Customer Reviews

Talisman: The Dungeon

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Let me preface this review by stating that I have a nostalgia based bias for Talisman. Hence the five stars. The game has it's detractors, and truly there are better sword and sorcery boardgames out there, but this one has a special place in my heart. This is possibly due to the countless hours I spent playing this game while in college, but I digress... THIS IS TALISMAN. Pretty much the same game that was available in the 80's with minor game play changes.

Physically, Fantasy Flight has produced a far superior product to the old 80's game. The Boards for both Talisman and The Dungeon expansion are beautiful high quality stock that I expect will last me for a long long time. The cards are of a very durable and impressive stock that stands up to bending and multiple shufflings. (They seem to be waterproof, although I have not tested this.)

The artwork throughout all the Talisman products is superb. I believe the 80's version had cardboard cutouts for playing pieces that stood in a plastic stand. Kudos to Fantasy Flight for changing these to beautifully molded plastic 3D figures! All the playing pieces look like their artwork. Nice Touch!

I just got this expansion for Christmas. (PLEASE NOTE: I have not actually played it yet, but I have read the rules, character descriptions, and most of the cards.) The Board connects to the Talisman Board to make for a HUGE playing area! It is beautifully done. It has it's own stack of Dungeon cards for use in the dungeon only, and a smaller stack of cards to be mixed in with the 'outer world' adventure cards, spell cards, and etc.

The Dungeon has rules for stand alone play, but this would probably make for a short game. If you are up for a shorter game, then this could be good. They have modified the rules so that you can enter the dungeon and leave without completing it. I like this option for quick looting, and acquiring magic items for other use.

I was so pleased with this expansion that I immediately went out and purchased the Frost March expansion. One unexpected plus of owning the Dungeon; All the existing expansions fit in the Dungeon box. Frost March, Reaper, and Dungeon. There is room for more too!

One note: The Talisman and Dungeon Boards are SO BIG when put together, that I have difficulty seeing a City or other Expansion being made with another board addition. As it is, you need a BIG table to play the game now. So if they do make the City, then you may have to choose between City and Dungeon, etc.

Talisman Dungeon is the first Talisman expansion that adds a board to the game as the expansions of the old game did.

Unlike the old expansions the board directly connects to the existing board making one single piece. This is a good idea but it really takes up a lot more space.

The squares are almost identical but 4 extra ones exist along with a different resolution when you get to the end.

New Dungeon specific cards including special treasures are included. It adds a lot of room to the game which is very important when you play with more than 6.

One change from the old system. In the old game you had to keep going in a particular direction and could not turn around unless you are fleeing. In the new version that is an optional rule.

Frankly for me the best thing about the Dungeon and it's design is that my favorite expansion: Talisman City, is likely to follow in the future, but on it's own the Dungeon plays well, in fact you can use it as a single board and play right there.

If you're into Talisman: The Magical Quest Game, 4th edition and you are since you're here you gotta have it.

This game is hilariously fun, though still a bit broken with the revision. It can be extremely difficult to level up, especially for magic-using characters. It also takes a long while, especially when there are more than four players.

Make sure cards are shuffled extremely well, or the game will seem to be playing 'favorites': giving some monsters or gold and others things that have less of an advantage.

Be prepared to set aside several hours if you intend to play this game. There is no 'speed' version and one will often find themselves either teleported to where they don't want to be, or rolling to high or low to get to a specific place.

The game is great fun though, always filled with wacky and weird encounters, odd quirks, ways to help or hinder others, and silly circumstances.

I highly recommend it, along with an expansion pack.

this is a great expansion to the Talisman game. I tmakes the game a longer and offers up even more great treasures and killer monsters!

Have purchased this great game, Talisman for about 2 weeks and my family really enjoyed it. It bring us together and have a great time. also bought expansion for dungeon and highland. the game itself without expansion will be boring after a while, the expansion make the game last longer and for those who like to build up the character, it is really a great game. recommended for all.

My kids and I finally got a chance to play the game with all the expansions. It was a blast.. their ages are 15, 12, and 9. We really enjoyed watching each other get smashed by Dragons and trolls. Fun for the whole family. :)

"The Dungeon" was the second expansion set for Fantasy Flights new release of the classic fantasy board game, Talisman. Like all of the releases in the series, it is a beautiful upgrade for a favorite game. Fantasy Flight fixed what needed fixing, kept what should be kept, and made a great game even better. Unfortunately, when combined with later release, The Sacred Pool, "The Dungeon" becomes entirely broken and irrevocably changes the game play.

At the end of The Dungeon is the Lord of Darkness, who serves as the "Boss" for that level. Unlike the original Games Workshop Dungeon, you can move back and forth in the Fantasy Flight Dungeon, which means you don't have to encounter him until you are ready. When you are ready, you do a die-roll against him, and depending on how much you beat him by (assuming you beat him!) you get teleported to that space and get a nice little Dungeon Treasure to boot.

If you beat the Lord of Darkness by more than twenty - Bang! You are at the Crown of Command!

This wasn't such a game breaker until "The Sacred Pool" was released and the Warhorse along with it. The Warhorse lets you add your Craft to your Strength in battle, which is absolutely huge. Warhorses can more than double a character's power, and there are enough of them to go around. And since the Lord of Darkness is a battle, unlike Inner Region where you have to roll three dice under your natural strength/craft, you can use the Warhorse against him.

From the first game we played with "The Sacred Pool," it soon became clear that instead of bothering around with Talismans and the Inner Region, the most direct way to win the game was to get strong, saddle up a Warhorse and head down to beat the Lord of Darkness. No game I have played since getting that expansion has ended any other way. Even those who try to win via the old route find that someone will take the Dungeon shortcut and shoot up to the Crown of Command behind their backs.

In order to keep the spirit of the game, and to keep the Talismans important, if you want to use both "The Dungeon" expansion and "The Sacred Pool" them some house rules need to be made. We decided that beating the Lord of Darkness by more twenty teleported you to the Valley of Fire instead of the Crown of Command, so that Talismans were still necessary. We might end up going back to the classic Talisman rule of "No Horses in the Dungeon" just to make it even tougher.