Heroica hitting shelves

 

  • Heroica hitting shelves

    Posted by bluemoose, 20 May 2011 18:08. Filed under Shopping (USA).

    3860: Castle Fortaan
    Games/Heroica, 2011
    More details...
    ©2011 LEGO Group

    We've been getting reports that the new Heroica Games have been spotted on the shelf in US Toys R Us. This is an interesting take on the LEGO games genre, a modular game system that you can extend by buying extra sets ... applying the modular ethos of LEGO to a range of games. I'm looking forward to getting my hands on Heroica and giving it a go. If it's any good, I can see it being heavily extended by the community and becoming a mainstay of AFOL events :-)

    Thanks to georgebjones and others who let us know.


    36 comments, latest one posted 25 months ago. (Commenting has ended on this article)
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Comments

Posted by The Reviewer in United States, 20 May 2011 18:26

I don't really like the lego Games(this one looks really nerdy),but thanks anyway.

Posted by The_Rizulli in United States, 20 May 2011 18:30

This is definitely an interesting direction for LEGO games. And even if they're NOT great as games, they look to be pretty awesome parts packs; provided the prices are reasonable.

Count me in the "intrigued" category.

Posted by Divinity3d in United States, 20 May 2011 18:44

Definitely Rizulli!

Posted by georgebjones in United States, 20 May 2011 19:04

The microfigs in these are superb! The TRU I saw them at no longer has them in stock :)

Posted by TooMuchLEGO in United States, 20 May 2011 19:22

Wow, neat-oh! But like The Reviewer states, "(this one looks really nerdy)," I hope that people don't go all the way out to Toy Fair JUST for this! :-) But other than that, looks cool!

Posted by legomaniac in United States, 20 May 2011 19:41

Why the box art LEGO figures have their arms missing? Strange, but ok :)
Very interesting games I must say.

Posted by bluemoose in United Kingdom, 20 May 2011 19:43

^ they are the standard 'microfigs' used in most of the games, not minifigs.

Posted by Jayko543 in United States, 20 May 2011 23:05

To me, the concept isn't all that great. But the part selection is BEAST! If im going to buy one, it will probably be for those 2 x 2 jumper plates!

Posted by erbse2000 in Germany, 21 May 2011 04:19

Looks to me like the old "Hero Quest" table game from MB... but great idea!

Posted by EliteLeader99/brickboy2 in United States, 21 May 2011 11:43

Ok cool.

Posted by legolasher66 in United States, 21 May 2011 12:31

Personally, I'm SUPER excited for Heroica! I just love the ideas (the way they link together, the Microfigs, etc). My favorite one is the Waldurk Forest! I love those pine trees!

Posted by Ypres in Canada, 21 May 2011 14:43

Well this could be cool. All depends on how the other sets link up and make a totally nerdy Lego quest!
Price doesn't bother me... I don't care what they cost so long as the game is played interestingly.

Posted by Pepper in United States, 21 May 2011 15:02

This looks like a nice parts pack if it's cheap, but I most likely will not be buying any.
Also, I think that this is new: http://www.borders.com/online/store/TitleDetail?sku=0756682762

Posted by C-Fish in United States, 21 May 2011 15:26

They look interesting, but I don't think I'll be spending my $$$ on them.

Posted by brickzone in Ireland, 21 May 2011 15:40

@erbse2000 - That was my thought too, and I think it would be good. It's all very well that in theory you could sit down with D&D books and use Lego for some tabletop RPG, but it would nice to have ready-made simplified rules that one could expand to encompass various Lego elements.

As for character customisation if you scale this up to use actual minifigs...

I really enjoyed Hero Quest (even if I have also enjoyed "proper" tabletop RPG and also computer games). I hope this is in some way similar and that the expansions give a flavour of how to expand it yourself.

Posted by Ypres in Canada, 21 May 2011 16:07

Does any part of the theme Games have pieces made in China?

Posted by ditonthouikwel in Belgium, 21 May 2011 18:08

This looks great, but i just don't get why they would go with microfigs instead of regular minifigs. minifig scale has got so many similarites to rpg games, you can put a weapon or shield in each hand, change helmet/cape, torso and legs when you find armor. a few 32x32 baseplates with printed patterns of a dungeon that can be combined together. and some furniture and doors in each box and it's done. special impulse sets with minions , small sets with brickbuild monsters, medium sets with a special room and a monster or hero.

Posted by LStyer in United States, 21 May 2011 19:24

The microfigure Orcs I've seen in these sets would make cool minifigure-scale Goblins for folks doing fantasy-inspired builds.

Posted by multani in Canada, 21 May 2011 20:11

looks like a good parts pack. i need more of the jumper plates, and the mini doors in the castle look good too. the boxes are pretty sturdy as well which are good for storage.

Posted by jwsmart in United States, 22 May 2011 08:55

They were in the Roosevelt Field, NY Lego Store on Saturday.

Posted by ericjohn in United States, 22 May 2011 09:26

I pikced up Draida Bay and Sunblock at my Toys R Us last night. They had empty shelf space for the NinjaGo game and Fortaan Castle.

My wife and I played Sunblock and rather enjoyed it. I'm underwhelmed by the directions for Draida, very simple game that is definitely intended for young LEGO fans. It could be enchanced to something more special though, I think, with a bit of creativity.

