Talisman 5th edition coming from Hasbro/Avalon Hill

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**Kid_Kyoto**

https://www.talismanisland.com/13912/talisman-5th-edition-global-reveal/

Earlier today the lucky visitors to the Play: Festival del Gioci in Modena were treated to the global reveal of the new edition of Talisman from Avalon Hill!

*Thanks to Federico Burchianti for the top image

Designer, Doug Hopkins, along with the hosts from Crossover Universo Nerd showed us just what’s in the box and there’s certainly a lot to take in.

*Thanks to Riccardo Rognoni for the image above

The game was then put up for preorder on the Hasbro Pulse website slated for release on the 26th of June!

You will be able to play Talisman in English, Italian, French, German and Spanish PLUS you can order the Polish localisation direct from Rebel.pl.

This begs the question as to what the seventh localisation is, as Hasbro have registered 7 EANs for the game and its expansion Talisman: Alliances. Any guesses?

I’m sure there will be a lot more discussion in the coming weeks, and I’ll certainly add some thoughts about it all once my brain has settled down a bit from all of the excitement!

In the mean time, just feast your eyes on these minis!

Talisman at Hasbro Pulse (EU)

Talisman at Hasbro Pulse (UK)

Talisman at Rebel.pl (PL)

Talisman on Amazon (US)

Out August 1 on Amazon, ~$60

https://www.amazon.com/Avalon-Hill-Talisman-Adventure-Roleplaying/dp/B0CS7B7BQ1/

4th edition has been out of print for a few years and my copy is in storage so I'm definitely in.

**Shadow Walker**

https://www.warhammer-community.com/2024/06/07/talisman-returns-with-a-glorious-new-5th-edition-and-the-same-classic-gameplay/

**El Torro**

Was about to make a thread about this, good thing I did a search first.

I never picked up this game, haven't played the video games either. For those who have: What's the gameplay like? Worth picking up?

The article states that the gameplay has been "refined". Whether it's been improved or not will be a matter of opinion.

**Kid_Kyoto**

It's been a while but basically you pick a character each having different advantages or disadvantages.

Move around the board have encounters, some fights, some tricks, some random, some shops.

Gain upgrades in your power, your magic, magic items etc then, when you feel ready, move to the inner ring. Things get tougher and when you feel ready move to the center ring, fight through a gauntlet to defeat the dragon in the center.

The advantage, besides that fact it's been around since the 80s and 3 generations have played it, is simple mechanics that still give the feel of an epic D&D campaign with leveling up.

The kids version, Talisman Legendary Tales is a big hit in my house.

**Nevelon**

I played a bit of the previous editions. It’s not a pure procedural game, but is kinda close. Roll a die and go one of two directions, and deal with something from a random card deck. Kill things to raise stats, collect gear, and hope you get strong enough to survive.

I always felt it was too random and not enough valid player agency, but they are on the 5th edition, so some people obviously like it.

**Mad Doc Grotsnik**

El Torro wrote:
Was about to make a thread about this, good thing I did a search first.

I never picked up this game, haven't played the video games either. For those who have: What's the gameplay like? Worth picking up?

The article states that the gameplay has been "refined". Whether it's been improved or not will be a matter of opinion.

Short and trite answer, without having played it?

Good enough that it’s well regarded enough to have seemingly thrived and survived numerous incarnations for….might be coming up 40 years now?

**El Torro**

Kid_Kyoto wrote:
It's been a while but basically you pick a character each having different advantages or disadvantages.

Move around the board have encounters, some fights, some tricks, some random, some shops.

Gain upgrades in your power, your magic, magic items etc then, when you feel ready, move to the inner ring. Things get tougher and when you feel ready move to the center ring, fight through a gauntlet to defeat the dragon in the center.

The advantage, besides that fact it's been around since the 80s and 3 generations have played it, is simple mechanics that still give the feel of an epic D&D campaign with leveling up.

The kids version, Talisman Legendary Tales is a big hit in my house.

Thanks for the summary

I've actually been thinking of picking up the new version of HeroQuest for a while. I did play that back in the 90s though don't remember how it plays. Did enjoy it at the time. Now I'm wondering which of the two games to prioritise. Any thoughts on that?

I guess the two games aren't that similar. HeroQuest is a dungeon crawler and Talisman seems more like a traditional boardgame.

