and the initial quests very easy. But after getting several quests under my belt, I suddenly ran into one that nearly wiped my party of heroes out— we were dashing to escape with our lives hanging on by one or two “Body Points” (the game’s term for hit points or wounds, which depending on hero range from 4 to 8). Suddenly I found myself respecting this old, “simple” game.

Later, when I took over as Zargon for my friends, I was surprised to discover that first quest, which I had thought too easy, was almost a death sentence for my buddies— indeed, they did lose one hero (the Wizard) to a combination of hazards and a well-rolled monster attack. When it all ended and the Big Bad Monster bit the dust, the remainder of the team were out of spells and almost out of lives— and glad to abandon the dungeon, despite knowing they were leaving potential treasure behind.

Now, part of the reason for that is as Zargon, I play with a little better tactical and strategic sense than the app does— going for high value hero targets (like the Wizard), retreating for better tactical conditions, etc.. But my players also ran into some horrendous luck— monsters improbably blocking multiple hits, treasure searches producing more hazards and monsters than treasure, and so on. Still, even with that accounted for, the game wound up being more exciting (and tense) than I had thought— proof that once again, the old school can be a very good school!

...and the trouble begins!
Defend yourselves, brave heroes-- if you can. MUA-HA-HA-HA-HA!

What’s to Like

HeroQuest is fun— there’s no question. If you want that old school fantasy game experience and you’re not wanting a heavy evening of roleplay, negotiations, and rules minutiae, HeroQuest will certainly satisfy that itch. And unlike many dungeon crawl games— TSR/WotC’s Dungeon!, Ganesha Games’ Four Against Darkness, SJG’s Munchkin, and the various dice or card-based dungeon games, HeroQuest allows for and requires tactical thinking in combat— it matters where and how your hero moves and stands, and the equipment can allow for good tactical advantages beyond just increasing the die roll. Also, the game is simpler and purer in its approach than current popular takes like GW’s new Warhammer Quest, Flying Frog's Shadows of Brimstone, FFG’s Descent, Cephalofair Games' Gloomhaven, and the like (some of which I have played, some not). It’s dead easy to pick up, and doesn’t require reading lengthy rules or attention to heavy details. (Plus, the ability to move either before or after an action is not a trivial difference to most of these games— hit and run away is a viable tactic in HeroQuest, if not essential!)

The app (again, in an upcoming blog post) allows for the potential Zargon player to experience the quest for himself, playing as the heroes before he reads the entry in the Quest Book.

There’s a lot of tactile appeal to the game— the miniatures and the three-dimensional dungeon furnishings are terrific to look at, have a nice heft, and can be painted (though this isn’t necessary to play). The dice are unique and fun to roll— who doesn’t like seeing results consisting of skulls, shields, and scary monster faces? The card artwork is solid as well— there’s nothing to take you out of the experience of the game. There’s a special screen for Zargon to hide the details of the Quest from the players, though to be honest, it’s not all that necessary. I think it was included in the original 1989 game as a way to “look” like 1980s D&D with its famous “Dungeon Master’s Screen” element. But it’s fun, and the artwork is nicely evocative, with its depiction of a brooding wizard “controlling” his dark minions.

Playing time is quick— about an hour and a half or even less to complete most “quests,” making this a great game for quenching that fantasy thirst in a single evening. This also helps keep the player elimination aspect from being a drag on the evening— usually a hero death won’t happen until the final boss fight, so everyone stays engaged during play.

There are a total of 14 adventures in the included Quest Book, as well as instructions for creating original quests— but 14 gaming nights is a pretty good run for any adventure game. Also, Hasbro has already produced two expansion quests sets (“sold separately”), and has materials to do at least three more. (I purchased my game through Hasbro’s “HasbroPulse” crowd-funding sight— an in-house version of Kickstarter. I went whole hog, and wound up getting all the expansions then produced, with extra miniatures.)

The heroes are presented as three males (Barbarian, Dwarf and Wizard) and one female (the Elf), but the crowd-funding effort also produced counterparts to these, as well as four additional hero choices. I imagine these may wind up being sold in an expansion set, if your players want a personal connection to their heroes. It really doesn’t matter in play— nothing about the game expects male or female or distinguishes between the two, aside from some art. Otherwise, the female Barbarian has the exact same abilities and levels as the male Barbarian, and so on. And if you do collect or play other games with miniatures, you can easily substitute these for the figures included in the boxed set. (For those interested, just eyeballing ‘em, the scale appears to be “heroic” 28mm— certainly no more than 32mm.)

