Heroica: The LEGO RPG You Forgot

LEGO have made hundreds upon hundreds of different sets over the years. But out of them all, there exists one specific series that remains one of LEGO's most unique. It is a series that has been mostly forgotten over the years.
And that just won't do...
Subscribe.

[@hondaaccord1399]

On my knees like a starved man witnessing the divine mercy of a loving god, I haven't seen anybody mention LEGO Heroica, Minotaurus, Creationary, ANYTHING

[@yhyh8990]

Why you on your knees dude, pretty gay behaviour

[@CaptainTimeStories]

Same…. I’ve been hoping for years the heroica fandom isn’t dead… please stay with us…

[@elijahhayter3026]

⁠@@CaptainTimeStories we stand strong, brother, yet silent.

[@orgononjamie]

On my knees spreading open like a hooker, does anyone remember the Lego CDs or Blue Rays(Forgot which one) where you could choose answers and shit. Literally all I remember.

[@diegeticfridge9167]

MINOTAURUS WAS THE SHIT

[@Jmilton2000]

"Heroica: The LEGO RPG You Forgot" * me looking over ar the Heroica poster on my wall * No, I don't think I forgot about it

[@EXFrost]

Autistic?

[@finboror]

I have one too!

[@GwendolynFilm]

I also have that poster haha

[@techmaster9775]

Me who still has 4 sets stored safely at my mom's and sometimes forces the family to play it with me

[@lexibyday9504]

I think the world needs to get out of the "it's for kids so it doesn't need to be good" mindset.

[@NathanielKolk]

I agree, but it doesn’t make as much money, which is all the executives think about

[@lexibyday9504]

@@NathanielKolk I thnk the world needs to get out of the "top priority is making a profit" mindset.

[@intellectualpencil7627]

Agreed

[@NathanielKolk]

@@lexibyday9504 But money is the only language they speak, it runs our capitalist society.

[@completelyferrouschemist6776]

If you make it too good, adults will force their way in and push younger audiences around. Then it stops being for kids, and starts being for pushy adults who don't like sharing with anyone else. There needs to be a fine veneer where it's for families, not for everybody. That way, the context is around kids and adults, instead of one or the other.

[@warlock2507]

I could NEVER forget Heroica.

[@nneykobar_hali]

You and me warlock , you and me.

[@Bigsoz]

Same

[@jaylenjayden9305]

Me too

[@sonic234sonikero4]

I *LOVE* that game, i really want a new computer to play it online, because here there weren't any of them

[@orka5352]

I really loved these as a kid and my parents actually got me all of them. Probably never once played the game correctly or even read the rules but more or less just had a dungeon crawler for a kid.

[@terrylong8894]

It's almost like a VERY simplified Hero Quest. You don't have to worry about having to find somebody to be the dungeon master. You just play through and fight the monsters until you either die or get to the end of the game, and its endlessly expandable. If somebody wanted a single player fantasy adventure game without having to shell out a crapload of money, this would be a good one.

[@Evanflame-rk9xu]

I used to make entire new AREAS to play with dude. I loved heroica

[@kegeramanyanghakiki9576]

damm, you must be rich or sumn, as an ex-kid from the third world country, buying lego was never even in my mind for how expensive it was. We got the fake and the big one instead. But hey, i played the shit out of it no matter what. Ahaha, simpler times.

[@literallya442ndclonetroope5]

@@kegeramanyanghakiki9576 well, Lego is actually starting to get expensive even for people in first world countries lol.

[@cheng9260]

Brooo i used to do the same with the one my grandpa and grandma gifted me

[@th3d3liv3ryman6]

miss when lego just threw out random themes

[@MatiNuva1724]

Heroica casually being one of my top 5 LEGO Themes. It really deserved more

[@smilejenkins]

what's so casual about it?

