Heroquest Review: The Best Beginner-Friendly Board Game to Play with Friends in 2026

Hey, bestie! If you've been on the hunt for a fun board game to play with your friends, I have one word for you: Heroquest. My husband and I stumbled upon this game at Target. I literally saw the box and I knew my life was about to change forever. ✨

And I was right! Since then, our friend group has been absolutely hooked, and we just finished the first 10 quests. So consider this your official review, your warning, and your invitation all in one. 🧚

What Even Is Heroquest? 👀

Heroquest is actually a classic dungeon-crawler board game that just got a gorgeous revamp — Heroquest: First Light. Think of it like D&D, but the game does all the heavy lifting for you.

No campaign prep, no Dungeon Master homework, no five-hour character creation sessions. Just show up, name yourself something ridiculous, and get ready to suffer together (lovingly).

The base set comes with four characters: Elf, Dwarf, Wizard, and Barbarian — and I play the Barbarian. Each quest is its own dungeon with a unique objective, and the first 10 quests are one big connected story. 📖

There are also tons of expansion packs available, so this game can genuinely keep you and your friends busy for years.

Why Heroquest Instead of D&D?

Look, D&D is amazing. But here's the honest truth: most friend groups never actually start because somebody has to be the Dungeon Master, that person needs to build a whole campaign or study a pre-made one, and then life gets in the way and the game never happens. We've all been there.

Heroquest does all of that work for you with the mobile app, so there's zero prep before your next hangout. And if you have friends who are nervous it might be too complicated — I promise you, it is the most beginner-friendly version of D&D out there.

It keeps all the fun while stripping away the overwhelming parts. Plus, if it sparks the D&D bug in your group? It's the perfect gateway game to graduate to the real thing. 🧌

Heroquest pros:

→ No Dungeon Master prep needed — the game comes with a built-in Dungeon Master role called Zargon, which can be played by a friend or run entirely through the official Heroquest app. If your friend takes on Zargon, that also opens up extra spots for new players! My husband plays Zargon for one of our friend groups and he honestly has MORE fun as the DM.

→ Short play sessions — each quest averages about 2-3 hours, which is perfect for a weekly hangout without burning anyone out.

→ Beginner-friendly — the rules are simple enough for total newcomers, but the game still delivers all the chaos, strategy, and drama you'd expect.

→ Easy to scale up — want more people to join? Just grab an expansion pack (which includes new characters) and you're good to go.

Character Creation Takes 30 Seconds 📜

Okay, this is one of my favorite things about Heroquest. To create your character, all you do is:

1. Pick your class (Elf, Dwarf, Wizard, or Barbarian)

2. Copy your stats from your character card onto your character sheet

3. Give yourself the most unhinged name you can think of

That's it. The most important rule? Call each other by your character names the entire time. This is non-negotiable. It makes everything 10x funnier.

Once you're in the game, make sure to keep track of your body points, potions, and gold after every quest — it all carries over. 💰

You can buy amazing equipment and weapons between quests and even sell old gear for gold.

You get treasure by searching rooms in the dungeon — just beware, the treasure deck also holds wandering monsters and hazards.  Every search is a little gamble. That's part of the fun.

Oh — and pro tip from us personally: wear pajamas. We literally always play in PJs and at this point it's basically a non-negotiable. Comfort is a key part of the Heroquest experience. You can quote me on that.

The Enemies (aka Your Enemies, Personally)

Throughout the quests, you'll face goblins, orcs, dread captains, and more — and some of them will absolutely disrespect you. 🐉

These monsters each have their own health points and attack/defense stats. Pull out the monster card when you hit a new enemy and actually check the stats before you charge in. This game favors the bold and the brave, but it also rewards strategy.

This game has me and my friends SCREAMING, laughing, shaking in our boots, chanting "MUFF EM UP" — and possibly even rolling dice that land in your friend's iced Vietnamese coffee. ☕

Yep. That was me. I got wayyyy too into the final quest and the dice just... left my hands. 🎲

Shoutout to Eisen, The Dwarf, who scraped by death's door FOUR TIMES IN A ROW and miraculously survived on the fourth roll.

I literally had to leave the room watching her roll — NO SHIELDS, three times in a row. The tension was unbearable. We were not okay.

Permadeath Is Real and She Will Find You

If you die in Heroquest, you are dead. Donezo. Gone forever. This isn't a game where you respawn on the next quest like nothing happened. 🕯️ 🪦

Your character is gone — new name, new equipment, fresh start (that is, if nobody picked up your stuff first). This is why healing potions and treasure hunting are not optional.

Stick together so you can heal each other — a solo hero is a dead hero. Strategy matters. Protecting each other matters. 🛡️

RIP BoyMan Starchild, The Wizard  — she fought bravely and was taken too soon. She returned next quest as ManBoy the White. (If you know, you know.) 🧙

Pro Tip: Get Your Own Dice

We've bought two dice sets since we started and I wish we'd done it sooner. It adds such a personal touch — some people even buy dice themed to their character or quest, which is so fun. You'll mostly roll a D-6, plus the dice the game provides.

But if you have a human Zargon who's willing to get creative (note: house rules are only possible with a real DM, not the app), you might find yourself rolling a D-20 to stay invisible under the nose of a dragon.  

P.S. Frieren the Slayer, The Elf, literally could not look at me when I rolled during the tense moments. She turned her whole body away. I understand her completely. 🧝

And if you have any D&D players in your group? This is where the magic happens. They will ask the most hilarious "what if" questions — completely outside the rules — and a good Zargon will consider running with it. Shoutout to Balen for always asking those "what ifs."

→ Grab a fun dice set here: https://mistymountaingaming.com

The Gameplay Loop

Each player rolls dice to move, attack, and defend. You're navigating the dungeon, opening doors, searching for treasure, and going head-to-head with whatever Zargon throws at you. ⚔️

Here's how a typical quest flows:

→ You enter a dungeon and move your characters around the board → Zargon controls the enemies and reveals rooms as you explore → You fight monsters, find treasure, and try to complete the objective → Somebody almost dies. Everybody screams. Laughter ensues. → You celebrate surviving and immediately plan the next session. 🏰

It's a game that favors teamwork — you're saving each other's lives, pooling resources, making split-second calls together. The mix of strategy, storytelling, and absolute unpredictability makes every single quest feel different. 🏹

Final Verdict:

If you've been sleeping on Heroquest, it's time to wake up. It's the perfect gateway board game for anyone curious about D&D but not ready to commit — and it's also just a straight-up incredible game in its own right. Heroquest is my favorite board game so far, and I look forward to playing it with my besties for a long time. I hope you and yours give it a try too! 🔥

My advice: 

Meet at someone's place in full PJs or comfy clothes, cook some great food, dance a little before-hand, maybe watch a little Singles Inferno, and then start fighting your way through a new dungeon.

Just beware — if you start too late, you may find yourself leaving your friend's house at 3am. 🕐

Be brave, laugh through the crazy moments, and scream joyfully when you and your friends make it out of another dungeon alive. Here's to setting off on a crazy adventure you will never forget for years to come. 🤍

→ Grab Heroquest: First Light on Amazon: https://amzn.to/4vj8J38

→ Looking for expansions? Start here: https://amzn.to/4ciPaPO

That's it! If you're looking for the best board game to play with friends, you've found it! I hope you and your besties give this board game a try, and always remember these words I am about to tell you... "The dice giveth and the dice taketh away."  🎲🤞

Have you tried Heroquest? Tell me your character name in the comments below! ⤵

— Love, Chels (AKA Big Daddy, The Barbarian)