The rulebook is clear and easy to read. Some elements might be slightly out of place (the rules for purchasing equipment are presented in the section about Searching for Treasure, though the purchases can only happen after a quest has ended, which is discussed at the end of the rule book). But for the most part, everything is easy to follow and find. There are a few discrepancies between the text on some of the cards and the rules. For example, some spells are line of sight, and the cards so state, but others aren’t clear on that point (as the various healing spells). Also, the various “dangerous” Treasure cards say to return the card to the bottom of the deck, while the rules say to reshuffle the Treasure deck every time a hazard or wandering monster card is drawn. Which applies? My group decided the rulebook superseded the card. (I would propose putting the card on the bottom of the deck and reshuffling only after an actual treasure is drawn as an interesting house rule, but I haven’t yet tried that.) And the Dagger equipment card says it can be thrown as a missile weapon (at which point it is lost), but the Wizard has a Dagger as standard equipment, with no indication this can either be thrown or lost. We decided that dagger wasn’t balanced for throwing (or he was very sentimental about it).

The Quest Book is also well done and clear. The few “read aloud” passages are evocative, but I also recommend that the Zargon player add some flavor of his own from time to time when placing the items and monsters in a room. But that’s just my approach, and certainly isn’t required.

For Parents: Nothing to Fear

The box says the game is for ages 14+. I’m not certain why this age is set so high. The game should be easily grasped by ages 10 and up, or even with adult guidance, kids 8 and up. There’s some reading to be done, but it’s quite clear, and there isn’t any objectionable material in the game that I can see. The art and figures are tasteful, there’s no presentation of gore, and what violence there is is abstracted into dice rolls. I suppose a few of the monsters are “scary,” but on a level about as frightening as creatures in a Power Rangers episode. I suppose parents stuck in 1980s Moral Panic mode might see the Gargoyle as demonic looking, but he’s presented as a magical creature of living stone (and was back then, too), to the extent that he’s presented as anything other than a Big Boss Monster. The other foes are classic Games Workshop style goblins (little, mean and green), orcs (big mean and green), “abominations” (who look like giant fish-headed trolls), “Dread Warriors” (big men in heavy armor), and mummies, zombies and skeletons straight out of stop-motion movies like Jason and the Argonauts. There’s also “Dread Sorcerer” who is a skeletal wizard, but no where near as alarming as something in Harry Potter. So if you’ve got a kid who likes books like The Hobbit, Harry Potter, or just Saturday-morning adventure cartoons, he (or she) will eagerly embrace HeroQuest. Younger kids might struggle with what to do without adult guidance, and yes, a hero can die, eliminating a player from the game— but the eliminated player could easily become Zargon’s “assistant,” controlling one or more monsters in combat and helping to place out the various dungeon furnishings.

Lit'l Zar-zilla is ready to play!

What’s Not to Like

Very little. The one thing potentially lacking is some strategic decision-making for the Zargon player. The quests are largely static (with a few exceptions)— the monsters wait in place until the heroes discover them, and the only “wandering monster” aspect is triggered by hero treasure searches— if the heroes don’t search, no new monsters can appear. So once the monsters in an area have been defeated, there’s nothing for Zargon to do on his turn until the heroes enter a new area. Fortunately the dungeons are relatively compact, so the downtime for Zargon is minimal.

The game also requires the surviving heroes to return to the stairway where they entered the dungeon to complete the quest— but by the time the heroes have pulled off the main goal, there’s rarely any opposition to stop this movement, and the dice rolling for it becomes a bit pointless. As Zargon, I simply waved away this rolling and movement when the players indicated they weren’t going to explore further, but just wanted to escape. Since they therefore wouldn’t trigger any encounters, the game was effectively over. It seems to me an element of “monster spawning” might be good to allow for the retreat to be more than just retracing one’s steps unopposed. But that’s a quibble, and it may be that further quests in the Quest Book address this (I’m only about halfway through).

Another (minor) quibble is with the Equipment. Between quests, the heroes can purchase weapons, armor and other items to improve their abilities, all presented on cards. (There’s no supply limit on these, but one could house rule limitations based on the number of cards, if one likes). There are some nice elements here, but they feel a bit limited in scope and influence on the game. And, aside from magical items in the quests (most of which so far have been one-time use potions), there’s no other way to improve a hero— there are no experience points or “leveling up” in the core game. On the other hand, simplicity has its virtue, so this objection is, as I said, very minor and probably personal to my own tastes.

And a Good Time Was Had By All…

That’s really the standard of a great game, isn’t it? That it’s fun to play, and everyone enjoys the experience— win or lose. Under that standard, HeroQuest isn’t just great, it’s terrific. It captures the theme perfectly, both in components and game play. It’s fast, easy to grasp, yet also nicely tactical— it challenges you to think a little before and during your turn. The randomness is present, but it’s not overwhelming— the player does have a sense of control over his actions, but not over the results, and to me that combination makes for an ideal and enjoyable game.

