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Description
HeroQuest is Milton Bradley's approach to a Dungeons & Dragons-style adventure game. One player acts as game master, revealing the maze-like dungeon piecemeal as the players wander. Up to four other players take on a character (wizard, elf, dwarf, or barbarian) and venture forth into dungeons on fantasy quests. This game was made in cooperation with Games Workshop Ltd. who designed the miniatures and helped in many of the production details including background world and art in the rule book and scenario book. The HeroQuest series consists of the main game and a number of expansions.
The game is played on a grid representing the interior of a dungeon or castle, with walls segmenting the grid into rooms and corridors. One player assumes the role of the evil wizard character (Zargon/Morcar), and uses a map taken from the game's quest book to determine how the quest is to be played. The map details the placement of monsters, artifacts, and doors, as well as the overall quest the other players are embarking upon. During a Hero's turn, the player can move before or after performing one of the following actions: attack, cast a spell, search for traps and secret doors, search for treasure.
The game ends when every player has either returned to the spiral staircase, exited by a door, or been killed by the evil wizard. If the objective of the quest has not been accomplished then the evil wizard character wins. Items collected during the quest may be kept for future quests. The quests usually form part of a longer story, especially the quests which are part of the expansion packs.
Additional material, which is generally missed since it is not technically an expansion, was published in the HeroQuest: Adventure Design Kit which did feature one more Heroquest adventure: A Plague of Zombies.
Year Published
1989
Transcript Analysis
Browse transcript mentions, sentiments, pros/cons, mechanics, topics, quotes, and references.
Total mentions: 9
This page: 9
Sentiment:
pos 5 ·
mix 1 ·
neu 2 ·
neg 0
Showing 1–9 of 9
Video NXYxHmfxxJk
Adam Porter general_discussion at 5:36 sentiment: positive
video_pk 11993 · mention_pk 35149
Click to watch at 5:36
Overall sentiment (raw)
positive
Pros
- Nostalgic classic with strong thematic cues
Cons
- Old design may feel dated to some players
Thematic elements
- adventure/heroic fantasy
- Fantasy dungeon crawl
- storybook/adventure
Comparison games
none
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- adventure/dungeon crawl — Players explore a dungeon with modules and encounter cards
Video topics + discussion points
No key topics recorded for this video.
Quotes (from this video)
- the aesthetic appeal of a product plays a big part in its commercial success
- placeholder art is more than adequate to give publishers a feel for what the game could look like
- publishers are no longer afraid of looking childish
- as a game inventor the visuals are unlikely to be at the forefront of your mind when you're ideating prototyping and testing your game
- let me know in the comments which games have gone above and beyond with their aesthetics
- standout component is very desirable in a prototype
References (from this video)
No references stored for this video.
Video EdFi4jt7SHA
Adam's Hobby Channel general_discussion at 39:50 sentiment: positive
video_pk 10987 · mention_pk 32370
Click to watch at 39:50
Overall sentiment (raw)
positive
Pros
- Nostalgic, engaging mechanics for casual groups
- Solid special‑edition collection for classic hobbyists
Cons
- Age of the product and availability may limit new players
Thematic elements
- heroic exploration against a necromancer and monsters
- Dungeon crawl fantasy adventure
- cooperative storytelling with modular scenarios
Comparison games
- Dungeons & Dragons board games
- Gloomhaven (modern equivalent in spirit)
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- cooperative dungeon crawl — Players work together to clear rooms, fight monsters, and complete quests.
- Modular scenarios — Different dungeon layouts and goal conditions yield varied play.
Video topics + discussion points
No key topics recorded for this video.
Quotes (from this video)
- Rank and flank if only good if the rules are streamlined like uh Kings of War
- the main book is 200 220 maybe 250 I forget the exact number
- One page rules for free otherwise if you want to get the less simple you know kind of document it costs five bucks or you can join their patreon for five bucks a month and then get access to all of them
- Goblin brain video made me think about my hobby spending towards Beyond games and models tools and paints are a big fomo trigger for me I watched the video and the proceed to buy the Space Marines Herobine blocks
- as soon as they made it so you didn't have to worry about the swag bag that's just what I purchased because back in the day people who were the first like thousand people got the swag bag and everybody else didn't
- looking forward to the tanks of the Apocalypse event at adepticon
References (from this video)
No references stored for this video.
