there are times I'm envious of you being an influencer with those connections. other times I'm just happier you're on our side! nice work. and thanks to Avalon hill! Happy Holidays, ABNB ;)
I can't believe that furniture *never* blocked movement, or that tall furniture didn't also block line of sight. That's how I played it 35 years ago, lol.
I first played in the UK 1989, where there were no line of sight rules when inside rooms. You could target anything in the room with you. However, even then, we didn't let people wander through tables. When I got Avalon Hill's revised edition, which has the more restrictive line of sight rules, I just naturally allowed shooting over low furniture but not through high furniture, and still said all furniture blocked movement. It just seemed the natural way to play.
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.
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 remember getting the Orignal for christmas and playing it that night. This few starter set is really cool, an easier way for people to jump into the HeroQuest world! Great vid just subbed
Absolutely, but I was thinking in particular that it can be difficult for DMs to keep up with having painted miniatures for their games, so standees are a handy shortcut. I think the game series that has served me best for D&D is (unsurprisingly) the D&D adventure game series, like Castle Ravenloft and Wrath of Ashardalon.
@@AlwaysBoardNeverBoring I and my gaming group abandoned D&D years ago, for a multitude of reasons. The foremost being that it seems that EVERY PC character just seems over the top, at least with my group. We've instead opted for Genesys. It uses a unique dice system that allows for better narrative gameplay. Example: Your hero hits the Orc with his arrow, doing over it's base damage and knocking it prone, but their bowstring broke and now they must spend their next actions to pull out another (if they have one) and restring it. It's worth looking into. The books are expensive af because it came out just before the Koof hit and never did another print run. I use the PDF from Anyflip (for free) and Drive Thru RPG. The dice are readily available also.
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!
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.
Aw Christmas’ especially 1989 a special Christmas, a Hero Quest Christmas and still have it that copy and all the expansions to this days. Since it’s still played I decided not to get new Hero Quest, but this one might be ideal for me just to check it out , bit to go full in but just to try it. Would have been awesome for Christmas but might be just right for a Birthday present in March😀. Thanks again for the vid and your passion for Hero quest.
Since I purchased Avalon Hill's edition my classic edition is used solely as an expansion for Advanced Heroquest. I use my Avalon Hill copy the rest of the time because of the NA rules, the wider selection of heroes, and all of the expansions. Hopefully this new core set will encourage more people who are on the fence to give it a whirl.
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😊
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 🎉
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 guess "first light" is a play on words as in first light weight pack...I thought it was a new game when I just saw it on amazon so I came straight here because I knew you'd of done a video on it 😊
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.
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.
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.
now that CoPD is going to retail, that's where our Rats tiles will get used! (and the Wizard Quest Pack, whether that's a fan release or official does too)
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.
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 guess even bothering to address the issue of whether furniture blocks movement or LOS this time makes a little bit of logical sense to bring up in First Light because the furniture are now flat tiles. some may just assume that since you can easily slide your miniature past them or plop your figure on top it's as if they really are meant to be like flat pieces of cardboard in the imagined world of the game... vs. if they were 3d plastic sculptures as in the (now) "deluxe" set. but it's a stretch. they didn't need to state it anymore than clarifying that characters can't move off the board with their movement (unless they're leaving the quest permanently!) or hide behind the physical dice to avoid being attacked or whatever other sort of thing someone could imagine... like if the dice falls on the ground do you have to read it off the floor or if the cat knocks the board over, did your character just die? lol
There's a few misses in the box. The first is the artifacts and treasures deck. There are now several different quest books that give the same artifacts. Telor, Spirit Queen, the Core Set, and now First Light all give copies of the original set of artifacts, meaning youe party can now reasonably acquire i believe four sets of Borin's Armor. A few new artifacts in place of yet another set of reprints would have been nice, i personally woupd have liked to see a chainmail artifact and artifacts for the existing weapon types that don't yet have one. Like the hand axe. The treasure deck could also have done with some new cards. As mentioned, a Nothing card would have been great, perhaps some variety in the hazards, a new potion or two, etc. Additionally, while it's nice that some furnature got special rules, i would have liked to have seen all of the furniture get special rules. Especially the treasure chest, as there are quite a few empty chests in the game system across all of the quest books. Something as simple as "reveal cards until you get a card that isn't a hazard" would have sufficed. Lastly, i do think it was a mistake to include the optional rule for movement in the quest book but not the rule book. The decision to do that strikes me as odd.
