A bit of exciting news was shared with me last week concerning the classic adventure board game Talisman. After a long hiatus from store shelves, BlackIndustries, a division of Games Workshop, is planning on resurrecting the two decade old title with an upcoming 4th Edition! Official Announcement
For those unfamiliar (which is understandable with it being out of print and extremely scarce!), Talisman is a "cult classic" 2-6 player adventure game that was originally published by Games Workshop in the early 80s. It is perhaps best described as a toned-down, easily-accessible version of a role playing game. It employs a fully illustrated game board that follows a "tier" style format with different realms that players must carefully navigate their way through to victory, achieved by possessing the Crown of Command.
Fans of the fantasy adventure genre (Lord of the Rings, D&D, etc.) are bound to enjoy this game. The role playing aspects of the game are evident through the character system. Each player chooses (or randomly draws) a character card to start the game and each has its own unique set of characteristics and abilities allowing for different strategies.
The premise of the game is simply that the players are all characters living in a land inhabited with many magical creatures and artifacts. Through encounters and epic battles, each character grows stronger, either physically or mentally for purposes of spell casting. Once strong enough, players then advance into the next tier (towards the center of the board) which offers tougher challenges and stronger monsters. There are a total of three tiers that comprise the board. Players can even choose to battle each other if they happen to meet. However, all movement is governed by die roll.
The strongest feature of the game is arguably its driving mechanic of random configuration. The board, like most game boards, is comprised of spaces. Each space is unique and contains permanent game text that specifies what occurs when landed on. But the content of the game is played out through a deck of event, creature, artifact and item cards which are shuffled at the start of the game. Because of this feature, no two games of Talisman are ever the same which gives it a very high level of re-playability. Talisman appears a bit overwhelming the first time you sit down to play, but it is very easy to learn. It does, however, require a few hours (minimum) to play through.
The most recent edition of the game (3rd Edition) was released in 1994 and was a bit of evolution and expansion of the core game presented in 1st and 2nd Editions. I have only been playing Talisman for a little of a year now and almost immediately began looking for a copy of it for myself after I was introduced to it. The very determined gamer can find occasional copies on eBay for upwards of $100 but beyond that the game is literally impossible to find. That is until October 2007.
This is a great small group game and it comes highly recommended. It has gained a respectable fan base over the past twenty years and it is no surprise as to why. It is well designed, extremely entertaining and doesn't require serious devotion to enjoy. If you like adventure, Talisman is definitely worth checking out!
2 comments:
Sounds fun. Here's a question: Are all players congruent as far as choosing their own fate or is a Dungeion Master-like character that controls the scanerios for the other players?
All players are on equal ground. There is no 'controlling' player or character governing the game.
Post a Comment