Despite being nominally oppositional between the hero players and the Zargon player, in many ways the game is cooperative not only among the hero players but also with Zargon. Even as the Zargon player acts to fight and defeat the heroes, he’s really engaging in a collaborative effort to produce a fun fantasy experience. There’s no sense of true opposition, or any impulse for cutthroat competition among the players (not that there’s anything wrong with that ;-) ). It’s just a grand time at the table, imagining being heroes facing fearsome foes— even if one of the players controls those foes. For that dungeon crawl itch, HeroQuest is a very satisfying backscratcher.

Sew five stars on the wizard’s hat for this one.

-- Howard Shirley, aka Parzival

Oh no! A wandering goblin leapt out from behind the comfy chair! My Wizard is in peril!
Lit'l Zar-zilla: "ROAR-HA-HA-HA-HA!

The Return of HeroQuest

Back in the 1980's, Milton Bradley teamed up with the UK's Games Workshop to create HeroQuest, a board game which mimicked the experience of Dungeons & Dragons, but in a simplified and much more limited form, at least as far as role playing was concerned.

The game involved a single map board divided into static rooms and corridors, but the whole board wasn't used in any one game. Instead, the path of available rooms and how they connected with each other was determined by set scenarios, meaning that each game would be different in play. The players took on either the roles of the heroes-- always a Barbarian, a Dwarf, an Elf, and a Wizard-- or the "evil wizard" Zargon, who acted as their opposition, controlling the various monsters, traps and tricks the heroes would encounter on the adventure. If was very much a "rules lite" copy of D&D (though not a clone by any means). In addition to the figures for the heroes and the monsters, the game included plastic items representing the various furnishings of the ruined "dungeon" the heroes would explore.

At the time it came out, I was a teenager, and looked down on it as a "kiddie" version of D&D, clearly inferior to "the Real Thing." It was also pricey, so I passed it by. The game had some success, but eventually went out of production.

It wasn't much after that when I began hearing how much fun the game actually was as just a quick-and-goofy dungeon crawl. Suddenly, I wanted the game. But it was gone forever, and by the time copies began to appear on eBay, the prices were sky high-- $300 or more for used and battered sets! I wrote it off as not-to-be...

And then in spring of 2020, I learned that Hasbro, who now owned Milton Bradley, had decided to bring the game back through their Avalon Hill line... but only as a crowd-funded product via HasbroPulse. But it was enough to convince me. I leapt in full bore, and backed the game for the full "Mythic tier" level, which would include reproductions of the original expansion sets from back in the day, as well as extra goodies if sales went well.

Sales went great. I had hit the motherlode, and all I had to do was wait a year. (Yes, I actually managed to wait patiently for a whole year. No, really.)

This past week my waiting paid off and the box full of goodies arrived from Hasbro... and I'm sharing my treasures with you-- feast your eyes!

The New HeroQuest: ALL the boxes! (Mythic, ain't it?)

Figures from the main game (also cards & character sheet pad)

The board, with Zargon's screen (still in paper band wraps).

Inside of Zargon's screen, rule books, and punch out tiles and markers.

Zargon's screen, from the heroes players' view.

Expansion quests contents-- more minis!

The "Mythic Tier" original expansion quests.

Mythic Tier unboxed-- even more awesome minis.
(Yes, that's a dragon.)

The Ladies of the Mythic Tier (plus "Lord Ragnar")

The heroes, both male and female in pairs.
Left to right: Barbarians, Dwarfs, Elves, Wizards.

The Mythic tier additional heroes, plus "Lord Ragnar."
Left to right: Warlock, Wizard ("Mentor"), Bard, Druid, "Lord Ragnar."

And there you have 'em! Aside from a few slightly bent weapons (easily correctable with hot water, a quick reshape, and a cold water shock), everything was in great shape.

Note that the sculpts and artwork are all new to the game-- homages to the original product, but not actually copies. (I suspect exact duplicates would not be possible for copyright reasons, not to mention probable destruction of the original molds.)

I'm looking forward to trying this out-- the whole thing should be a hoot!

--- Howard Shirley, aka Parzival

UPDATE

First, a minor correction: The core game has a female Elf hero and figure; the male Elf  hero is part of the Mythic tier upgrade.

Secondly, HasbroPulse/Avalon Hill has announced the game will be released for retail-- so it's available even if you didn't back the crowdfunding project.

Thirdly, and more importantly, HasbroPulse has released the HeroQuest Companion app, available for free, which can play as the evil Zargon, allowing all players to be heroes and experience the mysteries of the quests themselves. The app also supports solo play, so if you're by your lonesome, you can run all four heroes and try to defeat the dread forces of Zargon yourself! I'll be reviewing this app and the overall gameplay very soon... and in the meantime, I'm gonna have some fun!