[@olimor1]

Been playing this every (almost) Friday for the past year with my friend, I’ve added my own desert, graveyard and frozen tundra level, the graveyard has crypts with different seals and the frozen tundra has a mansion you need keys to enter and slippery ice paths, and the desert has booby traps! The original rules are lacking… so I’ve made my own rules, there’s camps with shops where you can buy potions (and weapons) and enemies give gold and higher level enemies gives victory points (encouraging battling them) That’s just scratching the surface I have a note on my phone with over 300 lines for text! I love this game and I really like making my own rules for it, makes me think feel like it’s my own game :)

[@matijakovac473]

Damn would you mind posting your rules in the comment?😅

[@bdeamon1]

I also would like to see your extended rules if you want to post them or maybe link them

[@CaptainTimeStories]

Hey I’m wondering if you know anyone else that does this? I got my own moc too and crazy ruleset… I’m hoping the fandom isn’t dead

[@bdeamon1]

@@CaptainTimeStories I've seen vids of people making grand Heroica moc gameboards, so I'd say more dormant or niche than dead

[@olimor1]

@@matijakovac473 it’s very long but I’ll try

[@Bonezee]

The pro-level tech for the scepter of summoning is actually to pair it with the rogue's ability and use it to farm gold.

[@breadslice9779]

never thought I’d see someone metagaming lego’s heroica

[@chickenpie4402]

How dare you accusing me of forgotting Heroica. I had the starter set and the forest one. In fact I still have them, although a few pieces lost or broke (The red guy my beloved :( ) over the time. I really liked back then and still love it to this day, but I always faced the problem, that I didn't had anyone to play with. My family deemed it to dificult. Not that they wouldn't had the mental capicity to learn it, but they lacked the motivation. Anyway my faveorite game mode was the team heroes vs team monsters. When one of the players controlled all the monsters. That really brought some life in the board.

[@ShadowEclipex]

Man, Heroica was such a cool concept and fun to play. Though most of my enjoyment of the game was seeing the possivel potential with the game.

[@piotrbijak3545]

Man as a kid I never had a single set of these but I remember watching the little 3d how to play the game tutorials over and over religiously, so I still remember the series fondly

[@ordogordo6589]

I would just play the web game over and over with the different characters until my computer time was up ✊⛓️

[@grobulae]

Me too!

[@isiffrin]

This is me but instead of the internet my school or one of my friends had the lego sets as I never got one. (any chance I got to buy a new lego set would just end up being a Ninjago one)

[@randam1005]

Same here. Lego wasn't really a big thing where I lived so there was no hope of ever getting the sets

[@bocar4127]

Same. I never owned many legos as a little kid because we couldn’t afford them but I remember the pyramid one specifically because one of my cousins owned the set lol

[@Nam3y123]

I didn't forget. These came out at the exact right time to be permanently stuck in my memory. I was at the age where I felt a pressure to ditch my "kids' stuff," cartoons and toys and such, so Lego Games and especially Heroica always struck me as the way to do Legos while being a grown-up. After all, it's Lego D&D before Lego D&D!

[@JamesTDG]

6:23 looking at releases of the instructions, the polybag looks safe enough to remake from pick a brick places.

[@a_ghost8926]

That’s what I was thinking as well, the only pieces he would have trouble getting would probably be the minifigs

[@KRBrickBot]

Ganrash looks like it has common enough parts to buy and piece together. It's a little detour from Draida Bay for an early weapon pickup.

[@mystic-malevolence]

Funny that you mention Ninjago; Season 13 actually came with a board game which played very similarly to Heroica. All of the sets had some structure with board game tiles, your characters had health bars, there were traps and enemies and your movement and combat were determined by spinning a 6-sided Lego top. The sets could be placed on an included paper board, but they could also be connected directly together.

[@davidr6127]

I still own the entire series of Heroica. I also have a few of the other games, Atlantis, the Minotaur one, and the dragon one.

[@captaincomic8678]

I've wanted LEGO to revisit Heroica for YEARS; when I was younger and used to mess around with LDD I remember workshopping a Marvel-themed version and trying to rework the rules to create more proper boss encounters and such, using different colored tiles to show where bosses would move next after the players' turn, having marked "hazard" spaces, new item types, et cetera. I remember specifically having a prison set built out where you had the main boss behind three security doors, which you had to unlock by fighting three different mini-bosses, each guarding a backup generator that could be used to unlock a door.

