4E Boardgame system, Descent, Heroquest - Which Do You Prefer

[Stormonu]

Out of the various "fantasy games as a boardgames" that you've encountered do you prefer, and why? This is NOT about "X version is a boardgame", but which actual BOARDgames have you played and what was it about them that you liked.

The criteria I'm looking for:
1) Your an individual, somewhat customizable adventurer
2) You can advance your character with gear and/or experience
3) (Optional) You can play a "campaign" using the same character(s) between games, taking your ill-gotten games from one adventure to the next.

Some of the ones I'm familiar with:

1) Dungeon
2) Heroquest/Advanced Heroquest/Warhammer Quest
3) Descent
4) Munchin Quest
5) Talisman (Link is to 4th ed, though I have played 1st ed - with Timescape [urgh!])
6) Runebound
7) Castle Ravenloft/Wrath of Ashardalon/Legend of Drizzt

If you know of any others, post them here - I might want to buy 'em

My favorite of the above is probably Descent - though setup is a bit annoying.

 

[ahayford]

Several more I can think of

Descent 2nd Edition

Super Dungeon Explore

Mansions of Madness

 

[Nemesis Destiny]

It's not fantasy, but Arkham Horror is excellent, though it does take a long time to play. It satisfies your other two main criteria.

 

[Mark CMG]

You could add DragonStrike to the list.

Dragon Strike | Board Game | BoardGameGeek

 

[Stormonu]

You could add DragonStrike to the list.

Dragon Strike | Board Game | BoardGameGeek

*Hangs head*

Wish I coulda forgot that one (and yes, I do own a copy).

 

[TheAuldGrump]

Warhammer Quest!

As an aside, folks that like using battle tiles may want to search for fan made tiles for WQ - there are some excellent ones out there....

The Auld Grump

 

[Alaxk Knight of Galt]

The criteria I'm looking for:
1) Your an individual, somewhat customizable adventurer
2) You can advance your character with gear and/or experience
3) (Optional) You can play a "campaign" using the same character(s) between games, taking your ill-gotten games from one adventure to the next.

Shadows Over Camelot

It's a bit of a stretch on 1 and 2 (and utterly fails on 3). You are an individual (a knight of the round table). The characters all have different abilities and any of them could be the traitor. You can get some gear during the game (Lancelot's Armor, Excalibur, or the Holy Grail).

The game is DnD like in some respects though. It has a fantasy setting, it's cooperative (save for a secret traitor working against the other players), characters have hitpoints and can die. You go on quests and do battle with Dragons and Black Knights.

 

[Baumi]

Dungeneer is quite good, and since it is entirely based on cards, it is easy to store, cheap and quick to set up. It doesn't need a GM (everyone has a GM Phase), but the Heroes work against each other (who is the fastest to complete 3 Quests).

Atlas Games: Charting New Realms of Imagination

But my favorite ones are the recent ones from WOTC (Ravenloft, Drizzt & Ashardalon), since they are cooperative, doesn't need a GM, have customizable characters good Tactics, different Scenarios and are quick to play.

 

[Dragonblade]

Descent and Heroquest both have campaign rules where you can keep your PC and use them across multiple scenarios. I don't believe any of the other games do.

Of the two, Descent by far is the better game, though much more complex.

Descent and Heroquest both require someone to take on a DM role.

The D&D system games (Ravenloft, Ashardalon, and Drizzt) are lighter than Descent, though probably on par with Heroquest in terms of complexity. They are pretty much one shot games, but have the benefit of being fully cooperative. The players all play together against the game. No one needs to be a DM.

Talisman and Runebound are both fun as well. I have Talisman 3e and 4e with all the expansions for both. Its a one shot game and with lots of players and expansions in play can take 5 to 6 hours unless you use variant rules to speed things up. But its a lot of fun when D&D night is cancelled and you just want kick back with fellow geeks and drink a beer or two.

 

[Mark CMG]

Dungeneer is quite good, and since it is entirely based on cards, it is easy to store, cheap and quick to set up. It doesn't need a GM (everyone has a GM Phase), but the Heroes work against each other (who is the fastest to complete 3 Quests).

Atlas Games: Charting New Realms of Imagination

Speaking of Atlas, if these boards games need not be based on combat, then there's also a (card-using) boardgame that developed out of Ars Magica that is very challenging called Grand Tribunal. It's about the politics of wizardry and magical invention.

Grand Tribunal | Board Game | BoardGameGeek