Hasbro Gaming Talisman Alliances: Fate Beckons Board Game | Talisman Expansion | Cooperative Fantasy Adventure Games | Ages 12+ | 2 to 6 Players

No Spoilers.. because the expansion pack is supposed to be a surprise from beginning to end. I will just say that it does not disappoint and even though the item doesn't provide much of a description, we took a chance and ordered it. I've also ordered the expansion pack for my two sons so they can play it with their friends and experience the adventure all over again.Talisman and the expansion pack have given our entire family an in depth board game to play and bond over, again and again. It never gets old and the outcome and path of every game we play is unique and so much fun! It is on the more complicated side to learn, but it's worth it! Once you know how to play the game you will be glad you spent the time to set it up and learn the rules. If you are on the fence, just pull the trigger!

I love Talisman, but it can cause family strife when my two boys (ages 10 and a precocious almost-6) spend most of the game attacking each other's characters. Enter Talisman Alliances, which ingeniously transforms the game into a cooperative endeavor and restores peace in the household. We had tremendous fun playing through the trials, many of which we accomplished only by the skin of our teeth, adding to the thrill. The co-op mode adds several layers of complexity to the base game, but the rewards of excitement and family harmony make it well worth the learning curve.Minor spoilers ahead: Compared to the flood of new character and adventure cards included in expansions to previous Talisman editions, this expansion does not add a lot that can be used in the base game--most of the new content is geared specifically to the co-op mode. So I would not recommend the expansion unless you want to play cooperatively. That said, the small number of new characters that can be used with the base set are excellent.I am hoping future expansions will include more content for the base game--perhaps updated versions of the many terrific characters and adventure cards included in the second edition expansions I so loved back in the day. But I am delighted by this new cooperative take on one of my favorite board games.

Although you could simply just take the extra cards and minis out of the quest packs, add them to the base game, and not use the cooperative-play elements of this expansion, you would not be receiving the full impact of the expansion. This is definitely a primarily co-op play xpac. It's in the name: Talisman Alliances.There are five trials to complete. Each trial is about the full length of a Talisman game, so unless you're going to play for ten to twelve hours straight, the trials are not really meant to be done in one sitting. Think of it like five interconnected games that are played separately, like a large quest.When you complete a trial, you open the trial box and trial envelope for that trial. The box contains a new mini. The envelope contains the character card for the new mini and some other miscellaneous cards (adventure, spell, item, etc.) to add into the game.You can always return the items to their respective boxes and envelopes (there are instructions in the back of the rulebook for doing so), and play again. But my guess it will lose some of its magic.As someone who has played Talisman for many years, co-op play feels a strange. But I do enjoy co-op games, so it's a welcome option. And the difficulty of the game is determined by how many players are playing. There are enemy character cards that are both put on the game board during set-up and distributed throughout the adventure deck. The more players that are playing, the more enemy character cards that get both placed on the board and distributed into the top half of the adventure deck. The rest get distributed into the bottom half of the adventure deck.Playing through the game, our group hit a lot of spots in the rules that left ambiguities that we had to discuss and come up with our own answer for. I feel like in general, book editing is a declining art form, but this rule book feels like it was especially rushed. However, one has to keep in mind that it's a board game rulebook, not some holy text. However your group wants to interpret any ambiguities it finds is perfectly fine if you all are having fun.All in all, our group found this to be an enjoyable expansion for a good price. In my opinion, if you enjoy Talisman as a competitive game and want the option to occasionally play the game cooperatively then this is a good purchase for you. However, if you don't like competitive games and you're thinking about buying the Talisman base game and this expansion to use strictly as a co-op game, I feel like you might end up disappointed. There are many vastly superior co-op only games out there for groups who focus on co-op gaming.

This is the first and currently the only expansion for Talisman 5th Edition. Use it to enjoy cooperative play and give your playgroup this option. Be sure you have Talisman 5th Edition in hand or ordered up!

After playing versions of this game over decades, they finally put out a supplement that supports cooperative play. You now can join forces with others to achieve a common goal. I haven't had much chance to play this a lot but what I have seen, i like. Yay!!

The new features were super fun and challenging we played for five hours figuring out the rules and playing and we almost lost it was exciting and we beat the first trial it was hype I can’t wait til we get together again for the next game on to the 2nd trial definitely a great purchase loved it 10/10

COOPERATIVE EXPANSION: We absolutely LOVE this expansion. Talisman was already good but this makes it great! Not hard to learn if you already know how to play the base game. Can be played over and over again like it’s original. It can still run a few hours to play but it’s a lot of fun. Hope they come up with an expansion to this expansion!

it's a huge matter of subjective taste but I like the way this "legacy" content is presented. It's also well explained how to use this expansion. The "legacy" is more "legacylike" because you can reset everything back to its original state, say in case you want to gift it, lend to a friend, sell or just experience the unlocking of parts all over again. very well done.docked one star because I don't like all of the miniature sculpts, some are kind of...well, could have been way better. others are great.