Have You Played... HeroQuest?

Have You Played? is an endless stream of game retrospectives. One a day, every day, perhaps for all time.

My dad adored D&D and its ilk, but never - to my knowledge - had anyone else to play it with. He devoured the Fighting Fantasy books, he played anything SSI released onto ST or PC, and every now and then he'd try to draw his kids into that world, however tangentially. One such attempt was HeroQuest, the table-top game that made the whole genre incredibly accessible. Meaning when it came out for PC, it was very exciting to me.

My dad was always DM, of course. My sister and I presumably flailing ineptly within his attempts to run a campaign. And truthfully, the only thing I strongly remember is the standing up cardboard doors.

Which, as it happens, is about all I can remember from the 1991 game, too. I remember how the tiled rooms felt so mystical, only showing the room you were presently in and the doors connecting, when I'd been used to the omnipotent eye most isometric games would offer. I also remember being uniquely terrible at it. But then, I was 13.

I am now filled with the strongest desire to find an original version of the pre-advanced version of the game, the one we had as kids, and try to master it for myself.