Forum adverts like this one are shown to any user who is not logged in. Join us by filling out a tiny 3 field form and you will get your own, free, dakka user account which gives a good range of benefits to you: No adverts like this in the forums anymore. Times and dates in your local timezone. Full tracking of what you have read so you can skip to your first unread post, easily see what has changed since you last logged in, and easily see what is new at a glance. Email notifications for threads you want to watch closely. Being a part of the oldest wargaming community on the net. If you are already a member then feel free to login now.

For Christmas this year I got this nostalgia-bait. I had this when I was a younger person, and played the heck out of it. I also used my existing D&D and WHFB minis to expand the heck out of it. You could say, it was the first game I actually heavily modified as a budding wargame designer! New enemies, new heroes, and new magic! I also used it as a gateway to suck a lot of folks into RPGs and Wargaming back then. Mwahahahahahahaha!

Therefore, when it came back out I knew I would eventually get it. Lo and behold, here it is! One of my big projects for this year will be to get this bad boy painted up so I can use it to corrupt more people into wargaming! So, let's dig in and take a look at what is in the box.



I am sure many folks are all ready familiar with this game, so I just highlight the box contents, some of the simple mechanics, and talk about what its potential is. You can read about it on the blog if you are so inclined.

https://bloodandspectacles.blogspot.com/2024/01/review-heroquest-avalon-hillhasbro-plus.html

Thanks for the review Easy E, an interesting read. I've just got hold of this and am painting up a set to give to my nephew as a Christmas present (giving myself plenty of time!) - he is about the same age I was when I first started gaming (although it was Space Crusade in my case) and really hoping that this will be the perfect game to get the hooks in!

Got HQ here not that long ago, to describe the rules as basic is an understatement, however they are very good and do a surprising amount with a simple framework.

the fixed board looks a massive limitation until you see how its used, and as Zargon there is nothing saying you cannot craft adventures using other board designs anyway.

in my opinion the only thing it lacks is a very basic skill advancement system, and that purely so there is some minor drawback to half the group dropping dead.

mechanically as written it can get a bit... procedural, as in a set way of lining up outside a door and tackling a room as there is no timer to prevent this, however there is also nothing that says monsters have to play dumb

I'm really enjoying it, and enjoying running it with people who I never thought would like it, but keep wanting more

Good Review,
I bought HQ as a casual family dungeoncrawler and in that role it has performed admirably. We've made a couple minor changes...
-Guaranteed 4 space minimum move roll
-Allowing the party to order themselves each round as they wish.
...and I sometimes do a bit of on-the-fly DM'ing, but overall functions exactly as advertised.

We finished the core quest book and are into the second. I'd be happy to play it anytime with Adults or family.

It might not stack up to the requirements of those who like more complicated and advanced games, but that's not what HQ tries to be. I still think it's the best casual dungeoncrawler available.

I was planning on switching to a fixed movement rate. Humans 6, Dwarf 5, and Elf 8.

Has anyone tried this? How does that work out?

Makes it too reliable. Part of the challenge is dealing with situations where you can’t get who you want, where you want during combat.

Now, when moving about where there are no deployed Monsters, I just let my players go where they want, provided before anyone opens the next door, they’ve chosen their positions as a group.

But random movement is a necessary mechanic.

As for the game overall? I’d call it accessible, over basic. It’s nothing too fancy, but still has a decent amount of crunch and subtlety to it.

And impressively for me? The Avalon Hill redo hasn’t gone mucking about with it. Whilst it’s the American version which has some additional things (like multi-wound monsters, which I don’t recall from the UK original), it is the same game that lead me to where I am, near as dammit 35 years ago.

In a world of remakes and re-imaginations and remasters in media? To get a long treasured game with no added Guff is a welcome change of pace.

 Easy E wrote:
I was planning on switching to a fixed movement rate. Humans 6, Dwarf 5, and Elf 8.

Has anyone tried this? How does that work out?

I think that would be a pretty strong buff for the Elf. Also, rolling the movement dice is just one of the fun things about the game. Giving a minimum roll of 4 and allowing the players to choose their order each turn worked for us in that it kept the rolling aspect, but gave them some flexibility and helped prevent bottlenecks.

If you're set on a race movement stat, maybe set different minimum dice rolls?

Perhaps a set base with an additional 1d6.

Dwarf- Base 2 + d6
Human- Base 3 +d6
Elf- Base 4 +d6


Also, does one of the expansions have a cleric type unit? If so, which one? It was not that easy to tell on the Hasbro Plus page.

I’ve got a now complete set of HeroQuest and its expansions.

I’ll endeavour to get pics of all the hero cards over the weekend. Give folk an idea of who does what.

 Easy E wrote:
Perhaps a set base with an additional 1d6.

Dwarf- Base 2 + d6
Human- Base 3 +d6
Elf- Base 4 +d6


Also, does one of the expansions have a cleric type unit? If so, which one? It was not that easy to tell on the Hasbro Plus page.

That method could work, but it's also fun to have the chance to move 12. I think a minimum roll is a better way to give differentiation while retaining that chance for adv exceptional move.

As for cleric , not strictly included in the full D&D classic sense, but the "Wandering Monk" fits the role fairly closely.
https://hasbropulse.com/products/heroquest-hero-collection-path-of-the-wandering-monk

 Easy E wrote:
Also, does one of the expansions have a cleric type unit? If so, which one? It was not that easy to tell on the Hasbro Plus page.

Two of the three druid powers are healing. From the Ogre Horde expansion IIRC.

Third power is a +1 / +1 'blessing' that wears of when they are hit and is restored when they heal up.

Oh man. I bought the old version from the 80s/90s in a carbootsale for €2 years ago before the re-release on a nostalgia whim.

Had no idea what it was worth...