Putting unthreatened movement in the quest book and not the rules is a very odd choice, and yes, I would have liked to see more artifacts. I treat artifacts as unique, so heroes will never have more than one spirit blade, but it's an area where they had a perfect opportunity to add some cool quest-specific items. Overall, I think it's a great core set, and does a good job balancing things for new and returning customers. For a lot of the things I would have liked to see done differently I do understand why they weren't. I think Avalon Hill didn't want to make existing players feel like they HAD to buy another starter set, so left out things like artifacts that could have made it feel that way.
@AlwaysBoardNeverBoring I don't think changing the rewards from the core set artifacts or including new treasure would "force" people to buy first light any more than the new quest pack and dragon miniature would, but I would argue that new cards would certainly be more incentive to do so. The same can be said of new players buying first light looking to buy the core box. Yes, you are getting a lot of plastic assets when going in the other direction, but it's still a lot of duplicate content. It would have been nice for Avalon to look at what existing players already have and give us something to play with in this box as well, and it wouldn't hurt their bottom line either to have tried to market this to existing players a little better than just offering a new quest book. They're asking for big box expansion prices for less new content than any of the small box expansions, so changing up the cards a bit might have helped enfranchised players be a little more agreeable towards it. I'm not saying this isn't a good product, it just could have been a better product. A lot of people who already have the core box aren't going to look at what comes in this and think it's worth it's asking price, but a few small tweaks could have changed their opinions.
I like the set and think it is good value for just the minis, the new board and the new quests. Also, I do not see a problem with different wordings for various items, quite the opposite. In my eyes that makes it easier to mix the materials and it is exactly what I will do, thus there will be two (or soon even more) variants of certain items.
New wording isn't a problem. It's to tighten up the rules; not to create variants. It's to resolve issues that have arisen from the introduction of expansions and new characters, and clarify the intent of the rules. That's a good thing. However, it does change how certain items work, which is going to distress some players (especially if they play the Rogue). I'm not sure what you mean about different wording making it easier to mix materials. If you mean it's easier to tell which cards came from which sets, you can do that from the date on the bottom of each card. And I don't personally see the point of mixing equipment, treasure and artifact cards anyway. Incidentally, I feel like the intention is not to let the players have duplicates of items like the Talisman of Lore, but to make sure they have those cards in the event they are required in other campaigns, regardless of which core set they started with. The design of this expansion does seem to assume new players with no previous content, with just a slight nod to existing players in the rules. And I certainly wouldn't want to run two versions of Orc's Bane, one that let's the Rogue make three attacks and one that doesn't. That would be odd to me.
This is very similar to PoorHammer's idea for a cheaper and easier starter box/kit for people to get into 40k. Standees bypasses the awkwardness of assembling and painting. The player investment cost of painting. Still looks good compared to other armies with printed colored art. And you can just go right into playing and learning the game instead of the hobby crafting.
Its a shame about the alternate map. I hope Avalon Hill does have plans to use it more. It will always be welcome for creating your own adventures at the very least. Great Video! This did get me to buy First Light and try the HQ system. Im already in! I just dont know where to put the miniatures as I collect expansions. The Firdt Light box is to small to hold them all!
In general, I magnetise miniatures and store them in crates lined with rubber steel. However, for HeroQuest I make custom inserts with rubber steel sections that fit in the expansion boxes. You can see examples I did on the channel for Frozen Horror and Mage of the Mirror.
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 think this is a good improvement with the tiles and the board, I prefer the 2024 FL style more than 2021 style. I would have preferred they removed the linen texture from the cards also, I hate it.
The posing of the dwarf is very similar. I always used to imagine the Advanced Heroquest wizard was the HeroQuest wizard grown up. It looks like he got his beard early this time around!
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
A few thoughts: I wonder if Avalon hill will be running two lines, with some expansions specifically for First Light with cardboard standees and quests that make use of the other board, and then expansions with miniatures that don't use the other board. I hope that Wizards of Morcar is full minis, but I wouldn't be surprised if Crypt of Eternal Darkness comes with standees and has you use the First Light Dragon. Also, the dragon's scales going up the leg instead of down are because it fights using the Flying Drop Kick method from Godzilla vs Megalon.
I don't think so. They have specifically said that they will still be doing miniatures for future expansions, and I really can't see them splitting the product line - after all, they made sure First Light had artifacts for expansions like Return of the Witch Lord. I can't imagine they would lock out some players from certain products by making a particular core set a requirement. That's the sort of thing that will impact on sales, which would be the opposite of what they want from releasing First Light. I could see them adding standees to punchboards in future expansions in addition to the miniatures, but even that would probably move the needle a bit too much on the bottom line.
