PC gamers from a previous era are probably familiar with HeroQuest, an isometric RPG strategy game from 1991 that was based on a hit tabletop game from two years earlier. This year, the adventure series comes back to the tabletop in the form of HeroQuest: First Light.
Published by Hasbro subsidiary Avalon Hill, the board game brings the beloved title back with all-new quests that pit four heroes against the evil Zargon and his nefarious designs on the realm. From what we can tell, it seems to be aimed at newcomers to the series, complete with a beginners-friendly rulebook designed to ease players into the game’s dungeon crawler RPG experience.
HeroQuest: First Light is a board game designed for two to five players that pits a team of mythic heroes against Zargon’s evil forces. One player takes on the role of Zargon, who also acts as the game master, while the other players assume the roles of barbarian, elf, dwarf, and wizard who team up together to save the realm by taking on multiple quests. Each quest takes between one and two hours to play, with 10 all-new adventures available from the included Quest Book. The quests, by the way, are written by the original game design, Stephen Baker, so all of them should be written with the spirit of the original game in mind.
According to the product page, the game is flexible enough to let players craft their own original quests, too, giving the game potentially limitless replay value, provided you’re creative enough to fashion your own stories. All the games are played on the included two-sided RPG map, which comes with different layouts on each side, so you can change up how each dungeon crawl feels, with four hero miniatures, one dragon miniature, and 31 monster pieces (orcs, goblins, abominations, gargoyles, skeletons, zombies, mummies, and more) really setting the stage for a proper fantasy adventure.
HeroQuest: First Light also includes 15 furniture pieces that players can interact with across the different rooms, along with 21 dungeon doors (five closed, 16 open) that Zargon can add to the board. There are tiles to represent all the various elements common in dungeon crawlers, such as stairways, grates, pit traps, trap doors, dead ends, and more, along with multiple treasure cards, equipment cards, artifact cards, spell cards, and monster cards. Basically, it’s got all the common dungeon crawler RPG tropes tabletop fan knows and loves. The game contains over 100 pieces.
The game comes with two movement dice and six combat dice, with the use of the latter depending heavily on the type of weapon your character is wielding. Players take a turn starting with the heroes, one after the other, with Zargon taking his turn at the end of each round. Heroes can move, attack, cast spells, search for treasure, search for traps, disarm traps, and use potions, while Zargon can control monsters on the board and cast dread spells. Each quest ends after the heroes achieve their goal, give up on their goals (in which case, they return back to the entrance to try again), or die. If successful, the heroes split up the rewards among everyone.
HeroQuest: First Light is now available as a Target exclusive, priced at $49.99.