[@harlannguyen4048]

That sounds really cool. Who knew that Heroica has such a fan following even after all of these years?

[@Sikun88]

2 things are missing. The Storage Box/case with extra pieces and the PlayMatt. And the Card set, a card for every hero/item (a free giveaway)

[@eggsntoast4298]

Maaaaaan. Used to love this game. Me and the boys would disregard the hero's sometimes and play it with the monsters. 4 players, one for the goblins, one for the forest, one for the caves, and one for the undead. Use to play it like a turn based strategy game. Goblins always had the edge thanks to owning the bay. But I remember building little structures to act as a barracks or defensive walls. Even went to some lego stores to get more of the space pieces to make more board. We made our own sub game with Heroica. I need to rebuild those sets and call the boys. Tonights a Heroica Night.

[@mattwcook9127]

I was just old enough when Heroica came out to be responsible with the sets... As such, I still have all the instructions and boxes... Except for Fortaan which got moldy due to water getting spilled on it that I didn't know about until it was too late. Looking forward to when my nephew is old enough to teach this game to!

[@veloction6130]

bro that’s awesome I found a box my brother used to have and built the Fortaan set back up, just ordered waldurk forest and am looking forward to building the set aswell and play it lol

[@joshualoiacono5488]

Wow I forgot: these spawned an era of lego game-design for me! Absolutely loved Lego Games and especially Heroica. Also that is the proper reaction to Ninjago still making seasons.

[@RoninCatholic]

I never forgot. Heroica is what got me back into collecting Lego in 2012. For a while I was intentionally collecting in Microfigure scale, treating full sized minifigures as "Giants" for my Heroicas to fight. I sometimes go back to the set of houserules/combination with the fanmade board game BrickQuest and try to revise them despite having no fellow players to do a full tabletop RPG in Lego...especially not at microfig scale, since people are obviously gonna want the customization of full minifigures.

[@gar2yc]

Never forgotten... Mine are still well kept and pristine, held in the highest regard as one of LEGO's best tabletop game.

[@mrmacju1530]

Heroica will always have a place in my heart as it is the only Lego theme where I've ever collected all the sets.

[@Dieselnaut16]

Holy shit finally I see someone else acknowledge Heroica I loved playing the Fortaan castle board as a kid. Me and my friend would also make our own custom boards this was so fun

[@JayTohab]

I adored these LEGO boardgames, so sad they didn't really take off.

[@joshricks1273]

I absolutely loved the Heroica games. My friends and I played over and over during speech and debate trips. It's a shame that they were LEGO because trying to get all of them now would require a bank loan. But man, these games were great!

[@Daedalus-Inc]

This! I used to have a Heroica poster, and greatly enjoyed the flash game before it was deleted from existence.

[@Bonezee]

you can still play the flash game using the wayback machine

[@ninjajack6457]

My god…never clicked on a recommended video so fast. I always wanted to have this game as a kid, even tried to remake it myself.

[@EnDungeoned]

I have a couple of these sets kicking around - I got them both 2nd hand around 2012, Hero pieces were missing. But being a big TTRPG fan I could see the potential in them for getting kids playing. Shame they never made anything more of it

[@intelli-gent9863]

Funny you should mention that. With Lego announcing the D&D set my mind instantly went to Heroica. I got one set from that theme and I wish I got more because that was a very fun game. Very simple with easy rules. Maybe after this D&D set is released it might create a resurgence of the game? Dang, now I really want to play it again xD

[@mattmakermusic9743]

Oh man, Heroica. I still have all of the sets from when I was a kid, and this video makes me feel very nostalgic for the good ol' days. Might have to shake the dust off of them...

