"Prologue" is a misnomer. This game is no more than a glorified tutorial for the main game, and isn't even worth the price they set during the Steam Sale. Just get the main game - it's not particularly hard to learn, and is a far more complete and worthwhile experience, even if you don't get any of the DLC.

Everyone else is right, you mostly just roll the die and see what happens. Not much more exciting than a video slot matching game in that respect. There is no AI, you are literally moving around a board by your self. You even draw "lose a turn" cards - with no one to lose a turn to, and keep going. It seems kind of like an alpha (It's complete however) demo of the normal game also on here. For some reason, it also randomly crashes on my desktop at work that I tried it on.

Talisman: Prologue is one of the adaptation of the classic fantasy board game. Talisman, if you don't know is like Game of Life, only you kill ogres and get cast spells instead of knocking up your crazy girlfriend from college and have a loveless marriage. Prologue, unlike the original game is single player only and quest based. Kind of like a time attack, you must finish them in the least number of turns possible, but there are no achievements or real leaderboards so it's little incentive to replay them. The same developer has already released Talisman: Digital Edition which is a more faithful, better designed adaptation which includes multiplayer, so you can say Prologue is obsolete by now. Still I feel that if you can get this for cheap is good enough just to play the custom quests, which take about 15 hours.

This game is basically a trainer for learning how to play Talisman in a single character, single player, zone of singleness. It's not bad, but look at it! You are not only playing a boardgame by yourself- it's a boardgame on your computer!

Unless it is on sale for two bucks or less, don't waste your time, and just get the real deal. Thankfully I got a dollar per hour since it was on holiday sale.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H_HqQBxA1v4
It feels more like a proof of concept than a fully-fledged game, offering you a few different objectives for a quest, rather than an actual grand adventure to embark on. Well, except some, which task you with; get to the centre of the board. Most are just; buy a sword, kill something, go get healed. Quest complete.

There are some that are more interesting, like rescuing a princess and returning her to the castle... But the game doesn't go far enough with these tasks, nor is there enough of them.

Also starting from scratch each time you play means re-treading so much ground they're just not that much fun to play after the first time.

The gameplay loop is essentially; roll a dice, land on a square and do what it tells you to, usually draw some cards. The cards will have items, monsters or events... And that's it. There's not some opposing force acting against you, or for you to outwit, the cards are the only thing that affect the game.

Levelling up your character is a fairly trivial affair; beat enemies that you take as trophies, if you have trophies whose corresponding trait adds up to 7 or more, you can exchange them for a level. Equipment cards can also increase your stats... Which means all too quickly you become the most powerful being on the board. Ultimately there just isn't really any difficulty to the game.

That's where the event cards come in so you can randomly be reduced down to something that the enemies actually have a chance at killing...

The funniest thing is that you can lose a turn... Which just means the turn counter increases by two. All I can gather is that the game rates you upon completion of the quest and I assume it just comes down to the amount of turns taken...

I can see it being useful to learn the ruleset, and perhaps that's where the "prologue" part of the name comes from... But the mechanics aren't exactly difficult, or incredibly deep that they'd require such a primer.

Annoyingly there is another version of the game released that actually has multiplayer... Which begs the question; why this version still exists… They say it focuses on the single player experience... But really, there isn't much to that experience. In so much that I can't imagine why someone who opt for this one over the other.

I did enjoy my first game enough, but then when I went to play a second, even playing as a different character, I was almost instantly bored.

An excellent way to learn Talisman. Get used to the game, learn about the different characters you can choose and how they differ, and generally get your skills and enthusiasim up to the point where you are ready to get the full game (Talisman Digital Edition). That is what worked for me - learning the game via the Prologue edition, totally getting into the full game along with the expansions, and then also adding the Talisman Board game along with the Reaper and Frostmarch expansins to my board game library. For me Prologue was well worth the modest price.

Note: This is/was one of the Steam products with the Data Execution Prevention BS - a real major bummer . This issue, although eventually resolved, resulted in reconsideration of whether this amount of stress was worth sticking with STEAM. I am still here and I enjoy most of my STEAM games, but that was overall my worst expereince with STEAM and a game bought from them.