Not sure if I missed it, but for the enemy standees, is the artwork the same on both sides, or do they have unique front and back artwork? I’ll be interested to see your video about the quest book, to see if I think it’s worthwhile me getting this or not. Thanks for the video!
It's the same art front and back. So whichever way you look at the standees you will see the front of the monster. Quest deep dive goes live this afternoon.
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?
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?
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 get what they are thinking but 10 year old me (who begged for and got HeroQuest for Christmas many many years ago) likely would have never even noticed this game in a sea of other boardgame and videogame options without the big box, furniture and all the awesome miniatures.
While I understand that perspective, this is a way to get it onto shelves to get seen in the first place. It's better to be on the shelf with a chance of being seen rather than not being on the shelf at all. Sadly, HeroQuest isn't going to get an awesome television ad like the one that sold this game to everyone back in 1989!
@AlwaysBoardNeverBoring good point about the ad. How does one even market to kids these days? Some creative marketing could probably help as much as anything since I feel like this concept pretty much sells itself if you can get it in front of kids.
Wasnt going to buy this but pre ordered soon as it was available 😂 already thinking of ways to incorporate "paper monsters" into quests to use with the miniatures..
@AlwaysBoardNeverBoring that is a really fun idea I was thinking along the lines of a wizard or monsters using a crude spell to summon one and effectively using it as a shield on in coming fights
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)
After seeing this video I've finally decided to take the plunge and get into HeroQuest for real. Are all the boxed sets compatible with each other/the base sets or are there different editions?
Everything is compatible, and HeroQuest also (at least at the moment) ensures that all expansions only require core set components, so you can buy and play the expansions in any order. The only thing to be aware of is only First Light has standees, all of the expansions have miniatures.
@@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.
Well I guess that clinches it. I've bought everything from the new editions so far (another "magical childhood Christmas" sucker here), and was kinda planning to skip this one, but between the new adventures, the dragon mini and (perhaps most importantly) the new board layout, it's a sale. Added bonus that I'll be able to use this as a gateway ...product... when introducing new players, as it's so portable.
Yeah, I think it has enough value there for existing players. Some people are even saying they are going to swap out there plastic doors for the wooden ones as they don't take up as much space and therefore allow more room for miniatures.
£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 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.
As Crypt of Perpetual Darkness is on the way, we will be getting another dragon anyway, so you might just need to wait for that (unless you already have a Mythic pledge). Of course, they may issue the same dragon design from the Mythic pledge, which is different to this one, and only sits on one space.
I think so. You would be able to replace all the standees and furniture with your old miniatures, and you could use the new cardboard doors which are sturdier than what we had growing up. You could then buy any new Avalon Hill expansions knowing you have a compatible board. The only issues you would have are 1) any original tile overlays you plan to continue using would be a bit small on the new board, and 2) there would be aesthetic difference between your original miniatures and the new Avalon Hill stuff.
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.
In an ideal world people would be able to pick whether to go down the standee or miniatures route, but I just can't see it being a financially viable option for them to release two versions of each expansion; and if they put standees in with the miniatures in future, those people who don't want miniatures will still end up paying for all the plastic they didn't want.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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 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.
1:12 vs 18:50 I really think this is a very odd choice (seeing this is Guerilla Minis unboxing I presumed it was just another holdover from the GenCon demo sets, not final, and at the time that was strictly what I thought based on Doug saying "those dice aren't final" though he didn't say what the final dice would look like, to be fair). Why did AH revise the box (with the better YellowFly art) but then change the dice to the 2021/2022 colors? while bone colored combat dice are kind of cool, the white dice with red pips are a worse choice to me than the red with white (why not shiny gold pips like the classic HQ?). Either somebody goofed up with the box art here again, or maybe only influencers are getting these "alternate" dice (no jealousy there, though I was a big jealous of your rounded corner dice, I thought we all should have gotten those!). It's not a super big deal, just an odd choice that the box doesn't reflect what's in it this time. I guess we'll all find out in 1-3 weeks!
I received this review copy mid-December and was under the impression it was a sealed final copy of the retail product which will be on Target shelves on January 12. It's not uncommon for photos on the back to be taken with prototype elements with contents varying in the final product. Getting the studio time, the photographer, and setting up the shot is all expensive and time consuming, and not really worth it for the sake of showing different coloured dice. Maybe it will turn out that the dice are different, but that's not my understanding. As for those rounded dice I received during the original crowdfunding... those were a proof of concept. They don't even roll correctly. They are a really nice collectible, but not useable.
