HeroQuest: The Board Game, the Rules and the Boxes

What the HeroQuest board game is

HeroQuest is a fantasy dungeon crawl on a tabletop. One player takes the role of Zargon, an evil sorcerer, and sits behind a game master's screen with the Quest Book. Everyone else plays a hero: the barbarian, the dwarf, the elf or the wizard. The heroes walk into an underground maze, open doors, fight monsters, search for treasure and traps, and try to finish the quest's goal before they run out of Body Points.

It's half board game, half tabletop role-playing game. The heroes work together. Zargon knows where everything is and doesn't tell them.

The box facts, from Avalon Hill's rulebook and the listings in our data:

• Players: 2 to 5 (rulebook and the Game System listings agree)
• Ages: 14+ on the Avalon Hill and Hasbro listings
• Play time: the rulebook says one quest may take an hour or two
• Mode: the heroes play cooperatively against Zargon
• Quests in the base game: 14, played in order
• Expansion: the Game System is the base game

The rulebook lists what's in the base box: a gameboard, 31 monster miniatures, 4 hero miniatures, 15 furniture pieces, 21 doors, 97 game cards, a Quest Book, a game master's screen, a pad of character sheets, 6 white combat dice and 2 red dice, plus cardboard tiles for stairs, traps, secret doors and blocked squares.

How HeroQuest plays

The rules below are in my own words, from Avalon Hill's HeroQuest rulebook, Hasbro product code F3649. The rulebook file is dated 2021. It has a "Using this rulebook" page with page numbers for every section and little icons that tell you which paragraphs are for Zargon and which are for the heroes. I'd hand out awards for that if I had any.

Choosing roles

One player must be Zargon. The rest split the four heroes. With fewer than five people, someone runs two heroes, and the rulebook says quests get harder with fewer than four heroes on the board.

Zargon does more homework than anyone. Before the first game, Zargon reads the rules and the first quest silently. The rulebook says anyone can play Zargon, but a player who knows the game may be more comfortable in the chair at first.

My one opinion for this page: the person who bought the box should play Zargon the first time. The rulebook's own advice points that way, and the reason is practical. Zargon has to read ahead, place every room as the heroes discover it, and run the monster chart. That's easier for whoever already opened the box and read the rules than for a guest who arrived ten minutes ago.

Lucho's take: "Zargon is basically a service tech. Knows where every problem is. Says nothing until you open the panel."

Setting up a quest

1. Zargon opens the Quest Book to Quest 1, "The Trial." The rulebook says it must be played first.
2. Zargon reads the parchment text aloud to the heroes: what the job is and what the reward will be.
3. Zargon reads the quest map and quest notes in secret. Nothing goes on the board yet except what the heroes can see from the stairway.
4. The heroes pick seats. The rulebook suggests the barbarian on Zargon's left, then the dwarf, the elf, and the wizard on Zargon's right.

The board fills in as the heroes look around. When a hero looks down a corridor or through an open door, Zargon places whatever is in sight: monsters, doors, blocked squares, furniture.

A hero's turn

Play starts with the hero on Zargon's left and goes clockwise. On your turn you can move and then take an action, or take an action and then move. You can't move part way, act, and finish the move.

To move, roll the two red dice and move up to that many squares. You don't have to use all of it. You can't move diagonally, through walls or past monsters, but you can pass through other heroes. You enter rooms only through doors.

Looking down a corridor and opening a door aren't actions. Neither are drinking a potion or picking things up. Once a door is open, it stays open for the rest of the quest, like every cabinet in my kitchen.

The six hero actions

Each turn, a hero picks one of these:

1. Attack a monster next to you, front, back or side. Most weapons can't attack diagonally.
2. Cast a spell, if your hero has spells. The elf starts each quest with three spells and the wizard with nine.
3. Search for treasure in the room you're in.
4. Search for secret doors.
5. Search for traps.
6. Disarm a trap you've found. The dwarf is the one with a special knack for this.

Each hero starts with a different weapon. The rulebook gives the barbarian a broadsword, the dwarf and the elf shortswords, and the wizard a small dagger. Your character card tells you how many combat dice that weapon rolls.

How combat works

HeroQuest's combat dice are special. Each white die shows skulls, white shields and black shields.

• Attacking: roll as many combat dice as your weapon allows. Every skull is a hit.
• Defending: the target rolls its own defend dice. A monster blocks one hit for every black shield. A hero blocks one hit for every white shield.
• Damage: each hit that isn't blocked takes 1 Body Point. Many monsters die after one hit. Tougher ones get a skull tile under the figure for each hit, so Zargon can keep count.

A hero at zero Body Points is dead for the rest of the quest, unless they can drink a healing potion right away or cast a healing spell on themselves. The rulebook says another hero can't save you once you hit zero, because you're gone before their turn comes around. That's a harsh sentence, and I respect it.

Zargon's turn

After every hero has gone, it's Zargon's turn. Zargon can move every monster on the board. Monsters don't roll for movement. Each one moves up to a set number of squares from the monster chart on Zargon's screen, and then either attacks or, if the quest notes allow it, casts a Dread spell.

Monsters can't search, open doors, pass over heroes or move diagonally. They don't trigger hidden traps either. The traps are only for heroes.