A friend gifted this to me, and for that I'm obviously grateful to him...we and a few other friends used to play the original (well, 2nd edition) board game TO DEATH back in the 90s, and more recently, another one of these friends rebought the ♥♥♥♥ing thing (4th edition), allowing me to get just a teeny weeny bit "sick" of it all over again. Ah, memories! I must admit to still being fascinated to see how this would all translate into a VIDEO GAME, however, so while this is merely the single player "prologue" to the multiplayer version (which has since been released), I must say I was quite impressed with how extraordinarily faithful the whole adaptation appears to be.

I say "appears to be", as I've only played so much of it, but enough to confidently opine that apart from reducing the epic "get-to-the-middle-region-first-and-murder-the-♥♥♥♥-out-of-the-other-players-to-achieve-world-domination" mega-quest of the board game to a number of small, character-specific mini-missions, it's, well...it's pretty much the board game. Or at least a limited version of it, as this particular game doesn't have anywhere near all the characters, expansions, etc etc...though to the best of my understanding, the fully-blown Talisman: Digital Edition does or at least will do over time, and assuming its objective is to be as slavishly faithful to the source material as this prologue game, I can't see that anyone looking for a video game adaptation of Talisman is liable to be disappointed. As for me, personally, right at this moment in time...I might have to give such a prospect a miss for now, not least of all because of that friend I still have who's only half-a-suburb away who, unlike myself, is probably up for reliving our wild 'n' reckless glory days of rolling dice and shuffling cards at relatively short notice. I'm a bit over it all, truth be told, and have more than adequately sated my sentimentality for the time being, so I think I'll piss away my time with other, less painfully overfamiliar games (be they of a digital or more tactile nature; I still play board games, just not this one when I can help it).

Back to the Prologue for a moment, though. This particular product would no doubt provide an adequate "training ground" for those too daunted to leap straight into the multiplayer game, though I can't imagine you'd get much replay value out of it beyond that. Still, it's cheap enough, especially in a sale, and if you've never played a board game in any way, shape or form - or at least not one more complicated than Snakes 'N' Ladders or Trivial Pursuit - then this may give you an idea what dyed-in-the-wool nerds USED to do before video games progressed beyond one bunch of ugly pixels shooting at another bunch of ugly pixels with little dots or dashes for ammunition.

Verdict: 7.5/10.

Difference Between Talisman Digital Edition & Talisman Prologue

Talisman Digital Edition is the multiplayer form of the game, so you can play with other players or against the AI. Talisman Prologue is completely a solo single player experience, so you will strictly play against the Adventure Cards. Nomad Games does take it a step further than that, and they have quests designed per character on the main menu. They also have characters available that are not currently available in Talisman Digital Edition.

Just know that once you complete the quest, the game ends, whether you made it to the crown or not. The only quest in Talisman Prologue that allows you to go all the way to the Crown of Command is The Magical Quest. Some characters only have The Magical Quest available to them with no other quest options. There is a distinct difference in the two games. Be sure you’re buying the game version that will suit your play style, unless you want both, then more power to you. Truthfully I think picking one or the other would be best, especially if you’re not sure whether you are going to like it or not.

Click this link to read more!
http://everydaygamers.com/2014/03/10/review-talisman-digital-edition/#more-29260

Although, I bought two versions of Talisman (Prologue and Digital Edition), I started with this. Yes, I got a good experience, playing and learning different characters, their advantages. This helps me to know the game, its rules. But after some games, this solo adventure starts to bother me. Quests quite frankly aren't interesting. Often you need to get to some place or monster, and you roll dice one by one until you get exactly you need (Sometimes I spent more than 20-25 turns just only to be on the same space as my quest's task). I don't persuade to buy Talisman, but don't waste money, buy original Talisman: Digital Edition, where you get better experience, fun and enjoyment playing with friends or bots. There you will not only roll dices, but also think about your next steps.

This is quite literally Solo, not a "single player experience", its a single character experience, its just you and you are alone WITHOUT even computer controlled (AI) players, as one would expect by it being a boardgame.
You wont get anything of value from Talisman: Prologue, accept if you are a huge fanatic of game specific achievment chasing.
In prologue you are simply chasing trivial goals, for no real purpose than to achieve them, save your cash for the digital version.
Even at less than $2.00, I feel its wasted money, and a completly pointless purchase.