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.
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!
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 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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 think the wizard is always a solid choice, and as long as they have revised the spells in the forthcoming Wizards of Morcar expansion he should be an even better option.
@@AlwaysBoardNeverBoring It's fine in the early game, but since the spells don't scale up the spells become less and less useful as you go with the exception of the healing spells... which typically the elf has one of. Late game, their one fire spell on average does the same damage as everyone else's regular attack, the other fire spell does less. Their 5 die attack air spell only does slightly more than everyone's regular attack but they only get it once (or twice with the ring, but at that point the heal is more useful) a quest. The vast majority of the time, they're rolling 2 less attack and 1 less defense, with 2-4 less body points compared to the others. Their 2-4 extra mind points are rarely used. If you replaced the wizard with another elf late game, you'd basically lose almost nothing and gain 3 dice between attack and defense and 2 body points.
You aren't supposed to take duplicate heroes in the team, and I don't personally believe we have another character yet that is as versatile with spells and has a decent mind value. Wizards of Morcar is on the way and that will expand the wizard's options massively. I just hope they revise the spells, because they weren't very strong in the original version.
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 Basically Heroquest first light is a striped down version of the original Heroquest game of 1989/2020. So do you really need this version of the game? I'm a old school Heroquest fan had the game since 1989 when New expansion got released by Avalon Hill I add to my original antique game 😂 LoL
I can't really add anything that I didn't say in the video. It's a new core set - an alternative option for people to get into HeroQuest for the first time. But, it has unique components such as the double-sided board, dragon, revised cards, and a new quest, that will be appealing to existing players too.
Also probably worth mentioning that if you are using a classic HeroQuest set and still use the cardboard doors, First Light has new cardboard doors with flat, clear bases that are a little less intrusive on the board, so that's a decent upgrade.
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.
It's mainly for all the safety ratings. To be honest, I have never paid any attention to the age range on a board game, and I feel most children who are really young will be guided through the game by a parent or older sibling as Zargon anyway. I don't see it having a significant impact.
@@AlwaysBoardNeverBoring I don’t take much notice either but I am an experienced gamer like yourself and I introduced it to my kids when they were 5. I just think that the monopoly-centric masses might not pick this up for their kids as they will assume it will be more complicated than it actually is. They tend to see anything more than a leaflet of rules as too complex (in my own experience of non-gamers), so If it wants to be truly a gateway game I just think they missed a trick. I’m not saying it won’t sell, I just don’t expect it to bring as many new gamers into the hobby as it might have done.
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 love that video!
Bwoadswoad!
@@bryanlynch5563 lol
Legendary 🎉
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.
Agreed. I got my Heroquest game on Christmas day 1990. I was 15. ❤
there are times I'm envious of you being an influencer with those connections. other times I'm just happier you're on our side! nice work. and thanks to Avalon hill! Happy Holidays, ABNB ;)
Thanks for watching. Happy holidays.
I can't believe that furniture *never* blocked movement, or that tall furniture didn't also block line of sight. That's how I played it 35 years ago, lol.
I first played in the UK 1989, where there were no line of sight rules when inside rooms. You could target anything in the room with you. However, even then, we didn't let people wander through tables. When I got Avalon Hill's revised edition, which has the more restrictive line of sight rules, I just naturally allowed shooting over low furniture but not through high furniture, and still said all furniture blocked movement. It just seemed the natural way to play.
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?
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 got it for Christmas 1989 also. Probably one of the best Christmas gifts I ever got.
Christmas 1989 was the business.
Two of my most formulative Christmas Presents were Heroquest and BattleMasters.
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!
I remember getting the Orignal for christmas and playing it that night. This few starter set is really cool, an easier way for people to jump into the HeroQuest world! Great vid just subbed
Yes, I hope this opens up HeroQuest to even more players. Thanks for subscribing, I really appreciate the support!
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.
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!
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.
@@AlwaysBoardNeverBoring not just the standees, but the whole package; furniture, traps and all. I've gotten a ton of use with my copy.
Absolutely, but I was thinking in particular that it can be difficult for DMs to keep up with having painted miniatures for their games, so standees are a handy shortcut. I think the game series that has served me best for D&D is (unsurprisingly) the D&D adventure game series, like Castle Ravenloft and Wrath of Ashardalon.