How a quest ends

A quest is complete when the heroes meet the goal and get back to the stairway, which is the only safe square on the board. The heroes can also end a quest early by walking back to the stairway, and a quest ends badly if all four heroes die.

After a successful quest, heroes split any final reward, mark the quest on their character sheet and get their Body and Mind Points back. Then they can spend gold at the armory on better weapons and armor. Treasure carries over to the next quest. A hero who died can come back next quest under a new name, which is the closest thing a dungeon has to a second chance.

HeroQuest boxes on Amazon US right now

Our data for this page lists 13 HeroQuest products on Amazon US as of October 2026, from Hasbro, Avalon Hill and Milton Bradley. The table above shows what each listing states. Where a listing leaves a field out, you'll see a dash. Here's what tells them apart.

The base game systems

• Avalon Hill HeroQuest Game System (Hasbro): 2 to 5 players, ages 14+, not an expansion. One listing names 65+ miniatures, furniture models and 14 quests.
• Avalon Hill HeroQuest Game System (Hasbro): a second listing under the same name, 2 to 5 players, ages 14+.
• HeroQuest Game System (Milton Bradley): 2 to 5 players, not an expansion. The listing in our data doesn't state an age.

The two Hasbro listings share a name, and our data doesn't show a difference between them beyond the contents line on one. Compare their photos and descriptions before you pick. The Milton Bradley listing is the same game name under the older maker's label. See the Milton Bradley brand page for that lineup.

If you're starting fresh, the Game System is the box that matches the rulebook on this page.

HeroQuest First Light

Avalon Hill HeroQuest First Light Game System (Hasbro) is listed as not an expansion, with 10 quests and 100+ pieces. Hasbro's instruction page for it says 2 to 5 players, ages 14+, and calls it a cooperative fantasy adventure with Zargon as game master. It lists a two-sided board, a dragon miniature, 4 hero miniatures and 67 full-color cardboard standees, plus an option to make your own quests.

So First Light is a separate starting box, not an add-on. It has fewer quests than the Game System's 14 and uses standees for many of its pieces. Hasbro has a separate rulebook for it, so the details may differ from the rules above.

Expansions that need the base game

Five listings are marked as expansions, and each names HeroQuest as the base game required:

• Kellar's Keep (Avalon Hill): 17 unpainted miniatures, 10 quests, 2 to 5 players, 14+
• Return of the Witch Lord (Hasbro): 16 unpainted miniatures (8 skeletons, 4 mummies, 4 zombies), 10 quests, 14+
• The Frozen Horror (Hasbro): 21 unpainted miniatures, 10 quests, 14+
• Prophecy of Telor (Hasbro): 15 unpainted miniatures, 14 game cards, a quest book with 13 quests, 2 to 5 players, 14+
• Spirit Queen's Torment (Avalon Hill): 15 unpainted miniatures, 15 game cards, a quest book with 14 quests, 2 to 5 players, 14+

All five list their miniatures as unpainted. Painting them is optional, and a whole hobby of its own. Every listing tags these as dungeon crawls, which is the honest name for the genre.

Quest packs

Four listings are quest packs, all 2 to 5 players and 14+:

• Wizards of Morcar Quest Pack (Avalon Hill)
• The Mage of the Mirror Quest Pack (Hasbro)
• Jungles of Delthrak Quest Pack (Hasbro)
• Joe Manganiello's The Crypt of Perpetual Darkness Quest Pack (Hasbro)

The listings don't mark these as expansions and don't list their contents in our data. The base rulebook says more quests are available in quest packs sold separately, so plan on using them with a HeroQuest game system. Read each listing for what's inside.

Which HeroQuest box to buy first

A few quick matches, from the listings:

• A first copy for a group of 3 to 5: the Avalon Hill HeroQuest Game System, with 14 quests in order
• A starter with fewer quests: First Light, at 10 quests
• After the 14 base quests: an expansion, such as Kellar's Keep or Return of the Witch Lord, each with 10 quests
• A bigger single add-on: Spirit Queen's Torment or Prophecy of Telor, which list quest books of 14 and 13 quests

Count the quests before you count the miniatures. Every quest is an evening or so, by the rulebook's hour-or-two estimate, and the base box already holds 14 of them.

Who should skip HeroQuest

Skip it if nobody at your table wants to be Zargon. The game needs one person to read ahead, run every monster and keep secrets for the whole quest. If everyone wants to be a hero, a fully cooperative game with no game master is a better fit.

Skip it if your group changes every week. The 14 quests are played in order, and heroes carry gold and gear from one quest to the next.

Skip it for players under the listed 14+. There's reading, a monster chart and character sheets to keep up.

And skip the expansions until the base game is done. Every expansion listing names HeroQuest as the base game required, and the 14 base quests are where you learn the rules.

If you like HeroQuest, look at these

Pages chosen by what they share with HeroQuest: a dungeon, a team, or a long campaign.

• Gloomhaven: a cooperative campaign with no game master and card-driven combat
• Betrayal at House on the Hill: explore a house room by room, until one player turns on the rest
• Strategy board games: the wider shelf of heavier games
• Vintage board games: for anyone shopping the older boxes

For the rest of each maker's lineup, see the Hasbro and Milton Bradley brand pages.

Somebody take the screen. The rest of you, pick a hero.