Posted by Clan Stonebraker in United States, 22 May 2011 14:48

Peeps have been playing Dungeons and Dragons and the like for years with legos...

Posted by legolasher66 in United States, 22 May 2011 17:51

Instead of equipping them with armor you can put weapons on their heads, I think. Did anyone see the ghost in Waldurk?!?

Posted by matau2004 in United States, 22 May 2011 18:58

THE MICOFIGURES ARE THE FIGURES ON THE FRONT FIGHTING

Posted by natro220 in United States, 23 May 2011 09:54

No need to shout :)

I agree with others, the part selection looks pretty good, lots of 2x2 jumper plates. I think if I were to get this, I'd modify it by using real minifigs with real weapons and such. That's the beauty of Lego, you can change things to the way you like it.

Posted by Clan Stonebraker in United States, 23 May 2011 20:26

$16.99 at TRU for Draida, got one today!

Posted by legolasher66 in United States, 24 May 2011 09:45

I found Draida for $16.99 too. I didn't buy it because, though I love Heroica, it looked tiny!

Posted by labrat in United States, 24 May 2011 11:26

@Clan Stonebraker...I think we are all interested in the rules of how the game is played. What are the rules?

Posted by gonzilla in United States, 24 May 2011 16:02

RULES
2x4 plate holds your hero's strength/hitpoints, loss of all points means hero has to wait/heal. dice are used to move or attack (each hero has unique attack). object is to kill monsters and gain prize (kill boss/general).

i've got Draida where goblins have 1 point, goblin general has 3 points and a treasure (crystal/extra life).
there's also a potion that heals players.

instructions pit two heroes against the general to see who wins first. alternate instructions allow for a player to be the monsters and play against the heroes. multiple games can be attached to each other for a larger game (obviously).

rules are pretty simple but if the game catches on i can definitely see the rules getting a little more complex (traps, more potions and more special abilities/weapons would be cool).

..jg (fan of d&d, heroscape, descent, etc.)

Posted by Chromeknight in Australia, 24 May 2011 18:11

@gonzilla. All the things you mention; traps, potions and special abilities, are found in the largest set, Fortaan.
@labrat you can see a pre-release copy of the rules on my flickr, http://flic.kr/p/9L2P4L and following.
@legolasher66 if you're after a pic of the waldurk ghost, http://flic.kr/p/9t8n4f

Waiting for these in Australia, but August?!? Sigh.

Posted by jh5 in United States, 24 May 2011 18:48

I picked up all 4 at TRU this weekend. Pretty fun. Draida is the simplest of the 4. The Hero Pack is actually a 3x4 in the other 3 because there is a store you can buy weapons from so you need a place to store them (you don't put them on the microfig's heads :) ). There are 5 hero all together (barbarian, druid, knight, mage, ranger & thief). Need to buy all 4 sets to get all of them. Each has a special ability.

There were no traps, although treasure chests have a chance of causing you damage. In addition, each of the games (except Draida) has at least one special feature. the castle has locked doors/keys, the caves have rock piles and torches, and the forest has magic doors and magic spaces (that allow you to move the magic door to block other players).

Aside from the special features, the basic rules are the same between all of them so you can put them together easily.

Posted by Clan Stonebraker in United States, 25 May 2011 15:58

@labrat Sorry staying in package till the eldest boy's b-day...

Posted by bluelion3 in United States, 27 May 2011 09:52

They're on Bricklink now. Does anyone know the prices at TRU for the four different sets?

Posted by labrat in United States, 27 May 2011 11:23

Thanks for the rules guys.

Posted by doozerjay in United States, 28 May 2011 19:52

Just got these last night. The gameplay is nice, but don't expect an in-depth rgp with the standard rules. It's a nice intro to rpg's for younger kids, though. I plan to bring it to my nephews and let them take it for a spin. Some points of note:

)>The only difference between heros is that each gets 1 different special move (if a shield (basically a 6) is rolled). There are no other stat differences.

)>Character development (leveling) is only represented by finding items/special armor in game for temporary boosts (the helmet from Fortaan gives 1 extra health point) and finding gold to buy weapons at the shop. These weapons function as additional special moves such as the ones the player starts with (and also must be activated by rolling the shield).

)>Monsters are all 1 hit to kill (wish bosses were harder to down) the difference between them is how much damage they do when they attack a hero.

Posted by doozerjay in United States, 28 May 2011 20:02

Pros:

)>microfigs are well detailed and the micro scenery (tables, chairs, trees, waterfalls) are awesome in thier simplicity.

)>simple gameplay is a great intro to rpg gaming for kids.

)>very adaptable. Like all Lego, possibilities are limited only to the imagination.

Cons:

)>Competitive rules and easy-to-kill monsters don't teach teamwork, which is standard in an adventure/rpg game.

)>Limited character development, no stats, skills. Limited weapon/armor upgrades

Alltogether, I feel a minifig version with advanced rules (stats, gear, harder mobs) would be a near perfect Lego game, but this is a good start, and simple enough to play with a little brother, nephew, etc. I plan on adapting it a bit for my play, and I might even use some Kingdom Legos from a few years back (skeletons and trolls) to make a bigger, more advanced Heroica.

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