Step into the room if you dare, but be prepared to fight

I’m hesitating. Should I enter the room or stay where I am? I’m very low on strength so I decide to wait for others. I cannot risk a fight.

HeroQuest is an adventurous roleplay game in which the players work as a team and try to solve mysteries or complete missions. There are several different scenarios to choose from.

One of the players will take control of the monsters while others can choose their character from the four protagonists, in other words the heroes. The options are Barbarian, Dwarf, Elf and Wizard.

When the game begins there is nothing to be seen on the board. You’ll catch up as you go, room by room and hallway by hallway. This means that the tension is quite high as you’ll never know what might come up. Only the player in control of the “bad guys” can see everywhere so they know exactly what is in a certain room.

This forces the heroes to sometimes make tough decisions. If I enter a room, can I deal with whatever there might be? Should we perhaps consider progressing as a group?

In each turn a player can move on the board and do one activity. The activity might be a combat, looking for traps and treasures, or using spells that might help. It should be noted that only the Elf and Wizard can use spells. The movements should be chosen wisely as too opportunistic moves might lead you to trouble.

I’m not very familiar with adventure or role play board games nor have I really enjoyed the thought of playing them. However, HeroQuest is an exception in this regard. This I would say is a result of good game designing. You can feel the emotions that your character would feel in such situations.

The only major downside I can think of is the complexity of the game. It can be quite hard to understand at first and there was lot to remember. For example, I really struggled to understand how the fights or combats work. There are four combat dice, but each character has different amount that they can use. I always forgot this.

Therefore, I would recommend that you play with someone who has played the game before. That way you learn faster as you have someone to guide you through it. I noticed that if you have this guidance and spend time with the game, everything becomes rather clear. Slowly but surely.

How does the game end then? Usually, it ends when a mystery is solved or a mission is completed. The other option is that all the heroes are defeated. This can happen if every character’s strength points (or body point count, which one you wish to use) falls to zero because if that happens, a character is killed.

This was my first time playing HeroQuest. I personally found the game fun and exciting. Even so much that I would like to try out another scenario or the later versions and additions to the game. You can play the game from two to five players; however, I would say that the more players there are, the better the experience is going to be.

Basic info
Designer: Stephen Baker
Released: 1989
Publisher: Milton Bradley
Players: 2–5
Time: around 90 minutes
Genre: ttrpg / adventure board game

Pictures: Patrik Oksanen

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