I can't WAIT to see your thoughts on the actual QUESTS within Heroquest: First Light! It's a very different but familiar starter kit! MORE coming in 2025, expecting TWO NEW EXPANSIONS next year that will put a massive smile on everyone's faces!
There will be a deep dive into the quest book after Christmas. There are some incredibly cool ideas in the adventure that I think people are going to love. And yes... 2025 is going to be a big year for HeroQuest, I reckon.
I mean, it makes a bit of sense that knee-high tables and treasure chests don't block the line of sight, but moving through them, or through the sarcophagus? That's ridiculous. What happens when you end your movement in the weapon rack?
Excellent review. I think this is a good product and that pesky new board is gonna make us veterans want to have it. To count with the words of Stephen Baker in the quests is a luxury. Thanks for this video. Wish you and all the viewers the happiest Christmas.
They had the opportunity to add 4 new heroes, introduce a new set of spells, and introduce new artifacts. And, Hasbro phoned in the production while the OG designer actually put in the work for more quests. Cool that there's a cheaper entry point for people to give the game a try. But, it really should've offered more than a quest book to the existing player base.
I would have liked to see new heroes and artifacts, but I do believe this offers more than a quest book to existing players. It's four alternative hero sculpts, a new boss with card, a 10-part quest, a double-sided board allowing for double-size maps and alternative cavern maps, a new set of dice in different colours, new rules variants, and revised cards, all in an easily portable version for if you are going to a club or something. I don't think they have phoned it in. I think they have tried to balance adding enough content for existing players if they want it, without making it feel like they have to buy another core set if they really don't want to.
This should have been a 2024 Christmas release, and I strongly believe it started out that way until the box art fiasco. That's too bad. It could have been a must-have Christmas item!
Cardboard doors and new quests by Baker is all I needed to hear to give away my money for this! I haven't pre-ordered this cause I want to see if Target will actually stock this in stores. I want to help create traction that this can sell from the shelves.
Yeah, this will be a lot easier to bring on the bicycle, bus, or train. I might pick it up for that, and to have one I can lend to interested people... Looking forward, as always, to your deep dive!
Can't wait to watch this! I may do only cardboard dorra from now on just to save some space on the board. Not sure if you discussed this. But ive beent hinking it might be the way to go😊
Same. That's what my "Christmas Past" video in this series was all about - the magic of getting HeroQuest in 1989. Funny thing is, the box isn't all that big really, but back then it felt huge, with this massive world inside it.
As a 90s teenager, I've always known about and been intrigued by Hero Quest. This is a tempting and affordable entry point. BUT... despite being labeled as 2-4 players, can it work on solo?
@@AlwaysBoardNeverBoring Thank you for your reply! That is a shame. I always prefer a distinct front and back to a standee rather than the mirror image on both sides.
It would have been nicer, but it's a lot of new artwork to commission. Probably would have made the standees more expensive than they would have liked.
I will definitely be picking this up just for the minis, the new adventure and the extra dice and board. I'm also thinking of picking it up for some kids of a friend of mine that seemed to like it when we played through a few quests.
I told myself I wouldn’t buy any more Heroquest…but I don’t listen. Great review! I’m personally psyched for the portability of this set. I didn’t know what HQ content Avalon Hill is queuing up for next year until I saw your video. Wow!
2025 is set to be an awesome year. Getting the last of the "legacy" products will feel special, and will also be like unchaining Avalon to come up with even more varied products in the future.
I love your reviews. So glad I found your channel this year. Since Ring Of Fortitude. Can be found in 2 separate quests, I am guessing now my heroes 2 different versions of the same weapon. Unless is prohibits it both my Elf and Dwarf (for example) can both have a spirit blade and orcs bane to use each, correct? Thanks for the awesome content
I know in some quests there is wording like "if you don't already have this artifact, you find it" I would be inclined to always keep artifacts as unique, especially things like the Spirit Blade. They are powerful, and the last thing you want is all the heroes tromping around in Borin's armour.
I can see that. I do like the uniqueness of artifacts. However Borin’s Armor and Elven Chain Mail (still kind of perturbed that there is no card) are essentially the same thing. And if you have a knight with plate you have 3 characters with the extra 2 dd with no movement restrictions. This my the current setup with the 4th character being the monk who can wear armor. I wish that we were getting unique artifacts in this game
Thank you for the review! I sent it to a friend who has been hesitant to buy the core set due to the financial investment and the potential time investment of painting the minis. As a guy who owns most of the expansions, I'm interested, but I will wait for a price drop before I bite. On a separate note, did you see the Krampus expansion for Horrified? It's a fun, little addition. Merry Christmas to you and yours!
For someone who isn't bothered about miniatures and painting, and wants a cheaper buy in, I think this would be an excellent option. Thanks for sharing the video with your friend. I've seen the Krampus expansion, but as far as I can tell it was a limited promo that I can't buy for any kind of sensible money. I still need to pick up a copy of World of Monsters too!
@AlwaysBoardNeverBoring Here in the states, you could get it if you ordered World of Monsters or Greek Monsters directly from Ravensburger. You could also win one by posting a photo of yourself playing one of those two games on social media. I posted the photo but also lamented to Ravensburger that I already owned all the games and couldn't be guaranteed an expansion. They reached out and sent one to me free of charge. As much positive coverage as you've given their games, I'm willing to bet they'd do the same for you.
@AlwaysBoardNeverBoring I already owned all of the games and wasn't eligible for the promo. So, I wrote to Ravensburger and they sent me a free copy. As much positive coverage as you have given them over the years, I'm sure they would do the same for you.
Great review. I've heard lots of people say that the standees can 'stand in' for fallen enemy's. That's probably how I'll use them. Have a fantastic Christmas and New Year 🎉
Can I ask (I'm sorry if I missed it in the review), the box cover looks like it says 2-5 players; can this version be played solo with the AP running Zargon?
It looks great! Question, will be sell only in the avalon hill UK page and Target? Someone know it will be possible to get in the Avalon Hilll US page?
@@AlwaysBoardNeverBoring Thanks for the info, had tried Target on line and it appear is out of stock 😭 Will try after Christmas and see what luck I had. But I really hope its not a limited edition and cant purchase it at a good price.
It's not a limited release. I've just gone to Target using the link in the video description and it's showing as available to preorder and it let me add a copy to my cart, so I'm not sure why you aren't able to place an order.
@@AlwaysBoardNeverBoring i tried with the link you put, it let me make the order, then immediately Target canceled and the reason it appear is Technical issue. will keep try later.
I guess they wanted to make sure players weren't missing out on any artifacts from the first core set, but it felt unusual to me, and I would have loved to see something new.
