During the Haslab campaign we were presented with "playtests" of the various new heroes. I don't have proof but we did see some small changes in their mechanics over the course of that campaign. Fan feedback seems to have informed or altered their original plans...
1) Color coded Units. At first all of the promotional material for the new HeroQuest in 2020 showed the miniatures all the same color. At first it was gray, then a kind of beige color (shown to merely be proofs). Fans complained that most of them "don't paint" and wanted the nostalgia of the original colors. They finally relented and posted images showing we could expect to see red heroes, green orcs, off white skeletons, gray dread warriors, brown and gray furniture, etc.
2) Druid design. We were presented with no less than 2 different designs for the Druid, which were met with disdain by many fans, saying the character looked out of place, too plain, even silly. This prompted further changes so the final version on the card art and the miniature looked different than the original design presented during the campaign (or even the revised design).
3) Availability. Originally remake HeroQuest during the haslab campaign was announced ONLY for North American (minus Quebec). Many fans complained, citing the global nature of the original HQ market. Shortly thereafter, it was announced that distributors would be opening orders to New Zealand, Australia and the UK (all english speaking regions, but still). We later learned that AH intended "all along" to make this a retail product, but at this point most didn't know that or thought such an idea was far fetched given the history of Haslab not bringing their successful products to retail in any form, ever. AH made sure to let people know that the products WOULD come to retail.
4) Build quality. Many complaints were made about the poor glue jobs, damaged pieces (even missing whole limbs) and the annoying "candy trays" that required lots of force to remove the figures and put them back into the (extremely bulky, air trapping when you closed it, inclining the sides to rip over time) game system box. Adam Glick is the AH member who informed us it was his engineering work that lead to the 2022 revised GS box with its much easier unpacking/packing up assembling and slimmer profile. We also noticed the expansion boxes were much easier as well. Little improvements in the design and packaging was noticed in ALL of the retail versions of the Haslab products and continued with future expansions. Fans who complained got replacement parts (even if it took months). Famously one of our members showed a headless skeleton and got a package of many skeletons sent to him in the mail with their apologies. They stopped using those annoying tape circles and switched to shrink wrap.
Even if one were to believe Hasbro intended "all along" they still seemed to "know" what the fans wanted, and they still changed their public plans in order to show they were seeking to meet fan expectations.
Following the Haslab campaign, what did fan complaining seem to accomplish?
5) Frozen Horror/Mage of the Mirror. Complaints about the "Broken difficulty" and "lack of paytesting" on this rare expansion being remade lead to "Into the Northlands" and updates in the companion app to blunt the difficulty and open it up a little more. Given they wouldn't have had time to make drastic changes in the box this was understandable. Mage of the Mirror got updates to the 1992 gameplay in the box, again, seemingly in response to fan feedback and complaints. And despite Europe not having these packs, they advertised and distributed them in languages for which they never existed previously, officially. While the Haslab exclusive sex swapped heroes remained proprietary, they gave us new (and better) sculpts for the female Barbarian and Male elf in BQP/EQP remakes.
6) European packs. Fans expressed desire for the release of ATOH and WOM, and at least Against the Ogre Horde was officially announced (after it was leaked that this was in the works). This was despite some American fans expressing doubt as to whether this could be adapted to the NA rules successfully or there was enough desire for it outside of Europe where it was originally released. Also packs that were formerly NA exclusive are being shipped to other countries in other languages besides just English. Update 2025: Leaks indicate that Wizards of Morcar is coming next, and the price point suggests a similar release to ATOH's remake.
