HeroQuest (1989)
About
In 1989 Milton Bradly introduced HeroQuest. The original Dungeons and Dragons or Fantasy Board game. Before this time Fantasy based War Games and Role playing games had been around for a decade but no one had ever transferred the idea the board game space. The boardgame Talisman had the fantasy theme but it's really a roll and move game not so dissimilar to Monopoly.
HeroQuest was the first to put free movement and a tiny bit of roll playing to the tabletop space. With an open board design, a book of map layouts, and some clever walls and miniatures, you can transform the board into a multitude of quests.
It's you against the Dungeon Master. Over the course 14 Quests each taking about 2 hours, fight the evil wizard.
Thoughts
Tim:
2/5 Fine for it's Time
I have to agree with Laura in that it's hard to call it "bad" when it's the first and nothing like it has ever been attempted. If I played it when it came out I'm sure I would have played it all of the time. 30+ years later, and game design has really come a long way. I love gaming history so I'm glad I played this one, but I'm looking forward to better rules in the games this would inspire.
Laura:
2/5
It's only "bad" because it is the first. This would be saying The Beatles' "Helter Skelter" is a terrible metal or hard rock song. It is, when compared to songs that came after in their respective genres. HeroQuest creates an excellent bridge from D&D to campaign games. It's just that there are so many other excellent examples that follow. Someone had to be the first, and go through the pain of bringing something new to market! So, while I rate this game low, it isn't because the game is bad, it just lacks what other generations of game designers learned after this game was published. Yes, the game is too fiddly and doesn't have a good balance and requires another person to manage the game instead of allowing the board or story to manage it. I'm glad they made it, but I'm also glad I only played one session.
Expanded Thoughts
After about 2 hours of research it really does look like this was the first game of its kind. Before this there were War Games and there were Board Games but the Board Games were very much more throw dice and move around a track. HeroQuest really seemed to go for that "Dungeons and Dragons as a board game" vibe. It's the first that I can see that is not a wargame but does have free movement.
Trivia
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More Images
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11-11-2024