Playing board games from the 1980s, whether it's a straight remake like Heroquest, or a remaster like Return to Dark Tower, reminds me of a time when board games were less about challenge and conflict and more about fun.
Like, I really enjoy solving board game puzzles, FOR SURE.
But it's so nice when a game focuses on just being *fun* instead of being challenging or puzzly or intricate.
Back then, games appealed to kids. Nowadays, everyone wants super complicated things.
Heroquest is *STUPID.* It's move around, roll dice to win, and check for traps occasionally. It's extremely brainless. And yet it is SO MUCH FUN.
@chimerror Notably: The attention of the community isn't on them. If the game doesn't have 954 miniatures and a 3" thick rule book, it doesn't break the top 10 on BGG, and thus people don't talk about it.
Games that are simpler and focus on fun are less popular.
@pandora_parrot I ran into this with a friend who tried to make a simple dice game about battling cat girls
I think it still needed a bit of work but it was a fun idea that's great for like those games you play when you're waiting for everyone to show up or hanging out in a con line
@pandora_parrot i played the absolute heck out of that in like 4th-5th grade and I'm so pleased to hear that it got remade
@prehensile It's more of a re-release, but YEAH. It's so good. They basically updated the pieces, but kept the game untouched.
@pandora_parrot oh wow they even kept the extremely dumb and awesome box art
@pandora_parrot I am intrigued!
@pandora_parrot I think this is definitely lost a bit with board games becoming a "thing" in the aughts.
people are making those simple fun games, but not as much