Journey into the Wizarding World for another intense strategy adventure between the heroes and villains of Hogwarts!
Talisman is one of our favorite board game experiences (Talisman: Kingdom Hearts is just as fantastic!). It’s challenging, full of twists and turns, and the outcome is always up in the air! Only the cleverest heroes will outwit the relentless villains!
The goal of the game is to be the first character to reach Lord Voldemort in the Great Hall (at the center of the board). Heroes and villains alike are both seeking the honor of either defeating or pledging loyalty to The Dark One, and the first person to do this successfully wins the game!
The game board is amazing and shows all the best locations in and around Hogwarts Castle in vivid detail. Like other Talisman games, the board is organized into three regions: outer, middle, and inner. The goal is to move from the outer region, gathering resources and strength, into the middle and eventually inner region, but care must be taken. Prudence is required. Players must be fortified against the potential obstacles they will face as they get nearer The Great Hall! Take your time, hope for good fortune to accompany you, and travel carefully!
A deck of 100 cards is used throughout the game depending on board location and dice roll results. The deck includes a variety of cards:
- Encounter Cards: enemies, observers, followers, events, places, and objects
- Spell Cards: special abilities to earn and use during the game
- Purchase Cards: special objects
- Hallow Cards: discovered only in the Middle Region encounter deck OR win one in a Quidditch challenge
Players will also earn Galleons for purchasing goods and services throughout the game.
The Advantage Token is an important part of the game and indicates which side is currently winning the good vs. evil contest.
Each player receives a character card to play with a stat dial board to track magic, might, and life, necessary resources for moving through the regions and attacking and defeating enemies. Each character has a different starting magic, might, life, and fate values with some special abilities as well. Each character is either aligned with The Order of the Phoenix or The Death Eaters and devotes his loyalty accordingly throughout the game.
Magic is a character’s fighting ability and might is his/her physical strength. Life is the character’s durability and can be lost in battle or healed. Players can also collect fate tokens, which are an indication of how much luck and influence a Character has within the Wizarding World.
Player’s turns consist of
- Movement and
- Encounters. Players may move in any direction around the board within their current region and encounter the space where they land or an enemy character that may be occupying that space.
Any time a player rolls a 1, they roll for Lord Voldemort’s movement. When players land on the space occupied by Lord Voldemort, they must battle him! Losing the battle means 1 lost life point. Win the battle and roll the dice to consult Lord Voldemort’s card chart to find out their fate.
Encountering is one of the main activities of the game. Characters can encounter enemy characters (from the opposing “team”) and initiate a battle or use a special ability or spell card. Players can choose to encounter a Character instead of a space. When a space is encountered, draw encounter cards and resolve in order of the lowest encounter number.
This is a complex game that requires a few play-throughs to understand the strategy and intricacies of game play, but the main objective is to build your character’s might, magic, and life to the point where you can successfully battle enemies while Main to aiming enough strength to continue moving toward The Great Hall. The player who most strategically gathered objects, followers, and spells to aid them in their quest will be the player to make it to The Great Hall to either defeat or support Lord Voldemort!
GAMESCHOOLING: Talisman games require a strategic brain to keep a variety of objectives at the forefront of the mind. This game is a fantastic complex challenge for logic, strategy, and analysis and will keep students engaged and enthralled for hours!
Thanks to The Op Games for this fantastic educational family board game!
