The Big HeroQuest 1989 Review | A Stick to the Script Review

Always Board Never Boring has wanted to write a "Stick to the Script" review for HeroQuest for a long time. Finally, he's done it... This video review tries to encapsulate what ABNB finds so magical about HeroQuest.
PLEASE NOTE: If you have never seen a "Stick to the Script" review, be aware they are not traditional reviews. They don't really talk much about game mechanisms. They are more about the feel of playing games, and what makes games special. This review mainly focuses on HeroQuest 1989, but make no mistake, ABNB is a big fan of Avalon Hill's new edition of HeroQuest too!
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[@alritchie2162]

I remeber getting this for Christmas 1989 when I was 10 and loving it and now I’ve bought my 10 yr old the new version for this Christmas and hoping he loves it as much as I did.

[@AlwaysBoardNeverBoring]

That's amazing. I am sure he will love it, and I hope he carries memories of it into adulthood just as we did.

[@Proper_Dave]

Wonderfully put. Turns out your Heroquest experience and my own are nearly identical, even down to the literal sacks of Christmas presents instantly forgotten on the day I received it. I am blessed to still own my childhood Heroquest (including a chrome Chaos Warrior and a poo brown mummy, the result of my one and only attempt at miniature painting as a child). Completely hooked on the new edition too. I'm currently running a homemade campaign for my friend and his kids and they love it. Heck I still love it. Anyway keep up the awesome work and Merry Christmas, love this channel and your content.

[@AlwaysBoardNeverBoring]

Thanks for watching. That's lovely you still have your original copy. I very much regret getting rid of all my games, but I've made a decent stab at getting them all back again! Glad to hear you are enjoying the new edition too.

[@RC-vu7ru]

I restarted to paint my 30+ years HW copy because of you. 6 mommies, 12 skeletons and 4 chaos warriors done last month. Next ones: the orcs. Waaaaaghhh!

[@AlwaysBoardNeverBoring]

That's awesome. Good luck whipping that rabble of orcs into shape!

[@jeremycarnes1656]

That box is the very picture of childhood, to me.

[@AlwaysBoardNeverBoring]

Absolutely. When I glance at it walking past my shelves, it never fails to make me smile.

[@jeremycarnes1656]

I've been slowly printing out resized copies of the original miniature set and tossing it in with my re-issue. My 11 year old daughter prefers the older sculpts, too, in most cases. I bought her her own copy and a bunch of SundayQuest books. She's started homebrewing her own stuff, she just asked me to pick up the Epic Encounters Spider and Goblin Tsar set for her. When I was a kid I had no idea what Warhammer was. But the Chaos Warriors, Femir, and green skinned goblins and orcs stayed with me even into playing AD&D later. And now I'm a huge Warhammer fan. Also, something about hearing UK fans still referring to Zargon as Morcar when using the re-issue pleases me.

[@AlwaysBoardNeverBoring]

To be fair, I used Morcar for most of the video because I was mainly talking about my original experiences. I do go by Zargon when I play Avalon Hill's edition! I call them "dread warriors" too. That's great that your daughter is plotting her own adventures. Lots of fun miniatures in the Epic Encounters range to build a dungeon with.

[@Bite.Size.Gaming]

As someone else living in the UK (SouthEast) thank you for sharing your memories mine are similar around that time… 35 years ago last month as a eager 9 year old watching tv trying to catch a glimpse of the Toys ‘R’ Us advert & theme tune, I stumbled across this HQ advert that change the way a viewed board games for ever, complete with 3D minis & Furniture. After sticking it on my Xmas list this was the second best present that year (nothing compared to the original NES console at time) luckily my love of HQ outlasted Nintendo. This advert cost around £\$500,000 & designed to get kids into GW & I feel for it “hook line & sinker” for a few years. Happy Birthday HQ hope we have good 2025 filled with a few expansions 🤞

[@AlwaysBoardNeverBoring]

Thanks for sharing your memories. I got a Mega Drive a few Christmases later, but nothing ever touched my love of board games. I think my brain would have blown up if I had got something like an NES and HeroQuest at the same time!

[@MikChaos]

as many of us of a certain age, my copies of Heroquest and Advanced Heroquest were stripped for part for D&D games over the years so are no longer complete but the memories remain. We also had the computer version on the old Commodore Amiga.

[@AlwaysBoardNeverBoring]

My games avoided that fate, as I never got into D&D when I was younger. I played HeroQuest on the Spectrum rather than the Amiga. I still remember that music!

[@HivisoftheScale]

Ahhh HeroQuest truly is the gift that keeps on giving. 🥰 I am so glad you keep putting up videos on this old game. Hopefully a whole new generation of kids got to enjoy it thanks to Avalon Hill!

[@AlwaysBoardNeverBoring]

Thanks for watching. I think Avalon Hill bringing it back was such a great move, and I do get a buzz from knowing lots of children will get to go dungeon-plunging just like I did.

[@HivisoftheScale]

@@AlwaysBoardNeverBoring Oh, off topic -- did you watch the new Amazon show "Secret Level"? I heard it had a Warhammer 40k episode

[@AlwaysBoardNeverBoring]

I watched the 40K episode, and I am waiting to watch the D&D episode with my daughter. Nothing else much took my fancy, but I will watch them all at some point. The 40K episode is excellent.

[@HivisoftheScale]

@@AlwaysBoardNeverBoring oh good! I liked the D&D episode, but I have a few hang-ups. Nothing major... but...

[@EriktheRed2023]

My two old, original HeroQuest sets have seen more use as RPG tool kits than actual HeroQuest games. They shaped my early journeys to the worlds beyond all the more for it.

