Heroes Welcome

Heroes Welcome wins me over immediately with the picture it creates on the table. We are medieval nobles transformed by an evil witch into ruthless goblin merchants, and we have opened little shops in a city full of customers who have no idea what awaits them. Whenever I picture it, I see these polite little goblins greeting heroes with smiles and offering them an “excellent” trade. It has lovely flavour and a theme it carries successfully.

Each round, an adventuring party arrives in town: not the brightest heroes in the kingdom, but loaded with loot from their adventures. Players move them through their shops and try to convince them to make trades that, let’s say, are not exactly in the heroes’ best interests. At the same time, the monsters in the neighbouring dungeon are frantically asking for new weapons, so the city feels like a very polite, very profit-driven supply stop before the next disaster.

Once the heroes are broke and composed, they head back to the dungeon, slaughter whatever stands in their way, fill their bags with loot again, and return for a fresh round of “shopping opportunities.” The whole thing has a bit of Groo the Wanderer about it: the heroes do their work with noise and simple-minded determination, while we are there to exploit the results commercially. This continues until the final boss is eaten and the final score is tallied.

It is relaxed and fun, in the vein of the family euros AEG has accustomed us to in recent years, but it felt very restrained to me. For such a rowdy setting, I wanted stronger action cards and wilder situations; as it stands, it feels a little like playing Lords of Waterdeep without the intrigue cards. The Kickbacks mini-expansion that came with the Kickstarter theoretically adds exactly that kind of punch, but we did not try it. I would not recommend it to groups who play Lacerdas with their morning coffee, but as a warm-up for 3–4 people while everyone gathers for the main course, it is perfectly fine. For anyone who missed the Kickstarter, though, it may feel expensive.