I shall politely suggest that not many people understand the reference to Techno-Viking, regarding the new Barbarian Sculpt. Instead of the water bottle, it's a broadsword.
The board is the same size, and it has lots of single lane corridors. It's more of a maze of corridors than the original layout with a lot more corridors and shorter corridor sections. So there are now more opportunities to be outflanked (depending on where doors and rubble tokens are placed, of course)
i really love the art of both the original and 2021 versions. The “cartoony” style might draw in more younger players. Definitely needed to extend the life and i crease the popularity of the game, imho.
With that slight shift in some of the art, the standees, the lower price point, and the new reference cards and rules layout, it definitely feels like they have tried to make it as accessible to younger gamers as possible, without changing what HeroQuest is. I think that's a good thing.
My jealousy of you of getting this box before me has no bounds you lucky s.o.b.!!! 😂 Joking aside, thank you for this review and unboxing! Hope we can get a play through, at least the first quest so you don't get in trouble with AH. Also wishing you a Happy Holidays, Merry Christmas and hope you had a safe and fun year! 👍
I consider myself to be very lucky. This was a very nice early Christmas present! There is no NDA or anything for this, so I will be doing a deep dive into the quest book fairly soon.
Definitely seems, they have shifted the theme to a younger demographic. Will still be grabbing it. Looking forward to seeing the quests folk create with the cavern map. Maybe a good time for my fimir army to find a place to start a come back. It’s a shame they didn’t fully pull together all the rules etc. from the current expansions.
If the heroes in this set are supposed to be "new heroes" and not the original heroes, I would have liked them to be a bit more unique. Maybe different spell/weapon options and different artifacts to discover. Heck, I would have liked new character classes, even if the stats are the same. For example, the Barbarian could have been the "Warrior," and the Elf could have been an "Elven Ranger" or something. Narratively, I find it odd that a carbon copy group of heroes is adventuring at the same time as the original heroes. But I understand why they wouldn't want to change them. Regardless, this looks to be a fun set, and I am excited about it. Happy Holidays, everyone!
The odd thing is, the miniatures clearly represent the same characters - the barbarian as the same scars, the dwarf has the same hair and clothing, and so on.
I really like this heroquest, the dragon looks really nice and the new art is also amazing. personally I disagree with the choice of making most figures and furniture 2D, I think they looked better in some other sets / expansions, but that’s obviously fine, hopefully the new expansions coming in 2025 will still have 3D elements, I’d love to see new kinds of furniture and enemies.
£37.99 preordering from Amazon. For the board, the miniatures, the revised cards, new rules, the double-sided board and the quest (plus being a compact version for traveling) it seems well worth it.
@@AlwaysBoardNeverBoringfingers crossed it flies off the shelves, the core set has been a huge success so far with my kids. They aced The Rescue of sir Ragnar and Lair of orc warlord after a very tough first mission.
I don't think so, it's added as a variant rule, after saying the original intent was that you were supposed to treat the furniture as though it wasn't there.
Y'know, if this is pretty much all the components of the core box but not all plastic... ...does this mean that if one just say... downloads of the quest book from the hasbro intructions site, then one can just play the main quests with just the First Light box. Same could be said for if one is using the App. ...now I wonder if most of the other backer-exclusive stuff will eventually come, would like a Mentor figure to play Rogar's Hall, eventually.
This is all of the components - you get the same cards, the same monsters, the same furniture, the same board, the same dice. So, yes, if you get the quests from the app or download the quest book, you can play the large core game quests using this box. With the news that Crypt of Perpetual Darkness is coming out in 2025, the only stuff from the Mythic Tier set that isn't available in some form at retail is the three exclusive miniatures and the four alt-sculpts for the heroes. While the exclusives will never be available, there is always a chance Avalon Hill will issue alternative sculpts for them one day, as they did with the Guardian Knight.
I have painted up the core set...and have "all" the expansions to tackle at somepoint...i cannot play with unpainted models (must be a medical condition). IF Hasbro was to release "Flatpacked 2D" to make all the expansions would allow the game to go straight to table and not sitting waiting to paint ? Maybe I ask them
You can always fire them the question. The team does have very limited bandwidth though, and they seem to focus on what is going to bring more gameplay to the table than anything else. I would also be surprised if making standee packs would be financially viable. I can't imagine there would be enough interest to justify the investment in design and production. It doesn't hurt to let them know what people are looking for though, especially if you can rally lots of voices to your cause!
As someone who already owns all of the new Heroquest content, I just can't justify fifty dollars for what amounts to a new board and a quest book. What worries me is that this set is going to end up being a sort of tax for future expansions that might want to make use of the new map.
Avalon Hill have always ensured every expansion stands alone. They have never required a previous purchase, and I would be surprised if they started now. While everyone will see value differently, I think there is a lot more to this than a new board and quest book. You are getting four alternative hero sculpts, a new boss monster with card, a double sided game board (so you have a new environment, as well as the option to put two boards side by side for custom games), a 10-part quest, a new set of dice in new colours, completely revised cards, and revised rules. And it's all in a portable package for if you fancied taking HeroQuest on holiday. So, I personally see a lot of value there, but I understand entirely where you are coming from, and I suspect you won't be alone in deciding to skip it.
Quest will be in the app if you fee that reduces the value plus quests books have been downloaded on Avalon’s site if you don’t care for a physical copy.
It seems strange that it,s not a prequel but a side story with characters the same class as the main story but different people. I’d rather use four of the new characters as a new team. That could be good or even use an all female team like Charlie’s Angels! On that note if you were to use four new class characters as a team which four would you choose?
It's tricky, because I am a bit of a traditionalist and I love the original lineup. If I had to change things up, I would go for the knight for meat shield, monk for damage output, and dwarf explorer for trapsmith. At the moment I don't feel we have a good alternative spellcaster to the wizard, so I would probably go Druid to have someone with some healing powers. I like the Rogue Heir but he keeps getting nerfed - first with the helmet, and now with Orc's Bane and the Phantom Blade.
I love my classic 1989 HeroQuest, but Avalon Hill have been doing great things with the new edition. Loads of cool developments and new ideas, and it's nice that gamers today have an easy way to get into the game without having to turn to old copies on eBay.
tbh THAT will be the reason that this game will get new players into it. Younger kids that saw the original game and went "i want that" will mostly be get "100 Dollars" (or more) for a BOARD game? HELL NO way to expensive." with a 50 dollar price tag it's way more in the "usual family game" price range. We have to be clear: the current HeroQuest is mostly bought by a) Millenials and GenX nerds that played that when they were kids and b) board game nerds and collectors. For me: it's totally ok that they removed the 3d Modles and used standees because (funny thought i know) there are people that totally don't like minis and especially not mini painting :D
Certainly. It's making the game more accessible in all ways. And like I said, there wll be people who prefer the standees. They will have to deal with miniatures in expansions, but a lot of casual gamers may not ever expand the game anyway and will just enjoy this starter set.