[@penstroke2536]

Me too. Xmas 1989 I got Heroquest and my friends got Nintendo's so I had to start home-brewing rules and adding elements from RPGs to play it solo. I soon branched away from the quest books and started doing my own thing.

[@AlwaysBoardNeverBoring]

HeroQuest was (and is) a great toolkit as well as a great game.

[@stuarthill5309]

The best thing about HeroQuest is the memories it helped create, second best thing is the journey it sent us on and of course, the third best thing about HeroQuest is that KZbin video!

[@JeffWittyArt]

I honestly never get tired of HQ content. It’s my favorite solo (or group) TTRPG. My YT feed is full of HQ, then Dungeon Crawl Classics, OSR/D&D, and Mork Borg goodness. Great escapes from the daily grind. Collectively, all your video content creators are doing a fantastic service!

[@AlwaysBoardNeverBoring]

Thanks for watching and supporting all of the content creators. I appreciate it, and I am sure all the other channels do as well.

[@Merlynn132]

For me,the main draw for Heroquest is I love the asthetic of it. It's got great presentation and that draws people in. It fascinates me how simple set dressings,nice minis,and a bit of story flare can make a world come alive. Even though I thought at the time I first saw it that it was a bit generic,I still loved how it came together. As time went on and things have gotten worse and worse,I've come to appreciate the simple beauty of it more and more. I think things getting worse is the main cause of nostalgia. And why we cling so hard to our memories of better times. Even if we didn't appreciate it as much at the time.

[@AlwaysBoardNeverBoring]

I think sometimes (with newer games, for example) there is that idea at the back of the designer's mind of being "the next..." or "better than..." That can lead to games being a bit over-engineered and fussy, and you lose those great, streamlined games that are elegant and fun. Comparing new and old Games Workshop miniatures is the same sort of thing.

[@NoxAtratus]

Another excellent video. Being a similar age to yourself I had almost the same experiences growing up and at Christmas time, with my 2 best Christmases involving Hero Quest and Space Crusade. Games I still own and cherish. Lost Valley of the Dinosaurs also features in there (still own that too) and the Garfield books you mentioned!…. that hit me right in the feels. lol. Brilliant, keep up the excellent work.

[@joadams8022]

For me, Heroquest entered my life through a tradition of the family buying a new board game when the cousins came to visit (such also led to Trivial pursuits, Lost Valley of the Dinosaurs, and the Batman movie board game). AHQ... now that, that was the first 'big box to rule them all' Christmas gift. Never to be outdone, but equalled a few years later by WFB 4th; either way, Xmas have never been the same without a big old battle taking over the dining table at every opportunity.

[@AlwaysBoardNeverBoring]

What a great memory, and a lovely tradition. Thanks for sharing. Got to love Lost Valley of the Dinosaurs as well!

[@joadams8022]

@@AlwaysBoardNeverBoring LVotD walked so HW could run. In fact, I recall that the fam preferred LVotD, while HQ just ended up as me and Dad after a while. Perhaps surprisingly, Man o' War was a big hit as well, with people taking command of a squadron or large ship each.

[@blackraptor311]

One of these days I'm going to take out my two copies of Classic Heroquest and fix them up to paint them. I also have a copy of Battle Masters as well.

[@AlwaysBoardNeverBoring]

Classic HeroQuest looks amazing once the paint is on. I used to have Battle Masters. It's not my favourite game, but I do want to pick it up again one day. I think my children would have a blast with it.

[@CountOrlok22]

This will always be my favourite game for many of the same reasons.

[@jandukanocraft]

Oh yes. Heroquest was a Christmas present for me and my brother too, after waiting two years to have it (it was quite pricey for my parents). Best game ever IMO.

[@AlwaysBoardNeverBoring]

It was my "big" present for '89. I don't think I had much else under the tree. But what more did I want? I bet you and your brother had an amazing time with it.

[@Khilkhameth]

Oh, so it wasn't just me that snapped the Sorcerer's Table candles! After that, everything always lay flat in the box!

[@AlwaysBoardNeverBoring]

I think everybody broke the candles. If you look on eBay, most copies have broken candles, and unbroken candles sell for a fortune.

[@eldritchmorgasm4018]

Same with the rats, kinda

[@AlwaysBoardNeverBoring]

Many of the rats do indeed look like they have had an encounter with the farmer's wife.

[@EriktheRed2023]

I winced when you mentioned the candlesticks...

[@AlwaysBoardNeverBoring]

So many people did it...

[@Fex97]

Man i love your videos and the music, it's always so relaxing.

[@AlwaysBoardNeverBoring]

Thanks so much. James Lloyd, who provides my music, is a very talented chap.

[@georgeadsett-knutsen829]

Excellent video, I look forward to the others!

[@AlwaysBoardNeverBoring]

Thanks for watching. I'm glad you liked it.

[@Malcadon]

Oh damn good retrospective! It reminds me of the magic and wonder I had playing as a child.

[@AlwaysBoardNeverBoring]

Thank you for watching.

[@kenbetza]

I was 15 and bought my own copy, from my local comic shop, Just bought Prophecy of Telor from the same Shop

[@AlwaysBoardNeverBoring]

Nice they are still going. Prophecy of Telor is a good expansion!

[@andytaylor160]

I’ve just finished painting up the new core set for HQ, I have the original MB game, but really wanted to play the expansions. Managed to snag a really cheap core set so grabbed the first 5 expansions too.

[@AlwaysBoardNeverBoring]

That's great. I've seen the Avalon Hill turn up in a few good sales over the last year, and it's well worth grabbing. With five expansions you have a lot of adventures ahead!

[@sisyphus8870]

I got my hero quest for Christmas, i was also 10 years old.

[@AlwaysBoardNeverBoring]

A lot of people had an amazing Christmas in 1989.