15th May 2024

TALISMAN GOES FREE-TO-PLAY

Hey Talisman fans!

Today we’re excited to announce that we’re going to be making Talisman: Digital Edition free to download and keep on Steam, GOG and mobile devices as of May 23rd!

Over the 10+ years since we originally launched Talisman: Digital Edition, the game has gone on to become a favourite for millions of players across the globe. We’re hoping that making the base game of Talisman: Digital Edition free-to-play will introduce the game to a whole new wave of future Talisman fans.

We’re rolling out this announcement to make sure we gave players an advanced warning that this change is going to happen. If you’ve already bought the game on Steam within the last week, you can automatically refund it via Steam Support, for example!

We also figured that a lot of you would have questions about this change, so we’ve put together a comprehensive FAQ that should hopefully answer any questions you might have! If anything hasn’t been covered, you can reach out to us on all the different places we are online!

Talisman: Digital Edition - Free to Play FAQ

Why are you doing this?

Talisman: Digital Edition has been out for more than 10 years at this point, and over the years we’ve occasionally offered the game for free - either through giveaways or temporary free-to-keep periods on mobile. We’ve also had a close look at how players tend to play Talisman: Digital Edition, and we think that lowering the barrier to entry for the base game will bring in a whole new wave of players, and leave us in a better position to support Talisman going forward.

What changes can I expect to see once Talisman: Digital Edition is free-to-play?

Very little! We might make a bit more use out of the news section on the main menu to direct you towards cool stuff we’re working on here at Nomad Games, but other than that the Talisman: Digital Edition experience is going to stay the same as it was!

What features/content will be available for free, and what will I need to buy?

You’ll be able to play with the Talisman: Digital Edition base game, and we’re not going to put anything behind a paywall that was previously already in the base game. So you’ll still be able to play online, single-player against AI and access your Nomad Account. 

Will there be any in-game advantages for players who previously purchased Talisman?

Absolutely not. As random as Talisman can be, it’s important that everyone is treated fairly and have exactly the same odds of success or failure. This applies to dice rolls, card draws and everything else in the game. No player will ever be given an advantage over another in Talisman: Digital Edition, no matter if they’ve previously purchased the game or are a free-to-play player.

I am a player who paid for the game before it goes free. Do I get my money back/do I get anything for paying for it?

Talisman: Digital Edition has been out for over 10 years now, has been given away for free multiple times and also been in multiple game bundles, leading to the price for the base game (especially if you want to grab a Steam key) being very, very low. We’re still going to look into giving out something special for people who previously bought the game, but we’re still figuring out exactly what that might/would look like.

While we’re aware that it can be frustrating to have something you paid for be made available for free later, we’re hoping that between your purchase of Talisman: Digital Edition and May 23rd, you feel like the game provided you enough entertainment to justify your purchase.

Will there be ads or other interruptions in the free-to-play version?

Nope! We’re not going to make you wait, sit through ads or anything else annoying when you play Talisman: Digital Edition.

Will there be any restrictions or limitations for free players compared to paid players?

There will not be! If you’ve just picked up Talisman: Digital Edition for free and your friend has had Talisman: Digital Edition sitting in their Steam library since 2014, you’ll both have access to exactly the same game. The only difference will be your own access to expansions, characters and legendary decks based on what extra content you’ve purchased.

Does this mean you’re going to add microtransactions to the game?

We’re not planning on adding any microtransactions to Talisman: Digital Edition. You’ll still be able to purchase expansions, characters and Legendary Decks as you’ve been since the game launched - we’re not adding anything extra or hiding anything new behind a paywall.

Will there be any incentives for players to spend money in the game?

Aside from what we’ve already had in the game for ages? Nope! You can still pick up expansions, characters, runestones and Legendary Decks if you want, but we’re not adding any extra incentives or anything that gives you an advantage over other players for money.

Will there be any changes to multiplayer or matchmaking?

We’re anticipating that the move to free-to-play will increase the number of average active players in online multiplayer, so we’re going to be keeping an eye on our online servers to ensure they can handle the increased load. Other than that, we’re not making any changes to how multiplayer and online games function in Talisman: Digital Edition.

Will the game still be available on the same platforms?

We’re not going to be removing Talisman: Digital Edition from any storefronts, so anywhere you could get Talisman previously, you’ll still be able to get it.

We are planning on stopping support for the Mac version of Talisman: Digital Edition at some point soon in the future, but this isn’t actually anything to do with Talisman going free-to-play. This is due to the extremely low player counts for the Mac version (less than 1.5%!) and changes that Apple have made when it comes to making games work on Mac.

We’re not going to be taking away access to the Mac version of Talisman: Digital Edition though - we’re just not going to be rolling out any future updates for it.

Are you going to be releasing more expansions for Talisman: Digital Edition then?

We’re not planning on releasing any more expansions for Talisman: Digital Edition at this time. We know there is a big demand for new Talisman content, don’t worry! We’re working behind the scenes to see what exciting things we can bring to you all.

Is the game still going to get patches?

Yes it will! Our plan is to continue releasing patches for Talisman: Digital Edition that fix bugs, improve stability and overall make the game a better experience for you all.

Will this change how expansion sharing works?

It will not! For anyone who doesn’t know, in Talisman: Digital Edition only one player in an online lobby needs to own an expansion for it to be usable in that game by everyone. So if you own all the expansions and just want to play them online with your friends who own nothing Talisman, they can download the base game and play along with you!

Is Talisman going to be free on console?

Right now, the Nintendo Switch and PlayStation versions of Talisman: Digital Edition come with the base game and a bundle of fan-favourite expansions. Originally, we did this to offer more value to console players when they bought the game.

Now that we’re making this move to free-to-play though, it’s put us in a rather awkward position - we can’t make the base game free on those platforms without also making those bundled expansions free too. So right now, our plan is to permanently drop the price of Talisman: Digital Edition on Nintendo Switch and PlayStation to only account for the expansions that come bundled with the game on those platforms.

The Xbox version of the game can be purchased separately, but there are extra steps we need to take to make the game available for free on that platform - so we’re going to keep working towards that, and appreciate your patience in the meantime!

I have an unredeemed Steam key for Talisman: Digital Edition, what would happen when I redeem it?

Not much! Steam does keep track of your key redemptions, and redeeming a key will mean you’ll be marked as an owner of Talisman: Digital Edition - Retail Key. This will mean you have access to Talisman: Digital Edition, but so does everyone else once the game goes free - so the end result is the same.

Won’t this mean that there will be more griefers and cheaters?

We’re going to be keeping an extra close eye on how people play Talisman: Digital Edition online once we make the transition to free-to-play. The good news is that we’ve already had 10+ years of people trying to be rude to each other via Talisman. We’ve managed to get a pretty good handle on how to stop people from being mean to each other, so they’ll have to find somewhere else to shout at random strangers on the internet. (We’ve heard X is pretty good for that…)

And that’s the end of the FAQ! Like we said before, if anything hasn’t been covered, you can reach out to us on all the different places we are online!