When comparing HeroQuest vs Arkham Horror, the Slant community recommends HeroQuest for most people. In the question“What are the best board games?” HeroQuest is ranked 20th while Arkham Horror is ranked 21st. The most important reason people chose HeroQuest is:
The game is teachable to players in a matter of minutes due to the [simple rules]( http://english.yeoldeinn.com/downloads/system/system-rules-of-play.pdf). It’s also simple enough for children, as the game is made for ages 10 and over. After the gamemaster has introduced the players to the scenario and readied the board, the game starts with the player to the left of the gamemaster. During the player’s turn the player can perform two actions – move and either attack, cast a spell, search for traps and secret entrances, or search for treasure. On the gamemaster’s turn the gamemaster can attack the heroes with the currently visible monsters. Movement is done by rolling two regular dice, which show the amount of squares the player can move in their turn. Combat is done by the player and the gamemaster rolling special dice with 3 skull sides, 2 hero shield sides and 1 monster shield side. The number of dice rolled in combat is determined by the statistics of the monster or the hero, specified in the character cards. Each skull is a hit and each shield can block one skull. When “body count” reaches zero, the character is removed from the game.
Specs
Ranked in these QuestionsQuestion Ranking
Pros
Pro Easy to grasp
The game is teachable to players in a matter of minutes due to the simple rules. It’s also simple enough for children, as the game is made for ages 10 and over.
After the gamemaster has introduced the players to the scenario and readied the board, the game starts with the player to the left of the gamemaster. During the player’s turn the player can perform two actions – move and either attack, cast a spell, search for traps and secret entrances, or search for treasure. On the gamemaster’s turn the gamemaster can attack the heroes with the currently visible monsters.
Movement is done by rolling two regular dice, which show the amount of squares the player can move in their turn. Combat is done by the player and the gamemaster rolling special dice with 3 skull sides, 2 hero shield sides and 1 monster shield side. The number of dice rolled in combat is determined by the statistics of the monster or the hero, specified in the character cards. Each skull is a hit and each shield can block one skull. When “body count” reaches zero, the character is removed from the game.
Pro Easy to set up
Since most of the actual dungeon construction is done by the gamemaster as the game progresses and more rooms are revealed, all you need to do before the game can properly start is bring out the board, let the players choose their heroes and introduce the quest.
Pro Interactive figurines
It's not just a story, you're uncovering a dungeon as the dungeonmaster allows your character to see and discover new areas.
Pro Beautiful visual design
While the game board is not particularly big, it’s quite colorful and aesthetic. The game also manages to catch the eye due to the figurines and the small furniture.
The game features a big variety of remarkably detailed miniature figures - orcs, skeletons, zombies, goblins, etc. All the figures are originally single-colored, the heroes are bright red, whereas the various monsters come in white, dark blue, dark green and light blue.
The box also packs some beautiful and detailed pieces of colored cardboard furniture that add a lot of aesthetic value to the game by filling up the emptier places on the playing space.
Pro Great for parties
HeroQuest is a perfect activity for a small gettogether. The game is meant for 2-5 players, a quest takes up to 90 minutes.
Not only is it simple to learn and easy to set up, but it requires good teamwork and communication between players. There’s also always room for roleplay, which can lead to some humorous and memorable moments. Moreover, the playing surface is not too big, so there should be plenty of room for snacks and drinks on the table.
Pro Customizable
HeroQuest encourages creativity. The quest book has a blank scenario, so players can design and play their own quests. Moreover, since the miniature figures are single-colored, many people choose to color them, creating some beautiful pieces.
On top of that, the 3D furniture in the game doesn’t serve a different purpose other than the aesthetic one, so you can craft your own pieces or use small furniture from different games.
If you lack ideas, then the HeroQuest fan site Ye Olde Inn has some great fan-made content – quests, cards, printable furniture, etc.
Pro Active community
Despite being a game released in 1989, it still has a decently active online community both on reddit and on the fan site Ye Olde Inn. The sites feature all the fan content you’d expect – custom creations, stories and pictures of game nights, discussions, and games happening in your area.
Pro Lots of expansion boards available
Currently there are 8 licensed expansions on the manufacturer's site. There are also many fan made expansions available online as well thanks to the games large and friendly community. Both the manufacturer's and community expansions add plenty of new content to the game including cards, investigators, board addons, Heralds (mini-bosses), Ancient Ones, spells, and items.