@@AlwaysBoardNeverBoring I and my gaming group abandoned D&D years ago, for a multitude of reasons. The foremost being that it seems that EVERY PC character just seems over the top, at least with my group.
We've instead opted for Genesys. It uses a unique dice system that allows for better narrative gameplay. Example: Your hero hits the Orc with his arrow, doing over it's base damage and knocking it prone, but their bowstring broke and now they must spend their next actions to pull out another (if they have one) and restring it.
It's worth looking into. The books are expensive af because it came out just before the Koof hit and never did another print run. I use the PDF from Anyflip (for free) and Drive Thru RPG. The dice are readily available also.
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!
@AlwaysBoardNeverBoring perhaps not in the US though, as it's a Target exclusive for us. :(
@@dudemcfurgusson7179 Target do gift cards too, don't they?
@@AlwaysBoardNeverBoring they do indeed
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...
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.
Thanks for the review. It will be interesting to see the final price, given the cardboard standees and paper terrain.
Retail price at Target is $49.99. On Amazon UK, it's £37.99.
Aw Christmas’ especially 1989 a special Christmas, a Hero Quest Christmas and still have it that copy and all the expansions to this days. Since it’s still played I decided not to get new Hero Quest, but this one might be ideal for me just to check it out , bit to go full in but just to try it. Would have been awesome for Christmas but might be just right for a Birthday present in March😀. Thanks again for the vid and your passion for Hero quest.
Since I purchased Avalon Hill's edition my classic edition is used solely as an expansion for Advanced Heroquest. I use my Avalon Hill copy the rest of the time because of the NA rules, the wider selection of heroes, and all of the expansions. Hopefully this new core set will encourage more people who are on the fence to give it a whirl.
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.
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 🤣
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.
Excellent, as always 👏
Thank you.
I guess "first light" is a play on words as in first light weight pack...I thought it was a new game when I just saw it on amazon so I came straight here because I knew you'd of done a video on it 😊
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.
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.
Avalon Hill: Furniture never blocked movement!
Also Avalon Hill: Spiderstep Elixir
It's a very odd thing in the rules.
I want to integrate the cave map into Keller's Keep, since a good portion of it implies that you're going through caves.
It would take a lot of work, but it would be fun to do.
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.
Target will be stocking this in stores after the preorder period.
This is definitely going to wind up on my shelf
I think it's nicely balanced for new and existing players.
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!
now that CoPD is going to retail, that's where our Rats tiles will get used! (and the Wizard Quest Pack, whether that's a fan release or official does too)
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.
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.
The dwarf’s hand axe should absolutely be picked up in the square where the monster was, or some adjacent one according to roleplay.
I guess even bothering to address the issue of whether furniture blocks movement or LOS this time makes a little bit of logical sense to bring up in First Light because the furniture are now flat tiles. some may just assume that since you can easily slide your miniature past them or plop your figure on top it's as if they really are meant to be like flat pieces of cardboard in the imagined world of the game... vs. if they were 3d plastic sculptures as in the (now) "deluxe" set. but it's a stretch. they didn't need to state it anymore than clarifying that characters can't move off the board with their movement (unless they're leaving the quest permanently!) or hide behind the physical dice to avoid being attacked or whatever other sort of thing someone could imagine... like if the dice falls on the ground do you have to read it off the floor or if the cat knocks the board over, did your character just die? lol
There's a few misses in the box.
The first is the artifacts and treasures deck. There are now several different quest books that give the same artifacts. Telor, Spirit Queen, the Core Set, and now First Light all give copies of the original set of artifacts, meaning youe party can now reasonably acquire i believe four sets of Borin's Armor. A few new artifacts in place of yet another set of reprints would have been nice, i personally woupd have liked to see a chainmail artifact and artifacts for the existing weapon types that don't yet have one. Like the hand axe.
The treasure deck could also have done with some new cards. As mentioned, a Nothing card would have been great, perhaps some variety in the hazards, a new potion or two, etc.
Additionally, while it's nice that some furnature got special rules, i would have liked to have seen all of the furniture get special rules. Especially the treasure chest, as there are quite a few empty chests in the game system across all of the quest books. Something as simple as "reveal cards until you get a card that isn't a hazard" would have sufficed.
Lastly, i do think it was a mistake to include the optional rule for movement in the quest book but not the rule book. The decision to do that strikes me as odd.
Putting unthreatened movement in the quest book and not the rules is a very odd choice, and yes, I would have liked to see more artifacts. I treat artifacts as unique, so heroes will never have more than one spirit blade, but it's an area where they had a perfect opportunity to add some cool quest-specific items.
