Talisman is a very simple game to play, taking only a few minutes to learn. Most of the questions in the rules arise out of ambiguities in the rules and cards and not through any complexity in the game.

Players start by selecting a Character card. This can be done either by dealing several cards out or by selecting from the deck. After this, the players position their tokens on the spaces indicated by their respective Character cards. The game itself then starts as players take turns rolling a die and moving the number of spaces given by each roll.

The typical game mechanic consists of rolling for movement, moving, doing what it says on the space moved to, and (often) drawing one or more cards and doing what they say to do as well.

The game gains a great deal of variability from the sheer number of cards which give an enormous number of possible outcomes. In fact, most of the cards, both Character and Adventure, either give some immediate challenge or a case in which the general rules are altered. A good example of this might be the Alternative Ending cards.

The overall goal of the game is to reach the Crown of Command space, cast lots of Command Spells and eliminate all of the other players. The Alternative Ending cards add a twist on this in which players might instead find a terrible Demon or Dragon. The overall rules are modified by which cards are drawn.

One last factor is thrown into the mix, besides the Adventure cards and the Character cards: Spells. These cards may be played at almost any time during the game, not just on a player's own turn. Spells can be weak or extremely powerful, though most tend toward power. Either way, they are a part of the game not to be overlooked.

To see a copy of the rules, click here.