Pros:

Quicker game play than the full Digital Edition
Useful for learning the rules and character nuances in Talisman: Digital Edition



Cons:

Can't save the game. They definitely need to fix this. (Seriously, Nomad, what are you thinking here?)
Game play can get extremely redundant with only one character on the board.




Verdict:

Worth buying when it goes on sale, if:

* You already know you really want it
* The Digital Edition confuses you and you want to practice the nuances of the game
* You're a compulsive collector like me
* You're not going to bother with the Digital Edition anyway

If none of those apply, then I'd say don't bother.

Definitely a 'Prologue' (introduction) to the Talisman Digital Edition. Consider this to be a tutorial to the extreme, enough to be able to sell it seperately.

I consider it more of an occasional distraction, probably not one of those games that you feel like playing for hours on end...but one of those that you 'pull off of the shelf' here and there.

After playing Talisman Digital Edition, I will say that I did miss the quests. Ultimately, it could be cool to blend the two and introduce individual quests into the Digital Edition.

It seems that, at the least, Prologue will either be a quick distraction, or it will be one of those that you will enjoy here and there. (Obviously there is the possibility that it may just 'click' and it is played to completion).

In other words, for the price ... not too bad. I enjoyed it so far, but for me it is here and there. It would seem hard to go wrong if you can get it in a bundle or, as currently under a couple bucks. (I'm buying a couple extra as gifts ... can't go too wrong for that price and maybe they will go for the Digital Edition and we can do multiplayer...)

Talisman: Prologue is a proof of concept formed as a commercial product.
As such, it's not interesting for more than an hour or two - unlike the full game, Talisman Digital Edition, which I wholly recommend and which includes this game as a separate download.

If you like talisman and can get Prologue it cheap, give it a try. In all other cases, avoid.

There is so little to really DO in this game. Player decisions are very limited. The game almost plays by itself.

Faithful recreation of a board-game look and feel is nice. But there is too little 'game' in this game.

First off: I absolutely adore boardgames. I own many and play regularly with my friends in real life and online friends through VASSAL.

I always wanted Talisman (and subsequently Relic) based on their generally favorable reviews and the description of the game. I like similar games of the genre and planned on buying it down the road.

Luckily I got the prologue in a game bundle somewhere so I could finally try it.

I can't really say it's a horrible game, but to me it's really not that fun. Sure, this is a single player-based version and in a digital format, but the core mechanics are just rather bland.
Reading the reviews on Steam before I got it I figured most of the negative feedback was based on people not well versed in boardgames and assumed they may just not have a taste for them. It truly is bland, however.

The biggest problem I think stems from the complete lack of choices, tactics, and strategies. It really is random. Not just in combat, like most tabletop games, but every aspect is controlled for you. The game essentially boils down to what direction you want to travel and making a choice on the off-chance you land on somewhere interactive.

All in all I know I will never buy the boardgame. If a friend had it I may just try it to see if it's any better in person and with friends, but we have so many better games to play I'm sure it would be a one time thing. I know I'll probably never revisit the video game.

This IS the classic board game I used to play. What a GREAT game this was. The Prologue edition can be played solo. The deluxe can be played with others.
This game used to have a few expansion packs that are being added to this version.

If you ever played Talisman back in the day, get this! You will remember why you loved it!

This game is utterly boring, just rolling dice and not even a match against AI. Just you and the board.
I expected more from this game.

A great job at showing how to finally bring this fun fantasy board game to the PC. While there's plenty of life in this version, there's a lot that would be added by getting the multiplayer version once it's out of early access. Many characters have a ton of quests tied to them to try to beat as well as the randomness of the core game. Hopefully once the multiplayer is out we will see the other board game expansions translated to the PC version.

Really fun board style rpg. Wish I had purchased the digital edition for the multiplayer option.

It's a great way to learn how to play Talisman whilst the 1-4 player Digital Edition is being finished, the only problem I have is it's single player