The HeroQuest board game, a collaboration between Milton Bradley and Games Workshop published in 1989, has been out of print for years. One potential reason was the US trademark being taken up by tabletop RPG company Moon Design Publications—which is ironic, since Sierra had to change the name of their game Hero’s Quest to Quest for Glory when the digital version of the board game was trademarked in 1991. Anyway, Moon Design have given the trademark to Hasbro, owners of Milton Bradley, who are now crowdfunding a new version of the board game for North American release.
Hasbro is seeking $US1 million on its internal crowdfunding system HasLab, which they use to gauge interest in expensive toys aimed at adults like a Transformer the size of a child. HeroQuest has already raised over $US865,000 with 44 days left to go, so it’s going to make that target.
This version of HeroQuest is being made without the cooperation of Games Workshop, so references to the Warhammer World and its monsters have been removed. While the rules and board seem broadly unchanged, the art and miniatures have been updated. They’ve got a much more Warcraft look to me, and the overdetailed miniatures seem a lot harder to paint than the appealing but beginner-level sculpts of the original.
It’s hard not to be cynical about a game whose appeal was all about its introductory qualities, a My First Dungeon Crawl for kids, being repackaged as another boutique box full of expensive plastic for nostalgic adults, as so many crowdfunded board games are.
Meanwhile, over on the Steam Workshop for Tabletop Simulator here’s what a search for HeroQuest turns up.