Avalon Hill have confirmed this isn't replacing the main core set, neither will standees become the norm going forwards, so I don't see how it's a cost-saving exercise. It's a way to push sales from their perspective, but making the game more accessible to a larger number of people seems very much like HeroQuest to me.
I think this definitely lets us know that they regret making The Frozen Horror 2x2 tiles. If anything should've been that big it would've been this dragon. There's something very Mobile Game-y about the art for this. The rats frighten me because I personally glued my rats and skulls to my furniture as I didn't wanna risk losing them with the lack of pegs, so I hope I won't need them for narrative reasons. Overall, I will probably pick this up because of the Caverns. but I don't like the 2D components, and even the Dragon is a bit small for me. Though I find it vaguely reminiscent of the Talisman 2E box art.
I think the Frozen Horror being so big made it too powerful as it could target so many squares. Looks awesome though. I don't really want to get into it here - it's a conversation for the quest spoiler video - but I feel there are narrative reasons why the dragon is the way it is.
They need to have better or flushed out explanations of the command spell and the add that the Witch Lord can not possess the Spirit Blade since that's the only weapon that can harm him.
Things have been tightened up, but there's still room to do more. I don't think there needs to be anything about the Witch Lord - he isn't even in this core set - and there are some things that I think Zargon can handle when it comes to making sure quests can be completed.
@AlwaysBoardNeverBoring Is he not in the new First light Quests? Because The Witch Lord is in the Original Core set, Quest 14 - The Return of Barak Tor. Our Zargon commanded the Hero who had the Spirit Blade and let him die, then picked up the Blade, which made the last Quest basically unbeatable.
I would prefer ALL standees (no miniatures for heroes and dragon). I don't like mixing plastic miniatures with standees. Also, it would help to make the game even cheaper.
I feel like a lot of games do plastic heroes with card enemies these days - Mass Effect, Gloomhaven, and the like. I think their inclusion was a good move for encouraging existing players, but they probably could have added five more standees to the punch board as well for people who didn’t want the miniatures.
Looks all good and dandy, but WHY are the white HQ-Duce an de the white movement dice different whites? Wtf? This looks so bad. No biggy thou, just need to look out for not-white white movement dice now.
This is in keeping with the previous dice sets, where the movement dice are always different. In the core set, the combat dice were white and the movement dice were red with white pips. In Frozen Horror the combat dice were a light translucent blue and the movement dice were dark blue. In this core set, the combat dice are bone and the movement dice are white with red pips.
This is the first HQ release under Avalon Hill that hasn't done it for me. The concept, the standees, the mini sculpts, the design, and the original AI-assisted cover all leave a bad taste in my mouth. The double-sided board, however, is a much welcome addition and may be the main reason for me to pick this up at some point.
Literally the point - small box as their hoping to expand the brand by having your bigger retailers dedicate space to it on their shelves as it will be more space efficienct as he covers in the video (it is too expensive and too niche as is). It being cheaper means much easier access point too as well as good fodder for younger potential new audience.
So, for me personally, Pros: New hero minis New Questbook New Zargon Screen (mine has gotten so beat up) Expansion on Kessandria (stoked) More doors, you can never have enough More tiles, and I actually like the furniture tiles though I prefer 3d scatter terrain Rat tokens! More dice More character sheets! Annnnnnd A NEW ALTERNATE BOARD! YES YES YES YES YES Cons: Monster standees (gross) Some of the art kinda sucks Ill be picking up two copies, one for me and one for my daughter. Ill be giving her the standees. Im pretty indifferent to the dragon, I already have dragons, but Ill likely keep it. The ultimate selling point to me was the alternate board. Ive been running homebrew adventures on tiles, battle mats, and boards from other games for years, but a new official board is incredible, and something I truly hope shows up in future expansions. The classic board is great, but new layouts will add so much to the game. My only concern about the standees is the posibility of them becoming standard. Miniatures are a huge part of HeroQuest's identity. Ive heard Avalon Hill has said this wont be the case, and I hope that's true.
Avalon Hill confirmed standees wouldn't become the norm. They know how much people love the miniatures and terrain, and there's no way they would remove that aspect of the game. But the standees do appeal to a certain market - you always see people on Kickstarter asking for this option - so it's a good option for a starter set like this.
Yeah, and Gloomhaven saw a ton of success with standees, so far be it from me to demand that they be axed. It's a perfectly valid way to play, just not one to my liking. But when my biggest complaint is the standees, and there's a ton of pro's against one con, I'd say overall this will be a worthwhile purchase.
Its 14+? I know that making a game lower than 14+ age range means extra legal hoops that the publisher has to jump through, but I can’t help feeling that many people looking for a game for their kids may not pick this up because of said rating. A large part of it’s suitable audience may actually be excluded as a result.
A shame they made no changes to at least the wizard. They're ok early on I guess but they get less and less useful as the game goes on even with all the artifacts.
The core set for the new edition was faithful to the original, with most of the art being homages to the original work. The game has moved far beyond nostalgia bait now though. Against the Ogre Horde was completely revamped, expanded into a longer campaign, and introduced arena combat. Jungles of Delthrak introduced new environments and branching quests, and a lot of varied monsters with special abilities. Rise of the Dread Moon leaned more heavily into roleplaying. There is now also a large roster of characters to play, and characters like the Wandering Monk have more sophisticated rules sets that make them completely different. And of course, there is an app that allows for full co-op or solo play, without the need for a Morcar/Zargon. The core rules are largely unchanged, but I think the game has extended beyond what it initially was.
@@AlwaysBoardNeverBoringI agree, it always seemed to me to be a way to separate out hero quest, advanced hero quest and Warhammer quest. They always seemed to focus and expand on different elements of dungeon delving.
Man I wish the whole of the game was available with standees, it'd be so much more appealing for a cheaper to purchase and easier to store game with so much additional content.
