Certainly to the excitement of long-time fans, but also as a way to garner new fans, Hasbro, through their HasLab crowdfunding platform is bringing back Hero Quest!
As a bit of backstory, my introduction to fantasy tabletop gaming came in 1989 at the ripe old age of 11 in the form of Hero Quest. Hero Quest was the first and only dungeon crawling game I knew of or played for years and years. In fact, I still have my original game!
The Hero Quest campaign has already met its initial goal with over 20 days still left (it ends November 6th 2020) and has just added a slew of stretch goals. While the game will likely end up going to full production later, the campaign has a bunch of campaign exclusives that will not be available later if that does occur.
Why a Remake of Hero Quest?
Until just recently, good copies of the original Hero Quest still frequently sold on eBay for hundreds of dollars. Not only is it a great nostalgic game, but, and a lot of modern gamers might find this a negative, but its a lot more simple than most modern dungeon crawlers. For less advanced gamers and for younger gamers, though, Hero Quest has always been a great, fun, and low barrier to entry game. In fact, the campaign announcement, spurred me to break out the game and play it for the first time with our 12-year-old and 7-year-old and they both LOVED it. Bringing the game back, with modern updates, and at an accessible price point has me, and many fans super excited!
As there are no prototypes available, unlike our standard game reviews, this article will only cover what is in the campaign and compare some of it to the original game, but will not go into detail about the game play itself.
What is Hero Quest?
Hero Quest is a dungeon crawling light role-playing fantasy game for 2-5 players ages 14 and up (though as mentioned above, our 7-year-old loves it), and takes about an hour or two per quest. It’s currently seeking funding on HasLab, with a Heroic Tier pledge of $99 for a copy of the base game, or a Mythic Tier pledge of $149 for the base game, expansions, and all unlocked stretch goals. Even the Mythic Tier is a great deal considering how much more you get than the original game and at a lower price than you could ever hope to get the original game and expansions.
New to Crowdfunded games? Check out our crowdfunding primer.
Hero Quest Components
Base Game Components (Included with both pledge Tiers)
- 1 Game board
- 1 GM screen
- 71 character, monster, and furniture miniatures
- 4 Bonus hero miniatures
- 1 Campaign Exclusive miniature
- 1 Rulebook
- 1 Quest Book
- 1 pad of character sheets
- 6 combat dice
- 2 movement dice
- Spell cards
- Monster cards
- Hero Cards
- Trap/Secret Door/Etc dungeon tiles
Mythic Tier Components
- 2 Expansions
- Each expansion comes with a new Quest Book (with 10 adventures) and a 20 new miniatures
- 2 more exclusive minis
- All unlocks – this will change as the campaign proceeds, but as of the time of this writing includes
- 1 new Hero miniature and card
- 6 extra combat dice
- 4 extra monster miniatures
- 1 new Quest book
The locked stretch goals include two more heros, another Quest book, and more extra monster miniatures.
What’s Different in the Hero Quest Remake?
This question is likely equally important to both old and new players to Hero Quest but for slightly different reasons.
Modern Components
The most obvious change to the game is that all of the miniatures have been updated with new sculpts and will most likely be comparable to the quality modern gamers expect from their miniatures. At the time, the Hero Quest miniatures were great, but they are an injection molded plastic, very similar to old scale-model kits. Not terrible, but not great compared to today’s standards.
Alongside that, all of the furniture components of the original game were a combination of plastic and cardboard. While most of mine are still in decent condition, I have more than a few doorways with creases in them. The new furniture components are 100% modeled miniatures so will be way more durable and better looking than their original counter parts.
While I don’t have any in hand, my expectation is that the game board, cardboard tiles, sorcerer screen, and cards will all also be in-line with modern standards of quality.
Rules
Hasbro has been somewhat vague on what rule changes have been made, stating only that there will only be minor changes to rules and original quest books along with some new rules to support the new Hero types and expanded quests. For the advanced gamers who feel Hero Quest was too basic for their current tastes, this probably means their opinion won’t change on the new game. However, for those of us who enjoy Hero Quest BECAUSE its simplicity compared to a lot of modern dungeon crawlers, this is good news!
Updated Content
Nostalgia aside, this is actually the part of the remake I am most excited about. It was painfully obvious to me when I got Hero Quest out the other day that the most outdated thing about the game was not the components or the rules, but the representation and diversity–or rather the lack of it. All of the heroes, the villain, and the monsters are male (and white). The new base game has 8 heroes instead of 4 — a male and female version of each of the base heroes (barbarian, dwarf, elf, and wizard) and with a variety of skin colors. Even the orcs and goblins have both male and female sculpts now. And two of the three stretch goal heroes are also female. The updates to inclusivity alone make me want to have this version of the game to play with our family.
Why You Should Play Hero Quest
I’ve probably made it clear at this point but, I love Hero Quest and the nostalgia it brings. Having an updated copy that will last another 30 years is reason enough or me to want a copy of the new game. But it is also a great introductory game for kids and teens who may not want to jump in to full role-playing like Dungeons & Dragons or who aren’t yet ready for a super deep dungeon crawler. Hero Quest fits nicely into a space where it makes fantasy tabletop gaming accessible to a wide range of ages and gaming experience levels. It’s also a great game for a late night pizza and beer session in a hotel room after a long con day!
For more information or to make a pledge, visit the Hero Quest HasLab campaign page!
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