I've tried Descent: Journey in the dark and bought the original + couple of expansions. While it's true I loved the game the fact is I couldn't play it for more than 1 hour when I tried to show it to friends (I tried twice but failed to make them interested for more than an hour).

The problem was because Descent had a lot of things to learn, that's over whelming for new people. Even I not sure how to play Descent until this day. I am still finding a good (2+) board game that is Fun, EASY TO LEARN (important), fast to get to, beautiful props and an interesting setting. So, my question is; would Talisman fill that role? would it interest my friends? is the game hard to understand? how long is the average game? what's the goal of the game and what's fun about it? (in MTO the fun was in building your deck and creating your strategy; what's fun about Talisman?).

Thank you!

In my experience Talisman works on any group really, the question is only for how many games. Its a great casual game which has no strategy at all, its a roll and move game after all. For me the theme, design and artwork of the new edition is alone good enough reason to play it. When u play with more then 3 people and at least one havent played it before it can take up to 2-3h and that can be somewhat tiering. At the same time its more fun with more player because of all the backstabbing. The random elements of the game makes it not too popular to people which likes strategy, still if they like fantasy and rollplaying games, they should enjoy this game for some time cause the theme does that good of a job.

+ Alot of backstabbing
+ Lots of expansions
+ Theme and design is amazing
- Luck determines allmost everything
- So, its slow when playing with many (goes really fast after a couple of games)

I am not one to be taken in by a pretty face, hence the look of game is last on the list of considerations. That being said, Talisman leans toward the modern boardgame paradigms of easy to play, very little to any strategy, dominant randomness, and can actually be learned as it is played. The last point will likely produce some mistakes to be discovered later, but not many, who cares if you're having fun. Soon enough the minutia of the rules will be acquired by all. In essence, its underpinnings are very much those of a non genre boardgame, thereby appealing to people who are not even fantasy enthusiasts.

In that, it will likely fulfill you stated desires and appeal better than Descent to the group you hint at.

Thank you JCHendee and Maldrok for your input.

After watching some YouTube reviews I think Talisman is going to lure my friends in!