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 so massive points!
Before this there were War Games and there were Board Games but the Board Games were basically roll 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 game I could find that was not a wargame but still has a free movement component. For example in Monopoly you roll the die and get what you get. In HeroQuest you decide where and even if you want to move at all.
Co-operative games were still not a thing in 1989 which I find as rather odd. By 1989 DnD had moved to 2e and the game was no longer a contest between the Dungeon Master and the player as it was in 1979 just 10 years later. The Role playing scene had changed but it seems the board game scene would take a bit longer until in 2008 Pandemic reinvented the entire board game landscape. So what do we have in 1989? The party game Tabo would be the "Board Game" of the year and DnD 2nd edition was released. In the world of Computer RPG's Wizardry and Bards Tale from 1985 are still the large games and not yet surpassed.
So what do we make of this game? It's very close to a great game so it's hard to dislike it. It's also the perfect project for someone wanting to rewrite the rules to be a better game. This would absolutely be my example if I ever got to teach a class on board game design.
So what are we left with?
On the PRO side:
- It's a campaign game. You can play this over the course of multiple adventures, each different. That was a really big thing in 1989.
- It's the first of its kind so if you are into the history of Board Games or more specifically the history of cooperative board games, then you really should start with the first.
On the CON side:
- It's still the player or players against the DM. The truly cooperative board games would still be a decade in the future.
- Far too often you will have nothing to do on your turn.
- Random chance heavily outweighs any strategic plans
Trivia
In 1989, Milton Bradley, in conjunction with the British game company Games Workshop, released a fantasy adventure board game, HeroQuest, which proved to be very popular. Three years later, TSR tried to emulate this success by releasing their own adventure board game, Dragon Quest
More Images
A few more images
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11-11-2024