7) Mythic & Exclusives. Fans were very upset that the Guardian Knight was exclusive to a couple of stores and sold out so quickly and was not restocked ("when it's gone, it's gone" kind of situation). Avalon Hill apologized officially and made good on it by including a new sculpt of this character in Rise of the Dread Moon (a pack based almost ENTIRELY on fan feedback, as a follow-up to MOTM). Mythic contents were clarified to not ALL be proprietary, and Spirit Queen's Torment and Prophecy of Telor came out, with re-colored figures and revised text on questbooks to fix errata and revise the cards in accordance with the feedback that created ROTDM. Update 2025: Leaks indicate Crypt of Perpetual Darkness is coming to retail this year, in a release similar to SQT/PoT (if the price point is anything to go by).
8) Bonus content: They released more free online quests (after Rogar's Hall) to get attention but also to address fan feedback (wanting more introductory adventures, more opportunities to build up gold/equipment before a hard, campaign, playtest new pack features, etc). To be fair, no activity has been seen on this front since the layoffs December 2023 (the revised "Adventure Design Kit" featuring First Light's cavern map for example, has not been released in digital format, only as a printed giveaway at a convention).
9) The Companion App included many bugs and many fan requests were made. Despite the App being free (and ad free) they continued to update and add new features. They supported the Mythic "exclusive" heroes the whole time and added the Guardian Knight despite it being a (prior to ROTDM) exclusive. Slowly but surely they have been adding all the material that was released into retail into the App (still waiting on Rogar's Hall and Spirit Queen's Torment). Similarly they released the PDFs (in color) of the various quest books and instruction manuals, and in multiple languages, with a delay of only a few months from official release date (though ATOH and JoD have still not seen one after a long delay, with ATOH being available in German only).
10) Brick & Mortar store releases. Many fans expressed the desire to be able to buy HeroQuest at retail stores just like it was back in the 90's. At first you could only buy HeroQuest remake online (even if "in store pickup" became an option besides delivery for some locations). Then it was available at GameStop... then Friendly Local Game Shops... then, finally, it was reported to be appearing at some regular retail type stores like Ollies and Fleet Farm. Many more people are gaining access to the game all the time, not just those who refresh HasbroPulse or are "in the know" to these kinds of things. When stocks run out, they order more, putting a dent in the FOMO/Scalper problem that accompanied the Haslab release & Guardian Knight hero collection pack. Update 2025: "First Light" is finally appearing at Target stores in the US starting this month (expected January 12th) but also the 2021 (or 2022) Game System may also be appearing alongside it (or it may just be something that continues to appear on their website). Alert members of HQF discord have pointed out that several items have appeared on the target website as "out of stock" indicating they may have plans to put other HQ products on store shelves at some point (including the Hero Collection: Path of the Wandering Monk, Against the Ogre Horde, and Jungles of Deltrak... so the last three retail expansions). First Light is expected to be appearing in European countries starting February through the month of May in 2025. Once it has proliferated perhaps something similar will happen to the other expansions, as this was suggested as a goal by Avalon Hill's Patrick O'Rourke at GenCon last August.
Any others I've missed?
I say continue your constructive criticism (which means sending messages to Hasbro/Avalon Hill directly via email or letter, posting in their discord directed to the moderators, replying to them on Twitter/X and Instagram, etc not just "whining" to other fans, although spreading the word gets others to notice and lets Hasbro's people "read the room"). I've heard rumors of HeroQuest being sold out in Spain and Germany. Some fans are so desperate they are ordering english versions and translating them! The Rogue and Monk have not yet been made available in other languages. They promised to release the Dread Veil Dice & playmat in other regions and not just remain a HasbroPulse site "exclusive" (it's not exclusive, originally you could only get these if you went to conventions or pre-ordered HQ products).
The community can survive without official support for another three decades if need be, but as long as Hasbro wants to pay attention to us, we should use our "power" to influence them for the good is what I say. Just because we're not as "big" as MTG, D&D, etc. they still want our business, right? So let your voices be heard, and vote with your wallet!
Subsequent updates:
Avalon Hill came out and declared that HeroQuest was not dead or even dying (contradicting fearful rumors that ATOH was not coming out or would be the last official expansion). Thank goodness! (I was one of those people who speculated on the negative side after the layoffs and the lesser interaction with fans on discord that resulted). Actually Doug Hopkins has gone out of his way to interact more with fans since then, and now he's done the same at conventions.
