Music for HeroQuest
An ongoing soundtrack cycle to the 1989 board game
There is a moment, after Zargon reads the quest aloud and the four heroes step onto the first tile, when the dungeon goes quiet and the dice wait. That moment, for thirty-six years, never had a soundtrack. This page is the soundtrack.
What HeroQuest is
For anyone who missed it: HeroQuest is a fantasy board game designed by Stephen Baker for Milton Bradley in 1989, with miniatures and an aesthetic signature by Games Workshop. Four heroes — Barbarian, Dwarf, Elf, Wizard — explore a dungeon of modular rooms laid out by Zargon (Morcar in the original 1989 UK edition, the GM-equivalent player), face skeletons, orcs and Chaos Warriors, and try to complete the mission in front of them. The base set shipped with fourteen quests in a single book. Four expansions followed over the next four years: Kellar's Keep, Return of the Witch Lord, Against the Ogre Horde, and Wizards of Morcar.
In 2021 Hasbro / Avalon Hill brought the game back with a new edition, returning the base box and much of the classic expansion line to print after almost thirty years off the shelves. That revival has included updated editions of older quest packs such as The Frozen Horror, Mage of the Mirror, and Against the Ogre Horde, but also brand-new material written for the modern line, including Rise of the Dread Moon and other original quests. The result is a version of HeroQuest that preserves the old structure while continuing to expand it.
HeroQuest is procedural where D&D is improvisation. You don't write the story; you play the one in the book, room by room, roll by roll. That is exactly what makes it easier to score: every quest has a beginning, a middle and an end that stay the same every time you play it.
The project
John Debowie's work on HeroQuest follows the shape of the game, but not rigidly: each release corresponds to a book, and each track is drawn from a single quest, in the original order. More than narrating step by step what happens, the music looks for the narrative heart of each mission — its tone, its imagery, its conflict.
Press play when Zargon reads the quest aloud and the heroes step into the dungeon, or just let the album run end to end: each track is autonomous, but they all share the same sonic identity.
So far the project covers:
The First Hero (JDREC-001, 2020)
The First Hero is the soundtrack to the base set: a short opening cue (The Quest, the theme Zargon uses to open every game) followed by one composition for each of the fourteen quests in the original Quest Book, from The Trial to Return to Barak Tor, in order. Forty-eight minutes in total.
Kellar's Keep (JDREC-004, 2024)
Kellar's Keep is the soundtrack to the first expansion (1989/1990): ten new quests set inside a dwarven stronghold overrun by Ulag's minions. The heroes' task is to free Sir Ragnar from the depths. Ten tracks, thirty-seven minutes.
How to use it
The albums can be used in different ways, without rigid rules. The most direct one is by quest: before the session, pick the matching track and start it while Zargon reads the introduction. The music carries the whole game; if the run-time doesn't line up, it doesn't matter — moving to the next track keeps the atmosphere consistent.
You can also let the whole record run from the top, or loop individual tracks: the bond isn't with the single moment of play, it's with the overall identity of the adventure. The music isn't competing with the dice; it's holding them up.
Related releases
If you're only scoring HeroQuest, these two albums are the most direct choice. If you also play other dark fantasy systems — D&D, Gloomhaven, Warhammer Quest — they can work the same way, extending the same sonic imaginary.
What's next
The remaining three expansions — Return of the Witch Lord, Against the Ogre Horde, Wizards of Zargon — are open ground. They will be soundtracked in the same format when their turn comes: one track per quest, in order, on cassette.
Playing D&D instead? → See the D&D Dungeon Master's field guide