Dead on arrival, Warhammer Quest Cursed City seems doomed to fail, regardless of all the hype Games Workshop pumps into it.
The first real issue (and the one that probably killed it the fastest) was the botched release in 2021, as GW seemed to know full well they didn’t have enough kits for everyone who wanted them.
Still, they solicited orders from stores and distributors, then allocated them, and went radio silent when they all disappeared, and consumers clamored for them. The price then skyrocketed to nearly double retail on eBay as supply outstripped demand.
Cursed City Was Doomed to Fail
Six months later, they said Cursed City would come back with a full release as a normal store item. As promised, Curse City returned in the spring of 2022, where you could order it and wait 180 days for the Made to Order copy to arrive.
Warhammer Quest: Cursed City is coming back! The immersive co-op dungeon crawler set in the Age of Sigmar was first released in 2021 and returned earlier this year as a Made to Order product. It will return to store shelves for good this October, and in celebration we bring news of an expansion.
Fast-forward to October of 2022, and Cursed City finally showed up in stores as a normal release item, along with hobbyists’ MTO copies.
Now the hype seems about gone, as retailers are already discounting them heavily for Black Friday.
This could mean that people are still upset at missing out on something they wanted because Games Workshop bungled the release multiple times.
HeroQuest: A Great Cursed City Replacement
While the initial Cursed City got people really excited for the dungeon crawl-style format Warhammer Quest is known for, the hype didn’t last too long. HeroQuest, however arrived during the holiday season following the Cursed City flop before Games Workshop announced a reprint of the game, and is a great alternative!
When you compare Cursed City to HeroQuest, it was super doomed from the start. While the first release of HeroQuest and Cursed City were somewhat comparable in terms of value, HeroQuest was much more truthful about what you would get, the project had insane amounts of stretch goals and also had all the nostalgia on its side.
For about half the price of Cursed City, you seemed to get a lot more value with HeroQuest, along with that same multiplayer vibe!
HeroQuest hasn’t stopped releasing cool expansions either, while Cursed City has done some odd MTOs and miniature-less expansions.
As you can see above, the Frozen Horror expansion is not only cheaper, but it has a bunch of minis! Whereas the Cursed City one is $50 for literally nothing but some books and cards. So for $5 less, you get way more with HeroQuest.
Going forward, if Games Workshop wants people actually to buy the expansions and play Cursed City, they probably really need to go over the top to get hobbyists back on board.
Especially because everyone who bought it wanted it just for the minis, so if they want to keep Cursed City alive, that seems like a great place to start.
That ship, however, may have already sailed…
Nemesis is the second and final expansion for Warhammer Quest: Cursed City. It takes us back into the doomed city of Ulfenkarn for one last job – to save the survivor’s enclave of Haven from the returned Radukar the Wolf – who is now hell-bent on killing the last remaining mortal denizens of the city he once ruled with an iron fist.
Click Here to Get Your HeroQuest Game For Less!
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About the Author: Rob Baer
Rob Baer
Job Title: Managing Editor
Founded Spikey Bits in 2009
Socials: Rob Baer on Facebook and @catdaddymbg on X
About Rob Baer: Founder, Publisher, & Managing Editor of Spikey Bits, the leading tabletop gaming news website focused on the hobby side of wargaming and miniatures.
Rob also co-founded and currently hosts the Long War Podcast, which has over 350 episodes and focuses on tabletop miniatures gaming, specializing in Warhammer 40k. and spent six years writing for Bell of Lost Souls.
Every year, along with his co-hosts, he helps host the Long War 40k Doubles Tournament at Adepticon and the Long War 40k Doubles at Las Vegas Open, which attracts over 350 players from around the world.
Rob has won many Warhammer 40k Tournaments over the years, including multiple first-place finishes in Warhammer 40k Grand Tournaments over the years and even winning 1st place at the Adepticon 40k Team Tournament.
With over 30 years of experience in retail and distribution, Rob knows all the products and exactly which ones are the best. As a member of GAMA (Game Manufacturers Association), he advocates for gaming stores and manufacturers in these difficult times, always looking for the next big thing to feature for the miniatures hobby, helping everyone to provide the value consumers want.
While he’s played every edition of Warhammer 40k and Warhammer Fantasy (since 5th Edition) and has been hobbying on miniatures since the 1980s, Titans of all sizes will always be his favorite! It’s even rumored that his hobby vault rivals the Solemnance Galleries, containing rulebooks filled with lore from editions long past, ancient packs of black-bordered Magic Cards, and models made of both pewter and resin.