Overall, I think it's a great core set, and does a good job balancing things for new and returning customers. For a lot of the things I would have liked to see done differently I do understand why they weren't. I think Avalon Hill didn't want to make existing players feel like they HAD to buy another starter set, so left out things like artifacts that could have made it feel that way.
@AlwaysBoardNeverBoring I don't think changing the rewards from the core set artifacts or including new treasure would "force" people to buy first light any more than the new quest pack and dragon miniature would, but I would argue that new cards would certainly be more incentive to do so.
The same can be said of new players buying first light looking to buy the core box. Yes, you are getting a lot of plastic assets when going in the other direction, but it's still a lot of duplicate content.
It would have been nice for Avalon to look at what existing players already have and give us something to play with in this box as well, and it wouldn't hurt their bottom line either to have tried to market this to existing players a little better than just offering a new quest book.
They're asking for big box expansion prices for less new content than any of the small box expansions, so changing up the cards a bit might have helped enfranchised players be a little more agreeable towards it.
I'm not saying this isn't a good product, it just could have been a better product. A lot of people who already have the core box aren't going to look at what comes in this and think it's worth it's asking price, but a few small tweaks could have changed their opinions.
I like the set and think it is good value for just the minis, the new board and the new quests.
Also, I do not see a problem with different wordings for various items, quite the opposite. In my eyes that makes it easier to mix the materials and it is exactly what I will do, thus there will be two (or soon even more) variants of certain items.
New wording isn't a problem. It's to tighten up the rules; not to create variants. It's to resolve issues that have arisen from the introduction of expansions and new characters, and clarify the intent of the rules. That's a good thing. However, it does change how certain items work, which is going to distress some players (especially if they play the Rogue).
I'm not sure what you mean about different wording making it easier to mix materials. If you mean it's easier to tell which cards came from which sets, you can do that from the date on the bottom of each card. And I don't personally see the point of mixing equipment, treasure and artifact cards anyway.
Incidentally, I feel like the intention is not to let the players have duplicates of items like the Talisman of Lore, but to make sure they have those cards in the event they are required in other campaigns, regardless of which core set they started with. The design of this expansion does seem to assume new players with no previous content, with just a slight nod to existing players in the rules. And I certainly wouldn't want to run two versions of Orc's Bane, one that let's the Rogue make three attacks and one that doesn't. That would be odd to me.
I’ve noticed that the HQ app has the first quest from this up already. I hope they add the others soon.
The rest of the missions are ready (as they accidentally uploaded them all at first). They are just waiting until after the retail release.
This is very similar to PoorHammer's idea for a cheaper and easier starter box/kit for people to get into 40k. Standees bypasses the awkwardness of assembling and painting. The player investment cost of painting. Still looks good compared to other armies with printed colored art. And you can just go right into playing and learning the game instead of the hobby crafting.
It's a good idea to appeal to a wider audience. I know some people are worrying about the standees, but I think it's the right choice here.
Its a shame about the alternate map. I hope Avalon Hill does have plans to use it more. It will always be welcome for creating your own adventures at the very least. Great Video! This did get me to buy First Light and try the HQ system. Im already in! I just dont know where to put the miniatures as I collect expansions. The Firdt Light box is to small to hold them all!
In general, I magnetise miniatures and store them in crates lined with rubber steel. However, for HeroQuest I make custom inserts with rubber steel sections that fit in the expansion boxes. You can see examples I did on the channel for Frozen Horror and Mage of the Mirror.
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.
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 think this is a good improvement with the tiles and the board, I prefer the 2024 FL style more than 2021 style. I would have preferred they removed the linen texture from the cards also, I hate 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.
The new wiz and dwarf look like the advanced heroquest sculpts
The posing of the dwarf is very similar. I always used to imagine the Advanced Heroquest wizard was the HeroQuest wizard grown up. It looks like he got his beard early this time around!
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
A few thoughts: I wonder if Avalon hill will be running two lines, with some expansions specifically for First Light with cardboard standees and quests that make use of the other board, and then expansions with miniatures that don't use the other board. I hope that Wizards of Morcar is full minis, but I wouldn't be surprised if Crypt of Eternal Darkness comes with standees and has you use the First Light Dragon.
Also, the dragon's scales going up the leg instead of down are because it fights using the Flying Drop Kick method from Godzilla vs Megalon.