People love the miniatures, so Avalon won't stop making them, and it wouldn't be feasible to create two versions of each expansion, so I can't really see standees appearing in other products.
i was a massive heroquest collector and player in the 80's. and ive stayed away from the new stuff. There's just to much to collect now, how much money do they think folks have. the mistake they made was with the mythic tier. you can never get the full set now. ever. so why buy any of it. lets face it, they realise what they did, you can never get all the figures because they were mythic tier only. So from the get go, you know you know you can never get the full set. and then the cost just made it out of bounds for most. plus for me, the bad guy was Morcar. and will always be a name i hold dear etc. So no one i know brought it, why would you, when you cant ever get it all. The new set is there way of making it better and cheaper. But is it to late. Because ther will ALWAYS be the first set. You can never EVER get
Everything from the Mythic Tier is now available at retail in one form or another except for Crypt of Perpetual Darkness which comes out next year. The only things that have not been made available are three exclusive miniatures which may be released with alternative sculpts in the future, and four alternative sculpts for the core heroes.
I'm far from wealthy and I have every expansion except for Delthrak, which will change probably next spring. I have an American-compatible version of Against The Ogre Horde. I have an absolutely killer follow up to the Mage of The Mirror. As a kid, I never had the chance to buy Return of The Witchlord or Kellar's Keep. I have both, now. While I do prefer much of the older material in appearance, the new stuff doesn't look bad. Now, if I only bought the 1989 core set and the original versions of Kellars Keep, Return Of The Witchlord, The Dark Company, Against The Ogre Horde, and Wizards of Morcar - the last two of which would require a fair amount of conversion to American rules -, I would pay $1500 easily. While my current collection of random stuff for HeroQuest is easily probably twice that, if I pare it down to only official Avalon Hill releases I've spent about $450, spread out over 4 years, give or take a few months. For the core set, and 5 out of the 6 (or seven, depending on what you count the Advanced Quest core set as) classic expansions, and 3 brand new ones, and soon I'll own 4. And if the rumor mill and my lying friend the internet are telling me the truth, over the next two years I'll have the Dark Company, Wizards of Morcar/Zargon, and two new expansions. And all the will cost me roughly $200 over a big stretch of time. And if you picked up this set instead of the standard core set, you could save about $80. Or, you could just pick this up, and homebrew your own stuff. Pick up some packs of battlemats and dungeons tiles, and cheap Wizkids minis, and you could have a perfectly serviceable and expanded/expansabls HeroQuest kit for about $250.
Also, you can just call Zargon Morcar. Lots of players in the UK do. I refuse to say "Dread", it will always be Chaos Warrior, Chaos Magic, Chaos Sorcer. My Rogue heir is from Athel Loren, not Elethorn. My adventures take place in the defense of The Empire, not the Kingdom. And lots of people, myself included, have 3d printed many of the original miniatures and scatter terrain. When the Abomination attacking the heroes is accompanied by two Fimir, it's pretty great. I had the original set and I love the modern set. Plus, if you already know the UK rules, there's no reason you couldn't do some minor tweaking and just play with those rules instead of the American ruleset.
The original base game actually comes in 2 variations. The first release is bulky, the second release is thinner. Besides the cardboard cover over all the plastic minis there's now also an additional plastic cover, this will prevent cardboard tokens from getting lost in the box. But it does make storing things in the second release a bit harder as there's no "dead air".
Yes, that newer version redesigned the plastic trays so they didn't "grip" so hard and there were a few revised cards. I don't have that box to compare, but believe it is still around twice the size of this new one, which is now standardised alongside a lot of other Hasbro products such as Betrayal, Life in Reterra, Talisman, and the larger HeroQuest expansions, which is the sort of thing retailers will like!
Wouldn't it be hilarious if the QR code connected to that "Why HeroQuest is so Great!!" video?😂
At least it won't send them to an adult website, like the Barbie QR codes 🤦🏻♂️
I can't WAIT to see your thoughts on the actual QUESTS within Heroquest: First Light! It's a very different but familiar starter kit! MORE coming in 2025, expecting TWO NEW EXPANSIONS next year that will put a massive smile on everyone's faces!
There will be a deep dive into the quest book after Christmas. There are some incredibly cool ideas in the adventure that I think people are going to love. And yes... 2025 is going to be a big year for HeroQuest, I reckon.
There been a leak pal? It has been very quiet on the HQ front these last few months.
Yup. As I mention in the video at the end, two new expansions that fans have wanted for a long time are on the way.
Move through furniture? We have to return to the first Quest and start all over again! 🤯
I mean, it makes a bit of sense that knee-high tables and treasure chests don't block the line of sight, but moving through them, or through the sarcophagus? That's ridiculous. What happens when you end your movement in the weapon rack?
This will be the product that FINALLY gets me to take the leap into new/current Heroquest.
That's great. I think it's a fine place to dip your toe in.
Excellent review. I think this is a good product and that pesky new board is gonna make us veterans want to have it. To count with the words of Stephen Baker in the quests is a luxury. Thanks for this video. Wish you and all the viewers the happiest Christmas.
Thanks for watching, and merry Christmas!
Innovation that leads to more choices is always a good thing. Happy Christmas from our family to yours.
Happy Christmas to you too.
I didn' t know the game creator wrote the new quests. That is excellent.
It's always a good time when Stephen Baker is involved with new quests.
I got it for Christmas 1989 also. Probably one of the best Christmas gifts I ever got.
Christmas 1989 was the business.
Within the new cavern map, one word shall echo throughout the new adventures there: Spoon!
Ethel strides into battle, hoping there won't be any yetis around...
Not only is this a great intro to Heroquest as a whole, but it can also be used in any dungeon delver champaign.
Absolutely. I bet some dungeon masters could make use of those standees in their roleplaying games.
They had the opportunity to add 4 new heroes, introduce a new set of spells, and introduce new artifacts. And, Hasbro phoned in the production while the OG designer actually put in the work for more quests.
Cool that there's a cheaper entry point for people to give the game a try. But, it really should've offered more than a quest book to the existing player base.
I would have liked to see new heroes and artifacts, but I do believe this offers more than a quest book to existing players. It's four alternative hero sculpts, a new boss with card, a 10-part quest, a double-sided board allowing for double-size maps and alternative cavern maps, a new set of dice in different colours, new rules variants, and revised cards, all in an easily portable version for if you are going to a club or something.
I don't think they have phoned it in. I think they have tried to balance adding enough content for existing players if they want it, without making it feel like they have to buy another core set if they really don't want to.
This should have been a 2024 Christmas release, and I strongly believe it started out that way until the box art fiasco. That's too bad. It could have been a must-have Christmas item!
People need things to spend their Amazon gift cards on, so it will all work out, I'm sure!
I want to integrate the cave map into Keller's Keep, since a good portion of it implies that you're going through caves.
New heroquest stuff always gives me that christmas morning feeling
Absolutely, and with First Light, Crypt and Wizards all coming in 2025 we get Christmas all year round!
Cardboard doors and new quests by Baker is all I needed to hear to give away my money for this! I haven't pre-ordered this cause I want to see if Target will actually stock this in stores. I want to help create traction that this can sell from the shelves.