Video goe3uWbfmNQ
kirakoto general_discussion at 1:40 sentiment: neutral
video_pk 9885 · mention_pk 29081
Click to watch at 1:40
Overall sentiment (raw)
neutral
Pros
- nostalgia
- easy to approach for new players
Cons
- older design mechanics feel dated
Thematic elements
- classic dungeon adventure
- fantasy dungeon crawl
- cooperative dungeon exploration
Comparison games
- Descent: Journeys in the Dark
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- cooperative_play — Players work together against the game.
- modular_dungeon_tiles — Variable dungeon layouts.
- simplified_combat — Basic dice-based combat.
Video topics + discussion points
No key topics recorded for this video.
Quotes (from this video)
- three minute board games is committed to winning this race to the bottom
- i absolutely totally do not understand this game desperately needed testing and editing
References (from this video)
No references stored for this video.
Video miaTx2EupNw
Adam Porter general_discussion at 5:56 sentiment: mixed
video_pk 6239 · mention_pk 18483
Click to watch at 5:56
Overall sentiment (raw)
mixed
Pros
- Cinematic dungeon crawl feel, approachable
Cons
- Early design examples can be gimmicky if misbalanced
Thematic elements
Comparison games
none
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- Dice-based combat — Combat resolves via dice, impacting story outcomes.
- Dungeon crawl/adventure — Cooperative exploration with combat and treasure collection.
Video topics + discussion points
No key topics recorded for this video.
Quotes (from this video)
- Dice are not the answer in a first-time design.
- They are toxic. They destroy your first designs.
- Meaningful interesting decisions… the decisions have to mean something.
- Even if you have all sorts of other unique stuff going on in your game that roll for combat just overwhelms it.
- Monopoly has a bit of both, chaotic, entertaining momentarily but ultimately frustrating.
- Event decks can be devastating to your design if they wipe out progress or resources.
References (from this video)
No references stored for this video.
Video Fflv2nCikrs
Adam Porter (Board Game Designer) analysis at 2:52 sentiment: positive
video_pk 4852 · mention_pk 14388
Click to watch at 2:52
Overall sentiment (raw)
positive
Pros
- Elegant simplicity of mechanism
- Excitement of successful rolls outrunning enemies
- Increased player choice with partial movement option
- Shows strength of roll and move in dungeon crawling
Cons
- Can be frustrating to lose long game purely from bad dice rolls
- Heavy reliance on chance despite good mechanics
Thematic elements
- Adventure, monster hunting
- Fantasy dungeon
- D&D inspired
Comparison games
none
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- Asymmetric gameplay — Heroes move via dice rolls, one player controls monsters with fixed movement allowances
- Partial Movement — Players can choose to move any number of spaces up to die result, not forced to move entire distance
- roll and move — Grid-based movement with hero players rolling dice to move
Video topics + discussion points
No key topics recorded for this video.
