In 1990, Milton Bradley released a new board game called HeroQuest that quickly became very popular. Players took on the roles of fantasy characters and explored dungeons to find treasure and complete objectives. While played on a flat board, the game came with lots of miniatures for the characters, monsters, and even doors and furniture. A few expansions were released and then production ended in 1997. Then in 2020, Hasbro purchased the license for HeroQuest and launched a crowdfunding campaign to raise $1,000,000 to make an updated edition of the game. Response was incredible and the goal was met within the first 24 hours. The updated game included more and better miniatures and two expansions were released at the same time as the core game in 2021. Now a new quest pack is available that takes the adventurers into a cold, polar region where they must defeat the Frozen Horror.
What Is The Frozen Horror quest pack?
The Frozen Horror quest pack is an expansion for the HeroQuest gaming system. The core game is required to play this quest pack. It is designed for 2-5 players, ages 14 and up, and takes about 30-120 minutes to play. It’s currently available for $44.99 from the Hasbro Pulse website. It is also available from Amazon for about $38. The Frozen Horror quest pack is published by Avalon Hill and Hasbro.
The Frozen Horror quest pack Components
Here is what you get in the box:
- 1 female barbarian miniature
- 8 monster miniatures
- 12 mercenary miniatures
- 2 doors
- 2 movement dice
- 6 combat dice
- 35 game cards
- 1 pad of character sheets
- 3 sheets of tiles
- 1 quest book
The quest pack comes with an alternate sculpt of the barbarian character. This one is of a female barbarian which can be used for the barbarian only quests. There are also a total of twelve mercenaries with four different types: crossbowman, halberdier, swordsman, and scout. Mercenaries can be enemies during the quests. They can also be hired by the players to join their party before a quest begins.
There are four new types of monsters included in this quest pack. You get 3 ice gremlins, 2 yetis, 2 polar warbears, and the Frozen Horror. Each type has their own monster card that contains all of their stats. In addition, these new monsters also have special abilities that make them even more dangerous.
An iron door and wooden door, both in icy blue, are used for several of the quests as entrance or exit points rather than using the traditional staircase from earlier quests. The pack also includes 2 new movement dice and six new combat dice in shades of blue. A new pad of character sheets maintains the frosty blue theme and has spaces to record the ten quests in this pack.
In addition to the four monster cards, there is a new barbarian card with the same stats but different artwork as well as four mercenary cards. There are also ten artifact cards, six treasure cards, and four new equipment cards with different types of potions, three of which can only be used by the barbarian. Finally, there are six new dread spells which can be used by the monsters.
While the core game comes with lots of furniture and other objects, this quest pack includes tiles you can place on the board to represent different types of rooms as well as icy terrain and even chasms. There are also smaller tiles for ice tunnels and other terrain which makes life difficult for the heroes.
New Features in The Frozen Horror quest pack
The Frozen Horror comes with ten new quests. What is unique about this pack is that the first three quests are solo excursions for only the barbarian. You can play these with two players as one plays Zargon while the other is the barbarian, or play it solo with the app acting as Zargon. These first three quests are tough, especially if you are playing it with a new barbarian who has no additional weapons, armor or potions. In fact, you may need to play even the first quest 2-3 times to get through it with a new barbarian. Since this quest takes place in a frozen environment, some of the tiles and terrain cause cold damage. Plus there are two new types of traps. These quests are filled with lots of things that will steal away your health. There are even new treasure cards which can either help or hurt you.
While the map itself can be dangerous, the new monsters are deadly. The ice gremlin may look similar to a goblin, but this monster has 3 body points and 3 defense die! Plus, instead of attacking, it can steal items from a hero and run away with them. The yeti can grab a hero after an attack and hold them in a yeti hug that prevents them from moving or attacking and causes damage each turn until another character intervenes. The polar warbears get two attacks, once with their spiked mace and once with their might paw. They can attack two different heroes or attack the same one twice. Mercenaries are a great new addition to the game. Some have some powerful attacks, but each only has two body points so they can’t take much damage. The scout is the only one who can detect and disarm traps while the rest are there for combat.
A free HeroQuest app is available for both iOS and Android which allows the game to be played solo or completely cooperatively as the AI takes on the role of the gamemaster and controls all of the enemies. The app includes the original quests from the core game as well as the new quests from each of the quest packs. Plus it has three original quests unique to the app. The first quest, New Beginnings, is a great way for new players to learn the game and collect some equipment before embarking on more difficult quests. If you are using new characters for the Frozen Horror quests, I suggest you play through at least the first app quest so the Barbarian can go into the solo quests better prepared.
Why You Should Play The Frozen Horror quest pack
I played the original HeroQuest back in the ’90s with fiends and siblings and really enjoyed it. A few years ago, I found my copy and began playing it with my own kids and they enjoyed it. However, when I got a copy of the new and revised HeroQuest about a year ago, I was very impressed with the quality and detail of all the miniatures as well as how the game had the same feel as the original. When I learned about the Frozen Horror quest pack, I was excited to try it out, especially since it had some solo barbarian quests as well as new monsters and mercenaries. Again, the quality and detail of the components are great. Plus the new monsters are very challenging. I enjoy using the app so I can play along as one of the heroes. Therefore, I used the app to play through the three solo quests as the barbarian. While I usually use the barbarian to rush in and attack, I forgot that I usually have other heroes in the party that can use spells or potions to heal this character. My first time attempting the first quest, my barbarian did not even make it halfway through. I used a new barbarian without any upgraded weapons, armor, or potions so it was not pretty. Without backup, I changed my tactics and rather than rushing into a room full of monsters that could surround me, I began running away into the hallways where I could focus on just one monster at a time. I also focused on looking for the exit door rather than clearing out every single room. Eventually I learned from my mistakes and survived.
I am very impressed with the Frozen Horror quest pack. It really takes HeroQuest to the next level. The ten new quests are not easy and expect to have to play some of them more than once to complete them. In fact, you may want to head back to the entrance and quit the quest so you don’t die and lose all your equipment. These challenging quests are one of the reasons I like this quest pack so much. There is a very real sense of tension throughout them and players have to use some strategy and tactics to avoid being overwhelmed. I also like how the tiles really add to the map as they are used for special rooms. My family enjoys playing HeroQuest and once we go the Frozen Horror quest pack, we felt like we were playing a new but familiar game since there are so many new features such as mercenaries which can even be used in previous quests. This is a great game to play with a family or a game group since it is easy to learn and quick to setup and start playing since you build the map as you play. If you enjoy playing HeroQuest, then you definitely need to add the Frozen Horror to your collection. If you don’t yet have HeroQuest, then I highly recommend getting at as well as the Frozen Horror quest pack. They provide hours and hours of fun and challenging entertainment.
For more information, check out The Frozen Horror webpage!
Here is an gameplay overview video for the core game.
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Disclosure: GeekDad received a copy of this game for review purposes.