Great! Can you please check if they modify in any way the Longsword? Thanks❤
It has the new wording, but the rules for it are the same. Is there something specific you want to know?
@AlwaysBoardNeverBoring I always considered this weapon unbalanced, I though they would nerf it not allowing to use a shield in combination with it
I'm getting it!! I want that dragon...he will work well with some of my other games too 😅😂😅😂
The dragon is decent. I am very happy I like it more than I thought I would.
Yeah, this will be a lot easier to bring on the bicycle, bus, or train. I might pick it up for that, and to have one I can lend to interested people... Looking forward, as always, to your deep dive!
I am looking forward to doing the deep dive. Just have to figure out when I can actually do it!
Can't wait to watch this! I may do only cardboard dorra from now on just to save some space on the board. Not sure if you discussed this. But ive beent hinking it might be the way to go😊
It does free up some room (and the bases are flat and clear, which helps even more), but I will be sticking with the plastic doors.
HeroQuest was a foundational game for me in board gaming. In the 80s i got that gigantic box. Its probably the reason I'm into d&d
Same. That's what my "Christmas Past" video in this series was all about - the magic of getting HeroQuest in 1989. Funny thing is, the box isn't all that big really, but back then it felt huge, with this massive world inside it.
This is definitely going to wind up on my shelf
I think it's nicely balanced for new and existing players.
As a 90s teenager, I've always known about and been intrigued by Hero Quest. This is a tempting and affordable entry point.
BUT... despite being labeled as 2-4 players, can it work on solo?
@@SimonNeilScott it’s 2-5 players, but there is a free app that will run the dungeon allowing for full co-op for up to four players or solo play.
For the enemy standees, are they the same image on both sides, or is one the front and other the back of the enemy?
Unfortunately they are the same on both sides (just reversed), so you don't get "back" art.
@@AlwaysBoardNeverBoring Thank you for your reply! That is a shame. I always prefer a distinct front and back to a standee rather than the mirror image on both sides.
It would have been nicer, but it's a lot of new artwork to commission. Probably would have made the standees more expensive than they would have liked.
I will definitely be picking this up just for the minis, the new adventure and the extra dice and board. I'm also thinking of picking it up for some kids of a friend of mine that seemed to like it when we played through a few quests.
I think there is plenty of value in there for existing players for sure, as well as being a great new place to hop on for the first time.
I told myself I wouldn’t buy any more Heroquest…but I don’t listen. Great review! I’m personally psyched for the portability of this set. I didn’t know what HQ content Avalon Hill is queuing up for next year until I saw your video. Wow!
2025 is set to be an awesome year. Getting the last of the "legacy" products will feel special, and will also be like unchaining Avalon to come up with even more varied products in the future.
I love your reviews. So glad I found your channel this year. Since Ring Of Fortitude. Can be found in 2 separate quests, I am guessing now my heroes 2 different versions of the same weapon. Unless is prohibits it both my Elf and Dwarf (for example) can both have a spirit blade and orcs bane to use each, correct? Thanks for the awesome content
I know in some quests there is wording like "if you don't already have this artifact, you find it" I would be inclined to always keep artifacts as unique, especially things like the Spirit Blade. They are powerful, and the last thing you want is all the heroes tromping around in Borin's armour.
I can see that. I do like the uniqueness of artifacts. However Borin’s Armor and Elven Chain Mail (still kind of perturbed that there is no card) are essentially the same thing. And if you have a knight with plate you have 3 characters with the extra 2 dd with no movement restrictions. This my the current setup with the 4th character being the monk who can wear armor. I wish that we were getting unique artifacts in this game
brillant idea. . a more streamlined box is an amazing idea.
I think it's a great move. Games keep getting bigger and bigger, and I think there is real value in a compact starter set like this.
Thank you for the review! I sent it to a friend who has been hesitant to buy the core set due to the financial investment and the potential time investment of painting the minis. As a guy who owns most of the expansions, I'm interested, but I will wait for a price drop before I bite.
On a separate note, did you see the Krampus expansion for Horrified? It's a fun, little addition.
Merry Christmas to you and yours!
For someone who isn't bothered about miniatures and painting, and wants a cheaper buy in, I think this would be an excellent option. Thanks for sharing the video with your friend.
I've seen the Krampus expansion, but as far as I can tell it was a limited promo that I can't buy for any kind of sensible money. I still need to pick up a copy of World of Monsters too!
@AlwaysBoardNeverBoring Here in the states, you could get it if you ordered World of Monsters or Greek Monsters directly from Ravensburger. You could also win one by posting a photo of yourself playing one of those two games on social media. I posted the photo but also lamented to Ravensburger that I already owned all the games and couldn't be guaranteed an expansion. They reached out and sent one to me free of charge. As much positive coverage as you've given their games, I'm willing to bet they'd do the same for you.
@AlwaysBoardNeverBoring I already owned all of the games and wasn't eligible for the promo. So, I wrote to Ravensburger and they sent me a free copy. As much positive coverage as you have given them over the years, I'm sure they would do the same for you.
Great review. I've heard lots of people say that the standees can 'stand in' for fallen enemy's. That's probably how I'll use them. Have a fantastic Christmas and New Year 🎉
Ha. That's a pretty neat idea. Ideal for when the heroes use their new "steamroller" weapon!
@@AlwaysBoardNeverBoring 🤣
Can I ask (I'm sorry if I missed it in the review), the box cover looks like it says 2-5 players; can this version be played solo with the AP running Zargon?
@@worlds-in-conflict certainly can. Only the first quest is on the app at the moment but the rest will be available later.
@AlwaysBoardNeverBoring amazing! Thank you for answering my question. Hope you and your family have a terrific Christmas!
@ no problem. Merry Christmas.
It looks great!
Question, will be sell only in the avalon hill UK page and Target? Someone know it will be possible to get in the Avalon Hilll US page?
My understanding is that it will be a Target exclusive in the US to begin with.
@@AlwaysBoardNeverBoring Thanks for the info, had tried Target on line and it appear is out of stock 😭
Will try after Christmas and see what luck I had. But I really hope its not a limited edition and cant purchase it at a good price.
It's not a limited release. I've just gone to Target using the link in the video description and it's showing as available to preorder and it let me add a copy to my cart, so I'm not sure why you aren't able to place an order.
@@AlwaysBoardNeverBoring i tried with the link you put, it let me make the order, then immediately Target canceled and the reason it appear is Technical issue. will keep try later.
Unusual. Hopefully whatever the technical issue is gets resolved soon!
A new adventure with all old Artifacts? That feels like a missed opportunity.
