Heroquest (2021) from Avalon Hill Review

I have finally caved and got the new Heroquest from Avalon Hill. How does it compare to the 1989 classic? what are the miniatures like, are the quests the same? Why should you play Heroquest in 2023?

All these questions are answered in this review.

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MUSIC CREDITS
Intro Music:
"Intrepid"
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0

Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License

End screen Music:

[HeroQuestFans]

the sound effects in this one... charming :D

[Duncan]

Am I the only one who appreciated the fully colored old cardboard furniture. It just made the dungeon look way better right out of the box. To me anyway

[DinobotTM]

Just for the fans who might not know, the original Hero Quest took place in the Warhammer world, in a partnership with Games Workshop. Since the deal is no longer in place, all references to Warhammer were replaced. That's why Chaos and the Fimir ar had to be replaced.

[Mark-nhhs]

Remember what our lord and saviour The Bard prophecised "You can never have enough boxes of Heroquest" 😂

[dungeondan]

Great review mate nice to see you have finally grabbed a copy 👍 I still haven’t got mine yet but have picked up most of the expansions now. Really looking forward to your first play through.

[TheFatalT]

I didn’t get HeroQuest when it was first released, and I couldn’t remember why for the life of me since HeroQuest would have been right up my alley. But when you mentioned how you didn’t particularly like the OldHammer minis it rang a bell, and I seem to remember having a look at the game and not really liking the look of the miniatures - and so I passed (I think I also wanted a fighter-type in plate mail instead of a barbarian, I seem to recall). How I wish I had been wiser! It wasn’t until long after HeroQuest was out of print that I came across people talking about it and by then it was out of my means to get.

So, when the remake was announced I was quite stoked and have gone all in it. Really enjoy using the app as well as playing with my kids. I’d recommend using the New Beginnings quest in place of the Trial, as it’s far easier and much better for introducing new players to the game. You can download it from the Hasbro Pulse site I believe, and it’s also on the app (look in the Pulse Exclusive Quests section).

Really enjoyed the review, look forward to more HeroQuest.

[helmkekitsune]

I got the Avalon Hill Hero Quest a couple weeks ago and mine had the super tight trays, all the minis were massively warped. I fixed them with some hot water, but for the price I expected better.

[travismatheson]

In Australia we had the European version, which the UK version was. However, they did change the first quest of it from "The Maze" to "The Trial" in subsequent printings, which was the one we got in the Australian market. We only got the original 2 expansions though, so "Wizards of Mocar", "Against the Ogre Horde" were not available, nor were the US expansions, unless you were a game store that specifically got them in from the US. In 2015 I started buying HeroQuest and managed to get all of the European expansion.

I was super excited when they announced this and I went all in for two copies of the "Mythic" edition and I have purchased 2 copies of every expansion and Hero pack they have released since, because as the Bard says, "The only way to expand HeroQuest is with more HeroQuest"

[AlienGenotype]

The one you have is actually another small updated version of 2022 it seems. I got this one today too. The box is different from the 2021 release, and i read the packaging and figures are of abit better quality. At least, that's what i read on reddit.

Heres the post:

"Right okay not as difference as i thought all the items are in the same place (sorry) deffo a clean up job for general retail all books cards tokens dice are the same, all figures furniture are identical the big difference is the tray is no longer a clip in tray the minis just sit in there quite snug so if painted wont chip scratch from movement but not tight where you have to pull to remove if i tipped it up they would fall out.

The build quality appears to have improved considerbly with everything fitting together as it should no massive gaps in furniture or glue marks running down the back.

The figures do seem to have slighty more detail this could be down to more care coming off the press though

My guess would be they changed packing company or gave a good ass kicking to the original one due to the amount of defects that must be out there.

This is how it should have been from the start not with us sitting there dipping minis in hot and cold bath to straighten up or filling in cracks with green stuff."

[williammoore]

I believe the reason why the UK version's monsters only had one body point was because the designer and/or MB Games thought the players would fight each other rather than co-operate. (More of a Monopoly mentality?). Therefore the monsters are incidental to the real fighting. You get an inkling of this philosophy by some of the wording on the spell cards which suggests they can be used against heroes as well as monsters.

I suspect the US version was effectively competing with D&D. So the players of that version would be used to co-operating and so needed tougher monsters to fight. This is also probably the reason the Chaos Sorcerer had spells in the original US release.

You were right about Gary Chalk doing the illustrations on the original cards. Still the best!

[Mozzytm]

There were two uk versions. I think the second print had the trial as the first quest.

[RC-kdue]

what do you think of this solo with the app?

[robins]

Maybe I am just being a reactionary, but it seems weird that it was originally designed in Britain and yet now only based on the U.S. Rules and design. Not to mention that all the Warhammer references have gone!

[alexany]

What's about the question, if it's as good as the original?

[ParzivalPheonix]

For a total noob, what are the other best dungeon crawlers?

[tomaO]

The first quest in the American version was actually quite hard. They increased the difficulty because The Maze had been considered rather boring, and they wanted a more exciting first chapter to grab players, so they included all the monster types, including the gargoyle. This was an overcompensation, as it made fully exploring the first level too challenging.

No idea about the other levels. Wish you had the American version to compare. Second mission has quite a lot more monsters. Quest 3 too. Looks like a general difficulty increase. I dunno, especially when move distance is random. Makes it hard for groups to stick together. Personally really hate dice movement.

Sleeves for the pieces. I don't quite remember how that was for the original set but it seems nice enough. I think I like the bendy plastic, but I don't remember pieces breaking being a big deal for me. Oh, chests are fully plastic now. I remembe them as having carboard with plastic ends. Hmm, doors too. Doors were always so annoying. Maybe it's less in the way with the slightly larger board though? Oh. Right, I remember those old dice now that I'm seeing it again. I don't ever remember really thinking much about them being smaller than normal plastic dice. Gargoyle used to be several pieces you put together, and now it looks like it's a single. I like the look of the older one better. The head in particular.

Hmm, looks like they didn't include any of the advanced heroquest rules. While I'm fine with a straight remaster of a game, I feel like it could have benefited from also having the advanced rules.

Anyway. I had no idea they published Heroquest again. This was an interesting look.

[jonathan]

I much prefer the minis and art of the original, but what they’ve done with the new version is excellent. I also much prefer the US rules, despite being from the UK myself. The tiles and board from the new version are also excellent quality.

I’ve ended up printing off the cards and rules from the original US version of Heroquest so I get to use the superior rules but with the original minis and cards. I use the tiles and board from this new version as they’re much better quality. So I effectively use a hybrid of 3 different versions of HQ 😂

[chrisstokoe]

Yeah I want it but I don't think I will play it again big dilemma

[Ethnarches]

Ouch that new artwork nearly gives me a physical allergic reaction, it embodies everything that is bad about modern gaming art, same as those models. The card art for the items etc was alright as well as the board and tiles, but all the character art is just awful. My son is now 5 and I'd love to play Heroquest with him as he grows up a bit, but I'm unsure if I can personally get past that horrible art and original copies cost ridiculous amounts and I also love the Warhammer connection as old Warhammer is my thing. I'm very conflicted here, I'd love to play it with him but I'm unsure I even want to show him art like that and models like that.

Anyway, thank you very much for the review.

[YorkshireMatt]

Loved this game. This and talisman . Did you ever play dragon warriors? If so could you do a review (it's been re realised on drivethrurpg).