CLASSICS FOR A REASON!
If you are picking up Heroquest for the first time or like myself, reigniting memories of childhood, this game stands the test of time. It’s a pretty large game both physically and playability, with each scenario posing different challenges and different mechanics to keep it fresh. The recent dungeon crawler games that have become commercially available often use many different game mechanics or require a suitcase and a loan in order to buy and transport them. Although this comes in a large box you can use the companion app to drastically reduce the amount of the game you need to play it. Sometimes you want to just kick the door in on a dungeon and roll some dice! This has always been my go to in order to scratch that itch. I’ve played this game solo and up to four players using the app, with one person for each character.
A. Campaign and classes
i. The core box campaign offers you the chance to explore and upgrade each of the four classes, and these are the cornerstone classes for all fantasy dungeon crawlers. You are in search of a dark evil power that is rising called Zargon. He is an evil sorcerer who is raising an army of various minions from goblins to zombies to gargoyles. The miniatures for the enemies are great and really help add to the table presence. I’ve owned Heroquest twice and I’ve played through about eight full campaigns. The second edition (the one you are buying) is more refined and easy to pick up.
ii. The barbarian is the first through the door and can be upgraded to be an absolute juggernaut with armour and weapons. As you travel through the different scenarios you can pick up healing potions and your companions spells can enhance you.
iii. The dwarf is an expert in disarming traps that litter the rooms and passageways you will be travelling. They can also hold their own in a fight and acquire ranged weapons. I enjoy throwing plate armour on the dwarf and let him ponder off on his own.
iv. The elf is an interesting class as they are probably the most well rounded class. They can fight, they can defend and also use a class of magic of your choice. I would recommend the Earth spells for the elf unless you have the expansion for the elf in which they get their own spell set! I am excited to play it myself.
v. The wizard is the last class in the list but they are the most fun to get to play the big turns. From huge fire spells which can clear whole rooms to healing for your companions you can sway the outcome of many encounters.
Although you may not be able to upgrade your equipment as much as the other classes, you can still buy some lighter armour and even some weapons to help with the smaller battles.
B. Components, setup, “saving the game”, draw to the table.
Heroquest is a very simple and approachable way into the dungeon crawler genre of game. Its such an easy teach as it’s cooperative in a group and app supported. Everyone gets into their characters much like a role-playing game from the moment they write their name on the top of the old school player sheets. From there on out its just great fun. If you choose to play as the evil sorcerer then it’s quite dull, I would fully recommend using the app which is free to play as Zargon for you. Then you get to do all the fun stuff too!
Setup can be an issue, I find some of the cardboard tiles that you use to show cave ins and rubble hard to see as they are the same colour as the passageways so I normally put them on the board at an angle to ensure they can be seen. Some of the core set furniture and props are alot smaller than shown on the maps, you have to place it in the middle and confirm with players which spaces they can move into and which are occupied by the item. In the expansions you get different versions of these items but they are always a little small for the spaces they are supposed to fill.
Set up is always easy with Heroquest as you start in one room, as you enter the new dungeon on your adventure. From there you explore the huge board, finding hidden doors/rooms and collecting different relics to help aid you and your party. If you play this solo with the app as Zargon it’s fast and intuitive so you can keep the pace and advance quickly completing a scenario in around twenty minutes, or you can play this as a group and each player can take their character on their own journey, in which case I would say it will run closer to forty minutes. I’ve always managed to get two scenarios done for a game night when this has hit the table.
When it comes to packing Heroquest down and recording treasure it’s very easy, each character has their own player sheet to keep track of equipment and items as well as health and mind points. You can easily wrap this up and get it back in the box in under 10 minutes. At the end of each session you are excited to spend your gold on equipment and items to help in your next adventure. With the app you can keep track of everything for each of the characters playing.
As soon as we get through the second play session everyone is hooked. The core box offers at least thirty hours of play, and there are numerous expansions that I haven’t played yet that introduce new threats but also an update/upgrade for one class from the core box. There are also expansions that add new classes to the game.
DITCH THE BOARD AND THE MINIES?
So I’ve played Heroquest with just the app, the cards and the dice as the more travel friendly option. You can roll the dice for movement and move each of the characters on the app screen. You can pass the phone/tablet around to allow for multiple players. You can use the spell and treasure cards on the app allowing you to track damage on the minions and the bosses. I’ve played this way multiple times solo and two player. Having the cards for the equipment, spells and items feels rewarding when you get them and helps give your characters a tableau feel. You won’t even miss the playing board.