**Kid_Kyoto**

I'd add it's definitely a beer and pretzels game, decision making is limited. Left or right. Use a magic time or no.

But again at the end of it having leveled up your character, gained magic items, taken chances, you FEEL like you've had an epic quest in 2 hours. And I think that's part of the appeal.

**Fayric**

Played the game alot as a kid, and daily for a period in the 90s. The freedom to move around the boards features, and the many magical items and hangarounds you could gather gave it a great feeling of adventure.

A huge bonus at the time was the glorious artwork by Gary Chalk through out the game in the early editions.

The models for this edition look like a wast improvement from 3rd+ editions. Give me a good sting of nostalgia (not that the early edition even came with models in the box).

.

**Gimgamgoo**

Mad Doc Grotsnik wrote:
El Torro wrote:
Was about to make a thread about this, good thing I did a search first.

I never picked up this game, haven't played the video games either. For those who have: What's the gameplay like? Worth picking up?

The article states that the gameplay has been "refined". Whether it's been improved or not will be a matter of opinion.

Short and trite answer, without having played it?

Good enough that it’s well regarded enough to have seemingly thrived and survived numerous incarnations for….might be coming up 40 years now?

This version that sits on the bookcase behind me has a copyright of 1983 inside the rules pamplet.

It gets played maybe once every couple of years. In theory it's fun, but can lead to the same kind of family arguments that monopoly does.

**Dryaktylus**

Fayric wrote:
the glorious artwork by Gary Chalk

Taste differs. I think it's okay for children but otherwise IMO he was one of the worst artists GW ever hired.

**scarletsquig**

Talisman is great, but it looks like there's a possible quality downgrade with the 5th edition.

Art isn't as good as 4th and no toad miniatures for starters. Possibly card coins instead of plastic?

I don't like the sound of simplifying the rules given how simple the gameplay is to start with, it's roll-and-move, the fun comes from the complexity of all the random encounters and exploration.

**Commander Cain**

Yeah I am not liking the new art style for this edition, the simlified text on the board is a nice touch though.

The models look like a vast improvement as well, 4th edition had real difficulty keeping a consistent scale between characters, to the point where I have just redesigned them all and 3D printed them using Heroforge.

Will be interesting to see what expansions they tackle, playing with all four corner expansions is great fun, if not a little redundant.

**Fayric**

Dryaktylus wrote:
Fayric wrote:
the glorious artwork by Gary Chalk

Taste differs. I think it's okay for children but otherwise IMO he was one of the worst artists GW ever hired.

To be fair I was a kid when I was awestruck by his ilustrations for Lone Wolf, and soon after we got Talisman. I just had a google for his Talisman stuff, and realise its quite varied quality, but in general I still love his ability to draw characters that are ugly and grim rater than looking like hollywood actors. Especially his heavily inked Lone Wolf illustations still looks pretty sharp to me.
I dont get the feeling his stuff is for children, and probably 80% of every artist GW hired have a more juvenile and less gritty expression than Chalk (and thats not a problem, it supposed to look that way).

**Voss**

In an odd-for-GW move there is also a digital 5th edition in the works (though no release date yet).

I think that actually has more legs, simply because Talisman can get real tiring for a limited group of people really quickly.

**Kid_Kyoto**

Semi related, any thoughts on the Talisman RPG?

It has good reviews and I'm thinking of trying something with the kids.

https://www.amazon.com/Talisman-Adventures-RPG-Core-Rulebook/dp/3957893402/

**ced1106**

Talisman: One of those "for the kids" roll-and-move boardgames. Takes hours to play. Better games out there. I tried a solo game of playing all the characters at the same time, though. That was amusing.

HeroQuest: Gateway game for "kids and casuals" to hobby dungeoncrawl boardgames. You can also use the mini's for other games.

Talisman RPG: Generic fantasy RPG. Better off getting a D&D starter set. Picked up the playtest rulebook b/c I thought I could play a Ghoul (: but the included adventure implies Ghouls aren't invited.

Have 'em all, got 'em cheap.

The 4th edition is pretty much gone, although expansions may still be at Miniature Market. HeroQuest is still in-print and wait for a holiday sale from Amazon. IIRC, I got a copy for $35.

EDIT: Some less popular 4th expansions on sale at MM. Cheap.

**mattl**

https://www.warhammer-community.com/2024/06/07/talisman-returns-with-a-glorious-new-5th-edition-and-the-same-classic-gameplay/