All of my reviews aim to offer a brief overview that allows people to get a good feel for what the game may offer them. I feel that other reviews can be sought if detailed game mechanics is what you are after.
Summary
Game Type - Board Game (Experience Game)
Play Time : 2-4 hours (Under 3 once familiar)
Number of Players: 2-14 (Recommend 3-6 unless used in a special event)
Mechanics - Roll & Move, Quest Game, Character Development Game, Dice Rolling
Difficulty - Moderate (Learn in 1 hour)
Components - Very Good (See Components section for more detail)
I’ll state up front that I have heard many things about Talisman but had never played it before the 4th Edition. I am happy with this as it will lend my review a perspective that is free of nostalgia and baggage.
Welcome to Talisman in its 4th incarnation. The story goes something like this - The last ruler of Talisman, a mighty wizard, decided on his deathbed, to set a great challenge to any would-be successor. Anyone who could claim his magical crown, forged in the Valley of Fire, would become the new ruler of Talisman. With his last ounce of strength he placed the crown in the most perilous region imaginable and protected it with powerful spells and guardians. Now adventurers from near and far take on the quest to claim the crown and install themselves as the new ruler.
Ok so I used some poetic license, but you get the idea. Talisman tries to appeal to the 12 year old in all of us, offering a fantasy world beset with challenges and potential victories. It plays like an RPG without the acting and it is a ‘level up’ game, where you must build up the skills of your character in order to face the many perilous challenges that await you. By now you should know if you wish to read on.
The game offers a choice of 14 different characters and they cover almost all the classic character classes (although <PERSON> and Troll are unusual inclusions). Each character has a unique mix of special abilities, although some abilities are similar in nature. What each character has in common are their base attributes. These include Strength, Craft, Life and Alignment. Each character starts in a different location and a character card outlines all of the above information. 857
The card also serves to act as an organizational tool of sorts as each player must place small gem tokens (representing base skill values) at various places alongside their character card.
The board consists of 48 spaces and they create 3 distinct rectangular regions. I use the term ‘spaces’ because Talisman is a classic ‘roll and move’ game. I was surprised when I initially made this discovery and I was ready to dislike the game. The question I remember asking myself was, “How can a ‘roll and move’ game appeal to anyone over 12 and what is it doing in the year 2007?” But please read on.
Each space has its own text, with the majority of spaces instructing the player who lands there to draw 1 or 2 cards from the Adventure Deck (more on these later). Other spaces may have more specific instructions that require the roll of a dice to determine the outcome, which will be good, bad or no change. These features remind us that the original Talisman does dates back to 1983. What’s surprising is how quickly the game draws you in and helps you accept these mechanics for what they are.
Outer Region – All characters start in a location in this region and much of the game is played out here as it contains many a rolling hill, field, plain or wood. These spaces are almost entirely ‘draw card’ options and it is the events found in the Adventure Deck that drive the game and allow players to ‘skill up’. Players will usually only leave the Outer Region when they believe their characters are sufficiently developed to take on the challenges of the Middle and Inner Region. The Middle Region is cut off from the Outer Region by the Sword River and can only be crossed by Bridge or Raft. The Bridge is guarded by the Sentinel who must be defeated in order to pass. This is no easy feat so often the second option is taken, crossing by Raft. A raft can be built if a player possesses an axe and ends their turn in a wood or forest space. There are one or two other ways to cross but I’ll let you discover those for yourself.
Middle Region – This region also has a number of ‘Draw Card Spaces’ but it is generally more dangerous as enemies may gain additional strength, due to their location, and the desert will result in an automatic loss of life (unless you carry a water bottle). This region however is the home of the Temple. 937