For the first time a digital quest was released in multiple languages (KnightFall, the prelude to Rise of the Dread Moon)! A catalog leak indicates they may be planning more language releases in the future (and not just Polish... yes, despite there being no official Polish version of the remake, the companion app offers that for the display language even if the narration is still English only).
Jungles of Delthrak is out, yet another original creation, and crammed with new options including alternate rules (the remake of Against the Ogre Horde included new game modes and optional rules, again listening to fan feedback and putting up new offerings while not taking away the old gameplay). People asked for skill cards for the Barbarian and Dwarf... so they gave us alternate versions of those heroes with slight changes to their stats and abilities as well as 3 cards each. They promised us more animal companions when Into the Northlands was made, and delivered in JoD as well.
The Companion app v.3.1 still lacks a few things (the aforementioned Jungles of Delthrak but give it time... but also the alternate artwork for the Druid and Knight from the retail versions, and the Rogar's Hall quest). Edit: 4.3 just came out and still lacks these things...
Crypt of Perpetual Darkness remains exclusive and "proprietary" to the Haslab campaign along with Sir Ragnar, the Witch Lord, and the four alternate hero sculpts. However nearly everything else from the stretch goals has appeared in some other form in retail, there are even "Grasping Vine trap" tiles that are very similar to the Mythic ones (and function the same way). With the Druid hero appearing in ATOH, it's almost all out there. First Light also was shown to include a new Dragon figure (and responds to the criticisms that the Dragon was too underpowered with boosted stats, and that it tipped over by making it a two square monster).
Update: Leaks indicate both CoPD and WOM are coming to retail, probably this year, in yet another case of fans requesting a thing and it coming to pass.
The Dread Veil Dice continue to be a rare thing despite them not being intended to be a limited time exclusive. People continue to complain about them... (as they should). It seems FanRoll is tasked with releasing these dice and they continue to be a "Limited Edition" set of products (they've not released three sets, for Rise of the Dread Moon, Jungles of Delthrak and most recently for First Light, expected within the next month or so).
The Monk pack was released in multiple languages, but has had a problem with stocks selling out seemingly everywhere (a similar issue with the Rogue).
I visited a gamestop earlier this year and was told they didn't stock board games anymore (not counting some random D&D merch). It turns out the HeroQuest sales at places like Ollies and Fleet Farm was seasonal only... but plans were finally announced recently for HeroQuest: First Light, taking inspiration from Gloomhaven: Jaws of the Lion. This pack is supposed to premiere in local retail giants like Target later this year and who knows how far it will spread... but it is advertised as being compatible with all expansions and will be a more affordable option to entice newcomers to the game.
First Light is being released to head off complaints that HQ is too hard to find (meant for regular retail stores), too expensive (it's $49.99 MSRP), and takes up too much room on the shelf (a complaint from store owners, apparently, this is the size of a big expansion). It also contains a boot tile! Yes, the monsters (other than the Dragon, clearly a bone thrown to those who missed CoPD) are cardboard tiles, but they're done in a similar fashion to the Brazilian standees (the furniture is a bit boring being just a set of flat tiles). The reverse side of the board is a new board layout as people had been asking for custom boards (a cavernous theme with the Arena Mode built in).
They continue to release new dice colors... the latest being the yellow ("mountain dew") dice that have been available at GenCon and now select Wizards of the Coast network (WPN) affiliated local game shops that are going to be running HQ "demo" games and giveaway packs (of 3, thanks InSpectreRetro) of these same dice. Jungles of Delthrak has dice tins associated with swampy green dice, though they are still a bit hard to read on a table, no telling if these will be more available than the Dread Veil Dice were (supposed to come to retail in a month, with an improved playmat/tray), but here's hoping they can make it happen!