Pro Scales well from solo to large groups
The game supports up to 8 players, which is something of a feat for a game of its size and components. Makes for a great party game due to the size of players it allows. However, at the lower end it can also be enjoyed with one or two players, making it great for intimate gaming session. No matter how few players you have available, you'll be able to enjoy the game.
Pro Great challenge for those that enjoy difficult games
The win conditions of the game are quite slim and require one to know the rules ins and outs, so while not a game for casual players it is a game for the hardcore who enjoy a challenge.
Pro Well-crafted
Big map, lots of items and heroes with their own graphics, player figures on plastic stands; lots of tokens and monster cards made of firm cardboard.
Pro Lots of choices
Each location offers you different opportunities to trade for and to explore. The imaginary hero class (like tank, mage, support, stealth) is up to you and usually not well-tied to hero abilities.
Even when apocalypse comes, you still (might) have a chance to defeat the planetary evil.
Pro Great atmosphere of Lovecraft tales
Your weak heroes have to dive into parallel realities, use magic, defeat unknown guests and apply unique artifacts. Each game's location has its own secrets and 'contacts' with various outcomes — good and bad.
Pro Role-oriented
You either choose by yourself or get a random hero, and play with them the whole party (if you were not killed, of course). You and your hero have skills, items, unique qualities and effects, and their story.
The game itself encourages role-playing elements to dive into the Lovecraftian environment.
Pro Highly cooperative
Though the rules do highlight "best players of the game" via basic calculations, the game itself is aimed towards collaboration. To win, everyone must commit to the victory, and you often forget about the existence of a "best player".
The game allows players to exchange items or help other players via skills, special abilities and magic. In practice, players often compete their tasks in pairs and more, e.g. they close gates in pairs, where one has to clean the entrance from monsters, and the other seals the gates.
Pro Each game is unique
The game starts by choosing a random boss and/or heroes. Each turn begins with the myth phase, whose effects apply from a random card in the deck. These effects include monster movement, game-wide buffs and de-buffs, quests, monster gate breaches, etc. You will never know if you will be able to win the game.
Items and skills are usually taken randomly too.
Cons
Con May be hard to get
It's a somewhat older tabletop RPG, with a decent number of expansions. You may end up paying a high price on ebay or other sites to get yourself a copy.
It’s also worth noting that you can’t always be sure about the physical quality of the game. The 3D furniture is made from cardboard and if the copy you’re buying has been used then it’s a bit of a risk.
Con Rules overly simple
Gets dull after some hours, good for children though
Con Requires a good gamemaster
If the gamemaster doesn’t know what he’s doing then the game will be more frustrating and take much longer than usual, and it’s already a long game. The gamemaster is the only player with access to what the quest is supposed to look like and is solely responsible for creating the dungeon as the game goes on – spawning monsters, revealing objects, etc., so the players need to trust that the gamemaster isn’t cheating.
Con Doesn’t scale well
The game is at its best when played in a full group of 4 heroes and a gamemaster. Otherwise the odds are more on the gamemaster’s side and it’s a lot more difficult to complete the quest. To counter this, it’s recommend for a player to control more than one hero, but that also adds unnecessary difficulty.
Con A lot of first-time setup
When you first open the box the amount of work can seem overwhelming. You have to de-peg your pieces and assemble all the furniture, which is quite tedious and inconvenient due to the relatively small size. Furthermore, your first games might take a longer while until the gamemaster gets the hang of the process.
Con Very unaproachable
Arkham Horror has a lot of moving parts, its rules are difficult to follow, and the gameplay itself is pretty difficult. This all adds up to a game that is very unapproachable and will take the most dedicated of players to really understand the whole concept put forth.
Con Huge rules
24+ pages of rules. Though they are well-written, highly illustrated, enriched with small data tables, it is easy to forget small details, especially when some critical rule is applied, e.g., for just one type of bosses.
Con Long
The game is very long (several hours).
Con Playing alone or in small team (2-3) is usually easy and boring
Arkham is best enjoyed when played by teams of 4 and more.
Con Long preparation time
Laying out all the things may eat up to 30 minutes (without extensions).
Con Hard to find
It was actually released in 2005 and currently out of stock at official page.