I don't think so. They have specifically said that they will still be doing miniatures for future expansions, and I really can't see them splitting the product line - after all, they made sure First Light had artifacts for expansions like Return of the Witch Lord. I can't imagine they would lock out some players from certain products by making a particular core set a requirement. That's the sort of thing that will impact on sales, which would be the opposite of what they want from releasing First Light.
I could see them adding standees to punchboards in future expansions in addition to the miniatures, but even that would probably move the needle a bit too much on the bottom line.
Not sure if I missed it, but for the enemy standees, is the artwork the same on both sides, or do they have unique front and back artwork?
I’ll be interested to see your video about the quest book, to see if I think it’s worthwhile me getting this or not. Thanks for the video!
It's the same art front and back. So whichever way you look at the standees you will see the front of the monster. Quest deep dive goes live this afternoon.
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.
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.
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.
I get what they are thinking but 10 year old me (who begged for and got HeroQuest for Christmas many many years ago) likely would have never even noticed this game in a sea of other boardgame and videogame options without the big box, furniture and all the awesome miniatures.
While I understand that perspective, this is a way to get it onto shelves to get seen in the first place. It's better to be on the shelf with a chance of being seen rather than not being on the shelf at all. Sadly, HeroQuest isn't going to get an awesome television ad like the one that sold this game to everyone back in 1989!
@AlwaysBoardNeverBoring good point about the ad. How does one even market to kids these days? Some creative marketing could probably help as much as anything since I feel like this concept pretty much sells itself if you can get it in front of kids.
Wasnt going to buy this but pre ordered soon as it was available 😂 already thinking of ways to incorporate "paper monsters" into quests to use with the miniatures..
Someone else already mentioned using them as corpse markers, which I thought was a pretty fun idea.
@AlwaysBoardNeverBoring that is a really fun idea I was thinking along the lines of a wizard or monsters using a crude spell to summon one and effectively using it as a shield on in coming fights
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
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 👍😬
After seeing this video I've finally decided to take the plunge and get into HeroQuest for real. Are all the boxed sets compatible with each other/the base sets or are there different editions?
Everything is compatible, and HeroQuest also (at least at the moment) ensures that all expansions only require core set components, so you can buy and play the expansions in any order. The only thing to be aware of is only First Light has standees, all of the expansions have miniatures.
@@AlwaysBoardNeverBoring thanks for clarifying!
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.
Well I guess that clinches it. I've bought everything from the new editions so far (another "magical childhood Christmas" sucker here), and was kinda planning to skip this one, but between the new adventures, the dragon mini and (perhaps most importantly) the new board layout, it's a sale. Added bonus that I'll be able to use this as a gateway ...product... when introducing new players, as it's so portable.
Yeah, I think it has enough value there for existing players. Some people are even saying they are going to swap out there plastic doors for the wooden ones as they don't take up as much space and therefore allow more room for miniatures.
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 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.
Only interested in the dragon mini. I wish you could pick that up separately like the monk and rogue.
As Crypt of Perpetual Darkness is on the way, we will be getting another dragon anyway, so you might just need to wait for that (unless you already have a Mythic pledge). Of course, they may issue the same dragon design from the Mythic pledge, which is different to this one, and only sits on one space.
who else has plans to print the Brazilian standees as alternates for this set?
I'm not a gambling man, but I would guess not very many people.
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.
15:00 highlight of the review, not gonna lie
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 !
Would this be a good way to update my original version board and cards to match the new sizing so I can get the new expansions?
I think so. You would be able to replace all the standees and furniture with your old miniatures, and you could use the new cardboard doors which are sturdier than what we had growing up. You could then buy any new Avalon Hill expansions knowing you have a compatible board. The only issues you would have are 1) any original tile overlays you plan to continue using would be a bit small on the new board, and 2) there would be aesthetic difference between your original miniatures and the new Avalon Hill stuff.
It would have also been nice to allow for unconstrained heroes: allowing more than four heroes to play any one quest.
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!
They should release the add-ons in the same way, with stands instead of miniatures. Maybe a collection of add-ons.
In an ideal world people would be able to pick whether to go down the standee or miniatures route, but I just can't see it being a financially viable option for them to release two versions of each expansion; and if they put standees in with the miniatures in future, those people who don't want miniatures will still end up paying for all the plastic they didn't want.
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.
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
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.
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.
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.
When and most importantly where will it be available in Japan 🇯🇵 😢
@@MilPicJapan The only information I have is that other territories will start getting it from Spring 2025.
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.
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.
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.
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'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.