I guess they wanted to make sure players weren't missing out on any artifacts from the first core set, but it felt unusual to me, and I would have loved to see something new.
I shall politely suggest that not many people understand the reference to Techno-Viking, regarding the new Barbarian Sculpt. Instead of the water bottle, it's a broadsword.
I do know of the Techno-Viking meme, but the barbarian stance hadn't called it to mind until you mentioned it.
Will it be added to the solo player app 🤔
Yes. You can already play the first quest on the app. The rest were accidentally leaked briefly, and will be restored after the game is at retail.
@@AlwaysBoardNeverBoring awesome thank you! Definitely worth a purchase then I think !
Is the new side of the board used in the quests? Or is it just there for you to make your own quests with?
Both sides of the board are used in the First Light campaign. It's not just for homebrew.
That new board layout is massive... No single lane corridors! Less chance for monster conga lines!
The board is the same size, and it has lots of single lane corridors. It's more of a maze of corridors than the original layout with a lot more corridors and shorter corridor sections. So there are now more opportunities to be outflanked (depending on where doors and rubble tokens are placed, of course)
@AlwaysBoardNeverBoring I might get this just for the board to be honest, dependant on price. Might be fun using it for classic HQ.
Preorder prices are £37.99 in the UK and $49.99 in the US. I should imagine those prices will come down eventually.
@@AlwaysBoardNeverBoring Yeah, I'm not a fan of the miniatures so I'll keep an eye out for a decent discount.
@@AlwaysBoardNeverBoring BTW When I said "massive" I meant it's a big deal to have an official alternate map for the first time 👍😬
i really love the art of both the original and 2021 versions.
The “cartoony” style might draw in more younger players. Definitely needed to extend the life and i crease the popularity of the game, imho.
With that slight shift in some of the art, the standees, the lower price point, and the new reference cards and rules layout, it definitely feels like they have tried to make it as accessible to younger gamers as possible, without changing what HeroQuest is. I think that's a good thing.
My jealousy of you of getting this box before me has no bounds you lucky s.o.b.!!! 😂
Joking aside, thank you for this review and unboxing! Hope we can get a play through, at least the first quest so you don't get in trouble with AH.
Also wishing you a Happy Holidays, Merry Christmas and hope you had a safe and fun year! 👍
I consider myself to be very lucky. This was a very nice early Christmas present!
There is no NDA or anything for this, so I will be doing a deep dive into the quest book fairly soon.
@AlwaysBoardNeverBoring Awesome! Thank you!
Bought the Swedish version of the 2021 edition on sale for about 60 usd 😊
Yes, the large core set turns up in good sales sometimes.
Definitely seems, they have shifted the theme to a younger demographic. Will still be grabbing it. Looking forward to seeing the quests folk create with the cavern map. Maybe a good time for my fimir army to find a place to start a come back. It’s a shame they didn’t fully pull together all the rules etc. from the current expansions.
I think people are going to have fun with the new map layout.
If the heroes in this set are supposed to be "new heroes" and not the original heroes, I would have liked them to be a bit more unique. Maybe different spell/weapon options and different artifacts to discover.
Heck, I would have liked new character classes, even if the stats are the same. For example, the Barbarian could have been the "Warrior," and the Elf could have been an "Elven Ranger" or something. Narratively, I find it odd that a carbon copy group of heroes is adventuring at the same time as the original heroes.
But I understand why they wouldn't want to change them.
Regardless, this looks to be a fun set, and I am excited about it.
Happy Holidays, everyone!
The odd thing is, the miniatures clearly represent the same characters - the barbarian as the same scars, the dwarf has the same hair and clothing, and so on.
I really like this heroquest, the dragon looks really nice and the new art is also amazing. personally I disagree with the choice of making most figures and furniture 2D, I think they looked better in some other sets / expansions, but that’s obviously fine, hopefully the new expansions coming in 2025 will still have 3D elements, I’d love to see new kinds of furniture and enemies.
Avalon Hill have said that standees are just for this optional core set. We will still be getting miniatures in expansions.
@@AlwaysBoardNeverBoringgood to know! I’m sure the next expansions will all be amazing, I really liked the ogres one
I’ll probably pick this up, it’s more portable plus the new layout and quest will be worth the price, less than £40 in the uk I believe.
£37.99 preordering from Amazon. For the board, the miniatures, the revised cards, new rules, the double-sided board and the quest (plus being a compact version for traveling) it seems well worth it.
@@AlwaysBoardNeverBoringfingers crossed it flies off the shelves, the core set has been a huge success so far with my kids. They aced The Rescue of sir Ragnar and Lair of orc warlord after a very tough first mission.
Glad to hear they are well on the way to being true champions!
i'm guessing the furniture line of sight ''clarification'' is due to the fact they are not 2D now and not 3D
I don't think so, it's added as a variant rule, after saying the original intent was that you were supposed to treat the furniture as though it wasn't there.
Y'know, if this is pretty much all the components of the core box but not all plastic... ...does this mean that if one just say... downloads of the quest book from the hasbro intructions site, then one can just play the main quests with just the First Light box.
Same could be said for if one is using the App.
...now I wonder if most of the other backer-exclusive stuff will eventually come, would like a Mentor figure to play Rogar's Hall, eventually.
This is all of the components - you get the same cards, the same monsters, the same furniture, the same board, the same dice. So, yes, if you get the quests from the app or download the quest book, you can play the large core game quests using this box.
With the news that Crypt of Perpetual Darkness is coming out in 2025, the only stuff from the Mythic Tier set that isn't available in some form at retail is the three exclusive miniatures and the four alt-sculpts for the heroes. While the exclusives will never be available, there is always a chance Avalon Hill will issue alternative sculpts for them one day, as they did with the Guardian Knight.
Some thought provoking comments. I'm a collector so I will buy this but I will also take it with me for gaming sessions at other people's tables.
It's a very portable edition, which is definitely a bonus.
Travelquest! Perfect. But orcsbane is staying a shortsword in my group ha ha
Ha. The Rogue Heir doesn't get cut enough breaks.
@AlwaysBoardNeverBoring yeah I'm going to burn those artifact cards
I have painted up the core set...and have "all" the expansions to tackle at somepoint...i cannot play with unpainted models (must be a medical condition). IF Hasbro was to release "Flatpacked 2D" to make all the expansions would allow the game to go straight to table and not sitting waiting to paint ? Maybe I ask them
You can always fire them the question. The team does have very limited bandwidth though, and they seem to focus on what is going to bring more gameplay to the table than anything else. I would also be surprised if making standee packs would be financially viable. I can't imagine there would be enough interest to justify the investment in design and production. It doesn't hurt to let them know what people are looking for though, especially if you can rally lots of voices to your cause!