[@jandepaepe4262]

Okay so I've been designing a ttrpg for my master project for nearly 2 years now, and I'm honestly impressed LEGO even picked up this project, but I think the main way they dropped the ball is the following: as you mentioned, the dice make up a big part of the players' decisions. A simple way they could have given the players more choice would have been to let players throw 3 equal dice and pick whichever result they wanted... And i honestly can't believe not a single person designing this project had this single idea, since I came up with it in like, 2 seconds and I hope LEGO at least hired semi-capable and experienced game designers to make this thing. Game designer who could have come up with the same solution in the same time period

[@ezraho8449]

The die piece was a pretty expensive one so they likely couldn’t include multiple in a single box. Likely they didn’t want it to be unplayable with just one box.

[@jandepaepe4262]

@@ezraho8449 i wasn’t aware of that! Thanks for the insight

[@mikato2]

So when my brother and I were kids, we had a similar but slightly different idea: utilize the fact that the dice are *also* lego. Each character has three dice: physical, mental, magical. And as your character levels up (we never did decide precisely how this should happen) you could add points to each of these three attributes, and then distribute them among the faces of the relevant dice. And when you want to do something, you decide which die is relevant and how difficult it should be, and roll it. I think the highest any one face of the die could go was 20, because there's 4 studs on each face, and differently colored round pips had different values. Don't think we ever said what the maximum total was, but I don't think we planned for anything to hit 120. Similarly, each stat started at 6 (enough for one one-point pip on each face) but nothing said you had to have *anything* on any given face of any of the dice. You could totally stack all points in a stat on one face of the die, and have a 1/6 chance of blowing it out of the water, but at all other times completely fail to accomplish anything. Also, this being lego, your character was a minifigure, go ham with the lore, go ham with any of the various bits of equipment that could be equipped to a minifig. What your gear *did* was dependent on spending money (we used the Heroica inventory/HP as a basis for this part) and was usually to the tune of making certain actions easier (or possible at all by having a more specific power), but the more elaborately overdesigned it was, the better.

[@AJordan44-]

I do remember Heroica. This is the best video about it I've seen. I loved it, and had the third set and base the others based on pics and stuff I found from other sets and prices I owned as a kid

[@ethanlinton4780]

You. good sir, have unintentionally unlocked childhood memories in thousands of people(myself included)

[@CaptainTimeStories]

OMG I still play this! I have a moc that I still tinker with. I compulsively buy microfigures on bricklink to add to it. Seriously where is the heroica fandom at, I’ve looked all over and I can’t find it. Hit me up if you wanna talk. Seriously I still spend so much time playing heroica.

[@citrusfruit4662]

This brings back so many memories. These sets are definitely responsible for some of the things I’ve come up with and it actually makes me want to do something kind of like it

[@Rikka_Roll]

I had all of these when I was younger, I never forgot.

[@OwlOwl900]

I remember staring at the pictures and pages of these sets in the lego magazine wanting them so badly

[@trickponystudios]

I still have my Caverns of Nathuz.

[@asc3nded397]

I had so much fun building my own layouts and boards for this game as a kid

[@ThorStone214]

I never forgot about it. I just wish they would continued it. I have a set in my room.

[@jamestorrie6550]

Bro the memories that flooded back watching this is insane

[@Coloradorivr]

I'm so happy you and others here remembered Heroica. That shit was what made my middle school lunch time very fun. I'm honestly sad it and other lego table top games are now usually just remembered in small circles, and lego really never went back to it.

[@Endersynth]

I remember having these lego sets and trying to play with my siblings. It's a shame that we've more or less lost parts of the sets or some pieces got either missing or broken. I'll miss Heroica, it was a fun game idea.

[@josephmartins8882]

Had that poster on my wall for nearly 10 years. I never forgot it… amazing to see it mentioned in this current year

[@maxomatic76]

We have the Minotaur set of this game. I think that's what it was called.

[@erubianwarlord8208]

the minotaur was a separate game in the bigger series

[@ThatGenericPyro]

Minotaurus

[@miguelmulero2802]

I absolutely LOVED this LEGO series and I remembered watching the animated series over and over again.

