There is exciting news abound today. With the announcement of a retail release for the HeroQuest game and the reveal of the Commander of the Guardian Knights expansion character, the excitement for crawling dungeons is huge. But we’ve got one more piece of good news: the HeroQuest Game system gets a boost as the HeroQuest Companion app is now available. Starting today you’ll be able to download the app for FREE from the Google Play or Apple App Store to your phone or tablet.

What is the HeroQuest Companion app, you ask? Good thing we came to this blog post prepared for just such questions – let’s dive right in!

The HeroQuest Companion App unlocks new, optional game modes for the HeroQuest board game (sold separately). Traditionally, a game of HeroQuest requires one player to take on the role of Zargon, the Dread Sorceror who also acts as the game master in command of the dungeon board. However, the app can take the role of a Digital Zargon, allowing up to four human players to play solely as the heroes. And we do mean “up to,” because with Digital Zargon you can now play HeroQuest as a solo board game, controlling all four heroes yourself! The app even supports multiple languages – currently it offers English, German, Italian, Spanish, and French.

Digital Zargon isn’t a replacement for all of HeroQuest, however. Our design team set out to deliver the most quest-accurate experience possible, while retaining the irreplaceable dynamic of tabletop play. To strike this balance, they considered which hero actions should be handled directly by players outside the app versus which actions require Digital Zargon to resolve.

Actions and rules players can easily manage themselves remain outside of the app, within their control. The intention is to keep the app usage simple and retain the fun of tabletop play. It was important to the team to keep moments such as hero attack rolls, treasure card draws, and more in the hands of the players so they can feel directly connected to their fate.

To enhance the experience, our team requested the help of both Mentor AND Zargon to voice the app! Mentor narrates the quest introductions and conclusions, while also reminding players of critical quest goals along the way. Zargon meanwhile reacts to player decisions and offers instruction to players when needed.

The inclusion of voice to the app not only adds drama to play, but also helps offscreen players stay involved and confirm the input performed by the player controlling the app. However, should players decide they no longer want to listen to Zargon’s torments (as well as Mentor’s narration) they may disable voice within the settings menu.

A typical player turn using the companion app may look like this:

First, the app will be passed to the acting player so that they may control their hero and react to Zargon’s cunning plans. Heroes may move and/or perform one action during their turn in any order, so let’s say the player first would like to move. They will physically roll the red movement dice and then within the app input the path they’d like their hero to take. This is important to do first, as Zargon’s dungeons are notoriously filled with traps and other triggers the app must consider before hero movement is finished. Players will update the board state as the app instructs until finally ending movement by updating the placement of their physical hero figure on the board.

Next the player will select the Action button for their hero. Here they will be shown the list of actions available to the hero. Some actions may require no help from the app, such as searching for treasure. Players can select this action and the app will direct the player to handle this all on their own! Other actions such as attacking, searching for traps, or casting spells can be selected in the app to trigger the appropriate response from Digital Zargon.

For example, let’s look at a typical attack. Let’s say the Barbarian would like to attack an orc. After selecting the attack option, the player will roll the appropriate attack dice, and if there are hits another player should roll the orc’s defend dice. If the attack results in any wounds, the player may select the orc in the app and add the number of wounds taken. If this number is equal to or greater than the orc’s body points, the app will prompt the player to defeat and remove the monster. Huzzah!

After all the players have acted, the act will prompt the players to begin Zargon’s turn. Digital Zargon will control each monster currently on the map, prompting players to move the monster figures as the app commands, and will prompt players to roll defend dice when monsters attack. Players may keep track of any wounds on their own character sheets, outside of the app.

But the heroes are not alone to fend off Zargon’s forces! Should you find yourself stuck in a quest, you can refer to the quest log to go over any information again to see if there were missed clues. Or if you still find yourself stuck, you can prompt Mentor to assist by tapping on the “Reveal Quest Hints” button found in the quest log.

Our developers also included several additional options in the app. One such option was added due to feedback we received from our amazing HeroQuest backers – we found players had different interpretations when it came to movement rules interacting with the game furniture. Therefore, our team added a toggle in the options menu for “intangible furniture” which allows heroes and monsters to move through spaces that on the board contain furniture.

Another option available to players is the ability to save the state of your game to be continued later. Tapping the “back” arrow in the upper left will ask if you want to save your quest before exiting the app. Alternatively, you can tap the “settings” button in the upper right corner, and then “Exit to Title” to save. Once a quest is saved it will appear on the title screen so you can quickly resume that quest. Should you want to change your active quest, tap “New Quest” on the title screen. You can then select or create a party and select a new quest for that party.

Should you have any other custom “house rules” or options you would like to see included, we hope you share your ideas with us to add to future versions of the app!

And speaking of those future versions, we consider the launch of the HeroQuest Companion App as just the beginning. Our focus for launch was to deliver the HeroQuest Game System core quest book and build the foundation of a Digital Zargon experience. We are committed to improving and expanding the HeroQuest Companion App over time. As announced in the app, we will be adding Kellar’s Keep and the Return of the Witch Lord digital quest books in the near future.

We are also fully committed to supporting our fans. We are in this together and your feedback is essential to the development of this experience. So PLEASE, let us know your feedback and what app feature, success or failure, is most important to you. We hope to add even more digital quest content in the future.

You can reach out to the Avalon Hill team on Twitter either @AvalonHill or to Zargon himself @HeroQuest. You can also find us on Instagram @AvalonHillGames.

Now get out there and QUEST!