Talisman is a game in which– ahhh, no point, you all know Talisman already. The new edition (that I translated) is coming out in Hebrew soon! Apparently, the right-to-left direction doesn’t affect toads in anyway, since – and I’ve only just discovered that recently – they can’t read anyway. Well, they only have 1 Craft, it shouldn’t have surprised me, really.
I don’t like Talisman, I think there are about 32 gazillion other adventure games that do the whole “let’s be a character in a fantasy world!” thing a lot better. It has its charms of course – turning into a slimy toad is a unique and strangely fun experience – but there are so many other adventure games that are more exciting, long without becoming boring, and with actual choices that matter, that there’s usually no reason for me to play Talisman. Most people who play it, I think, do so because they don’t know any alternative.
However. It is the most well-known fantasy board game in Israel and probably in the world at large, and it’s easy to get into – roll the die, do whatever it says where you land, have a lot of random stuff happen to you. It has a certain charm, and a ton of expansions with a lot of new content – I’m the sort of guy that see expansions as a good thing, as long as the basic game is solid. And it is, regardless of there being other board games from the same genre that do it better. I’ve written a bit about the translation of Talisman to Hebrew, and why it’s a good thing, in a post on my occasionally-updating English blog.
(And if you’re looking for an alternative to Talisman, may I suggest Pathfinder Adventure Card Game? We’ve got a group playing every week in London, get in touch! Also, I did a review in Hebrew.)
