Board games were a big thing in our house growing up. In a family of five kids, what better way for the folks to gain a few hours freedom than providing us with an engaging board game? And not just any board game either. Though the classics like Mouse Trap, Monopoly, Cluedo, Game of Life and Discovering Ireland (surely this one appeared in every household in Ireland in Christmas 1987 when it was released?) were in our house, we also liked a good challenge in our board games! Hence some more exotic and advanced board games appeared under Christmas trees and at birthdays. Thus, the likes of Mysteries of Old Peking, Travel Go and Wealth of Nations were firm favourites. And then there was my own personal favourite…Hero Quest.

Ah, Hero Quest. Released in 1989 by MB Games, it merged fantasy role play with the classic board game format. Many years before the release of the Lord of the Rings film trilogy, unless anyone had read the Tolkien books then this was our first exposure to the wonderful world of wizards, elves, dwarves, orcs and goblins. Released in time for the Christmas 1989 market, the dark and mysterious TV advert had 12 year old me salivating at the thought of Christmas day. Having dropped enough hints, it was assumed this would be my main Christmas present. Alas, due to some bad parental planning and bad luck on Christmas Eve, we missed the department store sale and it was sold out when we got there! Christmas was ruined in my view. I still have a memory of sitting in the back of the car on Christmas Eve surrounded by family sobbing away uncontrollably. Morto!

Hero Quest eventually came my way four months later, bought with my Confirmation money! And so began many happy games and months of fighting monsters dead and undead, casting spells, falling into pit traps and winning some treasure now and again. My brother, cousin and myself played it to death that summer. By the time secondary school came along months later, soccer had taken over as my prime obsession. I made the decision to sell all of my Hero Quest monster figures to a lad from school for £20 to buy a soccer jersey! There have been numerous times down the years when I’ve thought about that game and regretted that decision.

Last Autumn, an emotional weekend was spent in Clonakilty, Co. Cork clearing out my deceased granny’s house. Loads of our old toys and books had ended up in storage there over the years when we moved house a few times. With siblings, we sorted through countless boxes of toys and books and decided which items were worth saving and then remembering who owned what. So we all ended up with a box of youthful memorabilia. And in my box was a musty version of Hero Quest, fully accounted for except for the missing figures. I’ve since dusted down the board, cleaned up the treasure cards, wiped the beautiful pieces of furniture. And the most important part…I set up an eBay account and am currently happily buying back the monster figures online in little batches here and there! I’ve managed to complete a few quests so far, and happy to report that the game is as atmospheric and engaging now as it was when I was twelve!