[@sebikelifeuk]

This unlocked some seriously old beautiful family memories, my parents got me all of these lego games as a kid, used to get them for Christmas and birthdays, unlimited memories playing these with my siblings and neighbours, wow thank you so much for bringing these memories back, the pyramid and Minotaur ones have the deepest memories… and then I also remember at my Nan and grandads I used to play the lego ninjago game on their laptop lol, what a beautiful childhood I truly cherish…

[@wyrdcyko]

I've been thinking about this game for years, thank you for letting me remember the name.

[@dustinzaccaria7644]

What is the URL of the Heroica website, so I can have a look at archived content on the Wayback archive.

[@Alphacheesecake]

We need the ninjago video asap

[@kindcurls8945]

Had the minotaur one as a kid. Didn't even play the game that much, just loved the little minifigures and making my own mazes and stories with the pieces. Loved how customisable the dice was!

[@Diaz4641]

I have literally been waiting for this video to exist on the internet for years. Thank you for touching on this wonderful game!

[@AngelusNielson]

Just FYI, and I know this is a nerdy nitpick, there is no such thing as 'A dice" the singular of dice is a die. And the plural of lego is lego.

[@Dragonshadowbob]

You just showing the LEGO games clip at the beginning of the vid immediately flashed me back three centuries ago. I completely forgot about those, I was OBSESSED with them as a kid...

[@Shir0taka]

Man, the whole LEGO Games series was so peak with those tabletop games. I loved to watch all those sets and trying to recreate them with my poor cheap chinese legos. Actually if you have all Heroica sets and a bunch of lego, you could use them to play actual DnD with terrain, mini-figures and others

[@Dalazyfox]

It's good to see someone talking about Heroica. It was a part of my childhood and even though I couldn't get my hands on any of the LEGO sets, I've played the video game a lot. The music and sound effects from the game live rent free in my brain. Lots of nostalgia and a well made video. Good job

[@Skylite0228]

I had all 5 of the sets and loved them. I played w all of them combined for hours at a time.

[@tenderquirkydragon8643]

Out of all of the LEGO tabletop games, Heroica is still the one I remember fondly as a kid.

[@BrianBors]

I did forget this one. but as a tabletop rpg fan trying to teach this to kids from time to time when this came out, I followed it with special interest. Thanks for bring back the memories.

[@szkraft220]

It's insane how i found this video now and its aonly a month old because I'm currently lookign through everything Heroica related that I can find online this is an awesome video!!! Thanks for making it. I wish these were continued I really do... Heroica has always jsut had that SPECIAL sort of VIBE to it, yknow?

[@houston-coley]

The most underrated LEGO board game was the Harry Potter Hogwarts game. It involved sliding and rotating staircases, which worked as a surprisingly engaging mechanic.

[@BlueTheSquid]

Core memory unlocked. thank you for bringing back nostalgia and fond memories

[@Nighone]

I'll never forget Heroica

[@hipisss5836]

I really loved Heroica concept as a kid. Sadly, my family was to poor to buy me those and I only got the first, smallest set. But even with just that, I remember playing this quite a few times.

[@Ampheon181]

You just unearthed some OLD memories. Great vid

[@karolzzieba8146]

I loved Heroica, I played it obsessively with my friend, with whom we were building our own maps, having multi-character battles and so on... but man, watching your video I just couldn't get over the fact you used ost from Skylanders. I mean, I love that game, I'm collecting these guys since 2013 and argh, something so nostalgic to me with music from game I play since childhood, I love that so much God, I wrote that comment before finishing the video and then heard Rayman music. Another great throwback. Man, this video is literally me

[@sportsquid]

So glad you made this video! About a month ago i tried to find a video like this and was shocked to not find one. Thought I was the only person with fond memories of this series. I owned evey set in the line but never knew there was a website... I was too young at the time to have unfettered internet access.

[@mangoeater6919]

That thumbnail really untapped a hidden memory so suppressed I hadnt thought of those iconic nanofigs since 2010

[@JannahSWT]

I sadly ever only had one set of heroica but still i loved the small lego board games era, it was a great time!

[@roborex6]

This video just unlocked so many memories of Lego games I used to play on the Lego site

[@chipsetcharlie8171]

When i saw this video pop up on my for you i actually started to tear up, like i almost cried. So NOSTALGIC!!