As someone who already owns all of the new Heroquest content, I just can't justify fifty dollars for what amounts to a new board and a quest book. What worries me is that this set is going to end up being a sort of tax for future expansions that might want to make use of the new map.
Avalon Hill have always ensured every expansion stands alone. They have never required a previous purchase, and I would be surprised if they started now.
While everyone will see value differently, I think there is a lot more to this than a new board and quest book.
You are getting four alternative hero sculpts, a new boss monster with card, a double sided game board (so you have a new environment, as well as the option to put two boards side by side for custom games), a 10-part quest, a new set of dice in new colours, completely revised cards, and revised rules. And it's all in a portable package for if you fancied taking HeroQuest on holiday.
So, I personally see a lot of value there, but I understand entirely where you are coming from, and I suspect you won't be alone in deciding to skip it.
Quest will be in the app if you fee that reduces the value plus quests books have been downloaded on Avalon’s site if you don’t care for a physical copy.
It seems strange that it,s not a prequel but a side story with characters the same class as the main story but different people. I’d rather use four of the new characters as a new team. That could be good or even use an all female team like Charlie’s Angels! On that note if you were to use four new class characters as a team which four would you choose?
It's tricky, because I am a bit of a traditionalist and I love the original lineup. If I had to change things up, I would go for the knight for meat shield, monk for damage output, and dwarf explorer for trapsmith. At the moment I don't feel we have a good alternative spellcaster to the wizard, so I would probably go Druid to have someone with some healing powers. I like the Rogue Heir but he keeps getting nerfed - first with the helmet, and now with Orc's Bane and the Phantom Blade.
i just love the original to much to even think about buying this lol
I love my classic 1989 HeroQuest, but Avalon Hill have been doing great things with the new edition. Loads of cool developments and new ideas, and it's nice that gamers today have an easy way to get into the game without having to turn to old copies on eBay.
ps. im very excited for this expansion honestly the new map is every very interesting
The new map is cool, and the quest has some really interesting stuff going on.
tbh THAT will be the reason that this game will get new players into it. Younger kids that saw the original game and went "i want that" will mostly be get "100 Dollars" (or more) for a BOARD game? HELL NO way to expensive."
with a 50 dollar price tag it's way more in the "usual family game" price range. We have to be clear: the current HeroQuest is mostly bought by a) Millenials and GenX nerds that played that when they were kids and b) board game nerds and collectors. For me: it's totally ok that they removed the 3d Modles and used standees because (funny thought i know) there are people that totally don't like minis and especially not mini painting :D
Certainly. It's making the game more accessible in all ways. And like I said, there wll be people who prefer the standees. They will have to deal with miniatures in expansions, but a lot of casual gamers may not ever expand the game anyway and will just enjoy this starter set.
An Avalon Hill cost saving exercise isn’t Heroquest.
Avalon Hill have confirmed this isn't replacing the main core set, neither will standees become the norm going forwards, so I don't see how it's a cost-saving exercise. It's a way to push sales from their perspective, but making the game more accessible to a larger number of people seems very much like HeroQuest to me.
I think this definitely lets us know that they regret making The Frozen Horror 2x2 tiles. If anything should've been that big it would've been this dragon. There's something very Mobile Game-y about the art for this. The rats frighten me because I personally glued my rats and skulls to my furniture as I didn't wanna risk losing them with the lack of pegs, so I hope I won't need them for narrative reasons. Overall, I will probably pick this up because of the Caverns. but I don't like the 2D components, and even the Dragon is a bit small for me. Though I find it vaguely reminiscent of the Talisman 2E box art.
I think the Frozen Horror being so big made it too powerful as it could target so many squares. Looks awesome though.
I don't really want to get into it here - it's a conversation for the quest spoiler video - but I feel there are narrative reasons why the dragon is the way it is.
2x2 Squares is a trademark to the SpaceCrusade Dreadnought. 😅
They need to have better or flushed out explanations of the command spell and the add that the Witch Lord can not possess the Spirit Blade since that's the only weapon that can harm him.
Things have been tightened up, but there's still room to do more. I don't think there needs to be anything about the Witch Lord - he isn't even in this core set - and there are some things that I think Zargon can handle when it comes to making sure quests can be completed.
@AlwaysBoardNeverBoring Is he not in the new First light Quests? Because The Witch Lord is in the Original Core set, Quest 14 - The Return of Barak Tor.
Our Zargon commanded the Hero who had the Spirit Blade and let him die, then picked up the Blade, which made the last Quest basically unbeatable.
First Light is a brand new quest. It doesn't use the original core set quest.
I would prefer ALL standees (no miniatures for heroes and dragon).
I don't like mixing plastic miniatures with standees. Also, it would help to make the game even cheaper.
I feel like a lot of games do plastic heroes with card enemies these days - Mass Effect, Gloomhaven, and the like. I think their inclusion was a good move for encouraging existing players, but they probably could have added five more standees to the punch board as well for people who didn’t want the miniatures.
Looks all good and dandy, but WHY are the white HQ-Duce an de the white movement dice different whites? Wtf? This looks so bad. No biggy thou, just need to look out for not-white white movement dice now.
This is in keeping with the previous dice sets, where the movement dice are always different. In the core set, the combat dice were white and the movement dice were red with white pips. In Frozen Horror the combat dice were a light translucent blue and the movement dice were dark blue. In this core set, the combat dice are bone and the movement dice are white with red pips.
This is the first HQ release under Avalon Hill that hasn't done it for me. The concept, the standees, the mini sculpts, the design, and the original AI-assisted cover all leave a bad taste in my mouth. The double-sided board, however, is a much welcome addition and may be the main reason for me to pick this up at some point.
I'm always happy to see more quests from Stephen Baker, and the new board, miniatures and dice are big plus points too.
thank god that AI art wasn't the actual box art
I'm glad they listened to fans and changed it, because it really was bad.
Wow, that box is so small.
Literally the point - small box as their hoping to expand the brand by having your bigger retailers dedicate space to it on their shelves as it will be more space efficienct as he covers in the video (it is too expensive and too niche as is). It being cheaper means much easier access point too as well as good fodder for younger potential new audience.
It's incredible how compact it is.
So, for me personally,
Pros:
New hero minis
New Questbook
New Zargon Screen (mine has gotten so beat up)
Expansion on Kessandria (stoked)
More doors, you can never have enough
More tiles, and I actually like the furniture tiles though I prefer 3d scatter terrain
Rat tokens!
More dice
More character sheets!
