The Magical Quest Game: Does it earn the hype?

Dwarves, elves, warriors, wizards, and other mystical adventurers will fight the mighty dragons, slay the nasty ogres, find the magical objects, gather the finest weaponry, improve their abilities, and befriend the many strangers of the land as they strive toward their goal: the Crown of Command. Talisman 4th edition, released in 2007, may be the first introduction for many into this lighthearted fantasy-themed world that created its own genre of fantasy-themed adventure-styled board games back in 1983. 13 long years have passed since its last incarnation in the 3rd edition. Older versions of this game regularly fetch small fortunes on E-bay while other recent games such as Runebound and Prophecy try to tap into the magic and nostalgia that Talisman created. Now Black Industries, a division of Games Workshop Ltd., has provided this generation of gamers a way to discover the magic again without the prohibitively high price that this game commands over the internet. With a fresh change in artwork, while retaining the core classic game, Talisman 4th edition pits players against each other and the game itself to be the one who claims the Crown of Command at the center of the board. Talisman 4th edition may continue the game’s success and please a certain type of gamer because of its stunning artwork and theme, excellent production quality, easily accessible and well-organized rulebook, and its solid replayable gameplay.

Talisman’s simplistic game mechanics result in a clean fast-paced and satisfying experience as every game seems to weave a rich story; full of character development, competition, peril, and upsets. Critics of the game will say that the game relies too much on luck and chance rather than rewarding a player’s strategy. Perhaps, they are correct since just about everything, including movement and combat resolution, is resolved, or more accurately, dictated, by the roll of the dice in Talisman. In order to move to the different locations on the board, the player roll a 6-sided die and must move that number of spaces either forwards or backwards; thus always giving the player two possible places to go to. The player will usually draw a card at this point detailing a monster to fight, a stranger to talk to, or a magical item to grab. Combat mechanics continue the game’s simplicity with usually one die roll’s results being added to a player’s current stats: usually “Strength” in addition to any weapon bonuses. Players travel around the board, beat up monsters, recruit followers, find magical items, improve their stats, and progress until they are strong enough to face the final set of challenges in the center of the board. The mechanics employed in this game are much simpler than more recent games.

Movement, for example, is much different from the more recent game, Runebound, where players roll a set of special dice, add up the terrain symbols that result, and then plot their course on a map board using the given terrain allowances. This rewards smart strategy by allowing the player to plan and strategize their path in relation to their goals and surroundings. Combat is also more complex in Runebound, occurring over several stages and allowing the player more tactical choices as the battle evolves. However, the tradeoff of simplicity for a more strategic and complex game results in a much longer game with player turns that seem to relatively last forever. Nothing drags quite like a full game of Runebound as players across the board fret in ”analysis-paralysis” with the amount of options and choices they are presented with while the players across from them await their turn. Talisman keeps the players “in the game” with almost non-existent turn-to-turn downtime and the very real threat that the player’s character can be assaulted by other players at anytime. What other characters are doing in relation to one’s own is very important and it keeps everyone’s eyes glued to the board in “edge-of-your-seat” tension. A 2-player game of Talisman, though not ideal, takes roughly 2 hours to complete, as opposed to a 2-player game of Runebound easily lasting 4+ hours. Both games can be considered “light” adventure games since both games utilize the chance factor of the dice, but Talisman is certainly “lighter.” The shorter playing time, coupled with the fast pace of high player interaction and short downtime between turns, makes the game immensely replayable though it will not please fans of games that reward the deeper strategy and numerous tactical decisions of a game such as Runebound.

One area in which both Runebound and Talisman really excel is the stellar fantasy-themed artwork. Each space on the board is superbly drawn to evoke different emotions; players will dread landing on the chasm and desert spaces, while at the same time finding relief and hope off in the distance seeing the tavern, oasis, and city spaces as veritable resorts for their character. The card artwork is executed very well and players really begin to feel their hearts sink as they see the dragons looming around the corner and inconveniently placing themselves in the character’s path. These cards, while printed on somewhat flimsy cardstock, really do a good job of drawing players into this magical world with their colorful and wonderful artwork. The production values of this game are very high; although, there are some minor quibbles with the flimsy cards and plastic counters with numbers that are impossible to read from any distance. Despite these blemishes, for $50, a consumer is really going to be getting a lot for their money. This game is a terrific value. Fans of the previous versions will find several flaws printed on the board, such as the axe item costing the same as the sword at the blacksmith’s shop despite its obvious superiority, but should be very pleased with how the much larger board, luxurious and hefty dice, and brilliantly drawn cards look. At the same price, Runebound edges Talisman 4th edition out in terms of artwork, production quality, and pieces; especially since Runebound comes with miniatures to represent each character while Talisman only includes cardboard cutouts with plastic bases to stand them up. Talisman’s artwork, production value, and packaging does not disappoint at all but comes in a close second place to Runebound.

Last but not least, the rulebook of Talisman is quite accessible and straightforward. For a newcomer to any game, the rulebook presents the biggest challenge to cracking open the game and jumping in on the action. One can expect to spend less than 45 minutes to read through the entire rulebook, which is functional and unambiguous. Each rule is presented with a reference number and will cite other relevant rules when appropriate so that players will be hard pressed to forget major game mechanics or rule exceptions. The rulebook presents the game in a logical manner and as questions crop up during play, the answer is usually found on just the next page. The game itself is very simple and should not require much referring to the rules anyways. Basically, players start the game as one of fifteen characters, and begin at the location that is home to that character. For example a druid and elf player will start on a forest space while a ghoul will start in the graveyard. Players roll a die for movement around a board that resembles a three-tiered Monopoly board with an outer, middle, and inner region. As players go around this board, they will encounter enemies, items, and events, and eventually they will become strong enough to face the challenges that block the entrance to the next region. Trickier players can find the axe, or purchase one on the cheap as mentioned earlier, and build a raft to cross the river, thereby bypassing the first challenge: The Sentinel who guards the bridge to the middle region. Eventually players will make it through the whole board that increases in difficulty the further in players travel, and reach the Crown of Command. In order to reach the space containing the Crown, players will have had to prove their worth by acquiring one of the 5 talismans to be found in the game, hence the name “Talisman.” The winner is the last player alive with the Crown. Competition really heats up toward the endgame as players scramble toward the Crown as they attempt to push other players aside. One of the most comical moments of this game is when one player manages to magically turn another player’s character into a weak and vulnerable toad for a few turns. The rulebook explains all the nuances and mechanics of how to achieve all this great fun in a straightforward and logical manner. Many an excellent game has been ill-received by the public because of simple failure to present the rules as clearly as Talisman does.

Talisman 4th edition travels back in time and re-explores itself allowing today’s gamer the chance to discover what all the hype is about. Black Industries allows the “modern gamer” to now enjoy this fun and fast paced game without spending the hundreds of dollars an older copy on E-bay will fetch. Some will be put off by the simplistic game mechanics and high “luck factor.” They may be disappointed despite the amazing artwork, high player interaction, and excellent production quality. But some, perhaps many, people will see the true magic that these simple mechanics allow for when they find their gaming group all scrambling for that Crown of Command while laying traps, battling, and casting spells to ward off one another. Is this game full of luck and chance? Yes. Is it full of fun fast-paced adventure? Most definitely.