[@lilschlagen]

Dude I had like half of these games you showed on screen and I haven't thought about them in years. I remember loving Heroica. I begged my grandparents to get me one of the expansions for my birthday. I remember it being pretty simple but very fun.

[@pinkk223]

THANK YOU FOR TALKING ABOUT THIS! When I was little I saw a video on the LEGO website of all the Heroica sets put together and it made me want them all so bad. Im so glad somebody else was just as impacted by these as me lol

[@dipperpines2793]

I barely played with these lego games at all, but I remember always seeing them. Just the box art at ~90s in gave me so many flashbacks to my childhood (and I remember watching the heroica animations, gosh seeing those again hit hard)

[@w.5273]

Thank you for this moment of nostalgia 🥲🥲

[@Lycan_of_1941]

I never forget my Childhood, never forgot the old sets, games, board games, and video games.

[@vladapatera123]

I will never forget the amount of fun I had with it with my friends when i was younger

[@BackpackComics]

YOU UNLOCKED A MEMORY OMG Lego games and the animations were crazy!! I wanted this lego set so bad! Thank you very much for the Lego lore :D

[@nomiss9246]

I only had one set. However ! I am now realizing that it inspired so much in me. It was my first experience of heroic fantasy and the classes stuck with me leading to me wanting to make a game, then a book and now a TTRPG. The first inspiration never truly disappeared. So that was a nice throwback

[@kittyclaws7657]

I just stared at the preview for about 10 seconds thinking whether I know what this about or not. Then I felt a shiver go down my spine. HOLY SH*T. I REMEMBER THIS GAME. I am Siberian and my family never had much money for LEGO so my mom bought this game because it was cheaper and had the LEGO logo on it. Damn, what a memory you helped me uncover! Thank you!

[@paleflame]

This just reminded me of the Adventure set, as each box was fairly large with a lot of in it and the board game and cards you got with every box was so cool.

[@innocent_red_head]

My beloved heroica, how i missed you

[@ChristochatBTW]

I did not forget heroica it's how I learned about fantasy tropes and writing

[@noxtenembris9131]

Dude, I'm so happy I found your channel

[@Froge2617]

I REMEMBER PLAYING THIS ON THE LEGO GAMES WEBSITE WHEN I WAS LITTLE!!!!! I CANT BELIEVE THIS!!!!

[@sacobred8400]

i had three heroica sets and the minotaur game, good memories :)

[@genarotorresvargas5513]

I loved Lego Games, man the memories, the times rewatching the tutorials over and over again cause I only find them on english and it isn't my mother tongue Thank you for making me remember

[@Jaimie__Archer]

YASSS! I had this paper catalogue with the GAMES section in it, and it was my favourite one. I also tried to recreate some of the sets and come up with some rules to it. Such a good time it was Thanks for this video, man. ❤

[@kingemmoden214]

I remember how mind blowing it was to combine the sets together into one giant board. Heroica and the Hero Factory video games on the Lego website are some of my fondest Lego memories

[@asdf-pd1uj]

I have several sets in pieces scattered across my lego boxes I still have. I absolutely loved to build custom campaigns with it, incredible product. I hope it returns someday.

[@Jarred-J254]

Somewhat forgot but constantly reminded by it seeing all 5 sets sitting on a shelf in my room after finding them in a box a few years ago.

[@terraminator4379]

I just unlocked a childhood memory I had long forgotten, thanks

[@duckluck3755]

OH MY GOD, you just reached into my memory and pulled out an absolute gem. I swear I had like a ninjago one or something that my brothers probably played completely wrong.

[@HoaTheHoly]

Having made my own heroica map before i have to say I LOVE THIS THEME, THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR MAKING A VIDEO ABOUT IT

[@fabianschreck4393]

Wow... I had so many of these games as a kid and totally forgot about them.

[@milkshake0802]

You just unlocked a core memory of mine. I had so many of these games and played them by myself all the time because my family got sick of them lol

[@batbobspongeman]

criminally underrated. loved everything about these.