Annnnnnd
A NEW ALTERNATE BOARD! YES YES YES YES YES
Cons:
Monster standees (gross)
Some of the art kinda sucks
Ill be picking up two copies, one for me and one for my daughter. Ill be giving her the standees. Im pretty indifferent to the dragon, I already have dragons, but Ill likely keep it. The ultimate selling point to me was the alternate board. Ive been running homebrew adventures on tiles, battle mats, and boards from other games for years, but a new official board is incredible, and something I truly hope shows up in future expansions. The classic board is great, but new layouts will add so much to the game.
My only concern about the standees is the posibility of them becoming standard. Miniatures are a huge part of HeroQuest's identity. Ive heard Avalon Hill has said this wont be the case, and I hope that's true.
Also, if you're a HeroQuest homebrewer, I reccommend you pick one up, too. The potential here is pretty great.
Avalon Hill confirmed standees wouldn't become the norm. They know how much people love the miniatures and terrain, and there's no way they would remove that aspect of the game.
But the standees do appeal to a certain market - you always see people on Kickstarter asking for this option - so it's a good option for a starter set like this.
Yeah, and Gloomhaven saw a ton of success with standees, so far be it from me to demand that they be axed. It's a perfectly valid way to play, just not one to my liking.
But when my biggest complaint is the standees, and there's a ton of pro's against one con, I'd say overall this will be a worthwhile purchase.
Its 14+? I know that making a game lower than 14+ age range means extra legal hoops that the publisher has to jump through, but I can’t help feeling that many people looking for a game for their kids may not pick this up because of said rating. A large part of it’s suitable audience may actually be excluded as a result.
I think Hero Quest just lost it's Luster... 😢
Why? This isn't replacing anything, it's just an option for more players to get involved.
A shame they made no changes to at least the wizard. They're ok early on I guess but they get less and less useful as the game goes on even with all the artifacts.
I had some hope that this edition would bring something new, but everything that the new heroquest brings, seems just exploitation of nostalgia...
The core set for the new edition was faithful to the original, with most of the art being homages to the original work. The game has moved far beyond nostalgia bait now though. Against the Ogre Horde was completely revamped, expanded into a longer campaign, and introduced arena combat. Jungles of Delthrak introduced new environments and branching quests, and a lot of varied monsters with special abilities. Rise of the Dread Moon leaned more heavily into roleplaying. There is now also a large roster of characters to play, and characters like the Wandering Monk have more sophisticated rules sets that make them completely different. And of course, there is an app that allows for full co-op or solo play, without the need for a Morcar/Zargon.
The core rules are largely unchanged, but I think the game has extended beyond what it initially was.
@@AlwaysBoardNeverBoringI agree, it always seemed to me to be a way to separate out hero quest, advanced hero quest and Warhammer quest. They always seemed to focus and expand on different elements of dungeon delving.
Man I wish the whole of the game was available with standees, it'd be so much more appealing for a cheaper to purchase and easier to store game with so much additional content.
People love the miniatures, so Avalon won't stop making them, and it wouldn't be feasible to create two versions of each expansion, so I can't really see standees appearing in other products.
@@AlwaysBoardNeverBoring Maybe they'll consider seperate standee packs.
i was a massive heroquest collector and player in the 80's. and ive stayed away from the new stuff. There's just to much to collect now, how much money do they think folks have. the mistake they made was with the mythic tier. you can never get the full set now. ever. so why buy any of it.
lets face it, they realise what they did, you can never get all the figures because they were mythic tier only. So from the get go, you know you know you can never get the full set. and then the cost just made it out of bounds for most. plus for me, the bad guy was Morcar. and will always be a name i hold dear etc. So no one i know brought it, why would you, when you cant ever get it all. The new set is there way of making it better and cheaper. But is it to late. Because ther will ALWAYS be the first set. You can never EVER get
Everything from the Mythic Tier is now available at retail in one form or another except for Crypt of Perpetual Darkness which comes out next year. The only things that have not been made available are three exclusive miniatures which may be released with alternative sculpts in the future, and four alternative sculpts for the core heroes.
I'm far from wealthy and I have every expansion except for Delthrak, which will change probably next spring. I have an American-compatible version of Against The Ogre Horde. I have an absolutely killer follow up to the Mage of The Mirror. As a kid, I never had the chance to buy Return of The Witchlord or Kellar's Keep. I have both, now. While I do prefer much of the older material in appearance, the new stuff doesn't look bad.
Now, if I only bought the 1989 core set and the original versions of Kellars Keep, Return Of The Witchlord, The Dark Company, Against The Ogre Horde, and Wizards of Morcar - the last two of which would require a fair amount of conversion to American rules -, I would pay $1500 easily.
While my current collection of random stuff for HeroQuest is easily probably twice that, if I pare it down to only official Avalon Hill releases I've spent about $450, spread out over 4 years, give or take a few months. For the core set, and 5 out of the 6 (or seven, depending on what you count the Advanced Quest core set as) classic expansions, and 3 brand new ones, and soon I'll own 4.
And if the rumor mill and my lying friend the internet are telling me the truth, over the next two years I'll have the Dark Company, Wizards of Morcar/Zargon, and two new expansions. And all the will cost me roughly $200 over a big stretch of time.
And if you picked up this set instead of the standard core set, you could save about $80. Or, you could just pick this up, and homebrew your own stuff. Pick up some packs of battlemats and dungeons tiles, and cheap Wizkids minis, and you could have a perfectly serviceable and expanded/expansabls HeroQuest kit for about $250.
Also, you can just call Zargon Morcar. Lots of players in the UK do. I refuse to say "Dread", it will always be Chaos Warrior, Chaos Magic, Chaos Sorcer. My Rogue heir is from Athel Loren, not Elethorn. My adventures take place in the defense of The Empire, not the Kingdom.
And lots of people, myself included, have 3d printed many of the original miniatures and scatter terrain. When the Abomination attacking the heroes is accompanied by two Fimir, it's pretty great.
I had the original set and I love the modern set. Plus, if you already know the UK rules, there's no reason you couldn't do some minor tweaking and just play with those rules instead of the American ruleset.
The original base game actually comes in 2 variations.
The first release is bulky, the second release is thinner. Besides the cardboard cover over all the plastic minis there's now also an additional plastic cover, this will prevent cardboard tokens from getting lost in the box. But it does make storing things in the second release a bit harder as there's no "dead air".
Yes, that newer version redesigned the plastic trays so they didn't "grip" so hard and there were a few revised cards. I don't have that box to compare, but believe it is still around twice the size of this new one, which is now standardised alongside a lot of other Hasbro products such as Betrayal, Life in Reterra, Talisman, and the larger HeroQuest expansions, which is the sort of thing retailers will like!