1:12 vs 18:50 I really think this is a very odd choice (seeing this is Guerilla Minis unboxing I presumed it was just another holdover from the GenCon demo sets, not final, and at the time that was strictly what I thought based on Doug saying "those dice aren't final" though he didn't say what the final dice would look like, to be fair). Why did AH revise the box (with the better YellowFly art) but then change the dice to the 2021/2022 colors? while bone colored combat dice are kind of cool, the white dice with red pips are a worse choice to me than the red with white (why not shiny gold pips like the classic HQ?). Either somebody goofed up with the box art here again, or maybe only influencers are getting these "alternate" dice (no jealousy there, though I was a big jealous of your rounded corner dice, I thought we all should have gotten those!). It's not a super big deal, just an odd choice that the box doesn't reflect what's in it this time. I guess we'll all find out in 1-3 weeks!
I received this review copy mid-December and was under the impression it was a sealed final copy of the retail product which will be on Target shelves on January 12. It's not uncommon for photos on the back to be taken with prototype elements with contents varying in the final product. Getting the studio time, the photographer, and setting up the shot is all expensive and time consuming, and not really worth it for the sake of showing different coloured dice. Maybe it will turn out that the dice are different, but that's not my understanding.
As for those rounded dice I received during the original crowdfunding... those were a proof of concept. They don't even roll correctly. They are a really nice collectible, but not useable.
I rather buy a game without figures to kids. Else the game will never to complete. Figures would go everywhere. Perfect starter set.
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.
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!
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.
Wait... the scales on the Rule Book cover look a bit purple... are they trying to tell us to paint this dragon up like Barney..??😅
What makes you think that's the dragon?
You can see the dragon art on the monster reference card. He doesn't look purple.
@AlwaysBoardNeverBoring Oh, probably just looking for excuses to use my favourite colour! 😅
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. 😅
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.
Ill buy this to introduce the genra to my familly and girlfriend.
Sounds like a good idea.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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 think the wizard is always a solid choice, and as long as they have revised the spells in the forthcoming Wizards of Morcar expansion he should be an even better option.
@@AlwaysBoardNeverBoring It's fine in the early game, but since the spells don't scale up the spells become less and less useful as you go with the exception of the healing spells... which typically the elf has one of. Late game, their one fire spell on average does the same damage as everyone else's regular attack, the other fire spell does less. Their 5 die attack air spell only does slightly more than everyone's regular attack but they only get it once (or twice with the ring, but at that point the heal is more useful) a quest. The vast majority of the time, they're rolling 2 less attack and 1 less defense, with 2-4 less body points compared to the others. Their 2-4 extra mind points are rarely used. If you replaced the wizard with another elf late game, you'd basically lose almost nothing and gain 3 dice between attack and defense and 2 body points.
You aren't supposed to take duplicate heroes in the team, and I don't personally believe we have another character yet that is as versatile with spells and has a decent mind value. Wizards of Morcar is on the way and that will expand the wizard's options massively. I just hope they revise the spells, because they weren't very strong in the original version.
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.
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.
So Basically Heroquest first light is a striped down version of the original Heroquest game of 1989/2020. So do you really need this version of the game? I'm a old school Heroquest fan had the game since 1989 when New expansion got released by Avalon Hill I add to my original antique game 😂 LoL
I can't really add anything that I didn't say in the video. It's a new core set - an alternative option for people to get into HeroQuest for the first time. But, it has unique components such as the double-sided board, dragon, revised cards, and a new quest, that will be appealing to existing players too.
@AlwaysBoardNeverBoring Thanks for the info well then I'll then have to add Heroquest first light to my collection 👍
Also probably worth mentioning that if you are using a classic HeroQuest set and still use the cardboard doors, First Light has new cardboard doors with flat, clear bases that are a little less intrusive on the board, so that's a decent upgrade.
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.
It's mainly for all the safety ratings. To be honest, I have never paid any attention to the age range on a board game, and I feel most children who are really young will be guided through the game by a parent or older sibling as Zargon anyway. I don't see it having a significant impact.
@@AlwaysBoardNeverBoring I don’t take much notice either but I am an experienced gamer like yourself and I introduced it to my kids when they were 5. I just think that the monopoly-centric masses might not pick this up for their kids as they will assume it will be more complicated than it actually is. They tend to see anything more than a leaflet of rules as too complex (in my own experience of non-gamers), so If it wants to be truly a gateway game I just think they missed a trick. I’m not saying it won’t sell, I just don’t expect it to bring as many new gamers into the hobby as it might have done.