Quotes (from this video)
- Where once randomness ruled modern games prioritized player agency designers strived to incorporate meaningful decisions into their games and role and move became a dirty word among the modern tabletop community
- I myself put out a video called dicer not the answer back in 2017 one of my most watched lamenting role and move
- In 2022 i feel like maybe just maybe we've tipped too far in the other direction thrown the baby out with the bath water
- This video is a quest for redemption
- When done well roller move is one of the most intuitive exciting mechanisms out there
- In a pure roll and move game the player rolls a die or spins a spinner and moves their playing piece according to the result
- In talisman you roll the die and then you choose to move clockwise or anticlockwise around the board that one deviation from the purest role of move games the decision to go left or right immediately put talisman head and shoulders above most board games on the market at the time
- Hero quest showcases the strength of the roller move mechanism its elegant simplicity and the excitement of a successful role outrunning an ogre
- It can be really frustrating to lose a long game which you were totally invested in purely because you rolled badly
- Spooky stairs is a great example of a game where the roll and move mechanism itself isn't tampered with but the basic race mechanism is turned on its head by incorporating a chaotic memory mechanism
- This game beautifully highlights the intuitive nature of roll and move as a mechanism
- More than any other on this list this game demonstrates how such a simple mechanism can create agonizing decisions and a hugely interactive variable board game experience I can't recommend this one enough
- Roll and move games don't have to be devoid of meaningful choices
- Formula d has a great roll and move mechanism which i haven't seen replicated in any other game
- Push your luck and roll and move complement each other nicely
- Among hobby gamers roll a move is widely considered something of an untouchable mechanism in 2022 and that's a shame
- Roll and move isn't a cursed mechanism
- Like every mechanism roller move has strengths and weaknesses
- It can be used effectively to create an exciting intuitive system or it can be used ineffectively to create a wildly random experience which feels primitive and unfair
References (from this video)
No references stored for this video.
Video qZmePw5GuTA
The Dice Tower top_10_list at 48:10 sentiment: positive
video_pk 3376 · mention_pk 10004
Click to watch at 48:10
Overall sentiment (raw)
positive
Pros
none
Cons
none
Thematic elements
- modular dungeon exploration
- fantasy dungeon crawl
- fantasy classic
Comparison games
none
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
Mechanics unknown.
Video topics + discussion points
No key topics recorded for this video.
Quotes (from this video)
- Dominion has a severe problem with that artwork being just the definition of.
- the art is not up to date
- This needs a second edition
- We could see a 2.0 that doesn't break the bank
- Time Pirates is a game where you're going through time rescuing artifacts
- Escape the Dark Tower is mindblowingly stupid
References (from this video)
No references stored for this video.
Video rOHUvC5SCmw
Adam in Wales general_discussion at 9:43 sentiment: positive
video_pk 3341 · mention_pk 9876
Click to watch at 9:43
Overall sentiment (raw)
positive
Pros
- nostalgia, simplicity, straightforward rules
Cons
none
Thematic elements
- tactical dungeon exploration
- 80s dungeon crawl
- classic retro
Comparison games
- Warhammer Quest
- Super Dungeon Explore
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- mission-based dungeon crawl — simple, nostalgic approach to dungeon exploration
Video topics + discussion points
No key topics recorded for this video.
Quotes (from this video)
- I love the thirsty meatballs gaming library is wonderful to be able to go there and play all sorts of different games
- UK Games Expo I always think about the newcomer to the hobby what are they going to find when they go there
- the Kickstarter's up there people are pledging and now he starts to test and starts to design that game
- Evolution has really become my favorite game at this point
- Roll for the Galaxy is a fantastic euro game
- it's a speed game if you think of Jungle Speed
References (from this video)
No references stored for this video.
Video WsOrpEJmi50
playthrough at 0:08 sentiment: neutral
video_pk 1976 · mention_pk 5656
Click to watch at 0:08
Overall sentiment (raw)
neutral
Pros
none
Cons
none
Thematic elements
- Adventure
- Fantasy dungeon
Comparison games
none
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
Mechanics unknown.
Video topics + discussion points
No key topics recorded for this video.
Quotes (from this video)
- it's a Hero Quest day
- let's roll the dice
References (from this video)
No references stored for this video.
Video fSK3h5rfpqk
Unknown game_design_modification
video_pk 1432 · mention_pk 4152
Pros
none
Cons
none
Thematic elements
- Fantasy Adventure
Comparison games
none
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
Mechanics unknown.
Video topics + discussion points
No key topics recorded for this video.
Quotes (from this video)
- I was an expert at taking well-designed games and making them just a little bit worse but I didn't care I loved every minute of it
- Creating this little deck of 21 cards and this tiny sheet of 22 tokens has rejuvenated the game
References (from this video)
No references stored for this video.
Transcript Navigation
Showing 1–9 of 9