Customer Reviews

Cosmic Encounter

5 star:		(15)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Cosmic Encounter was first created by an obscure, small-run publisher. In 1977.

Fantasy Flight is the game's fourth publisher.

That alone should tell you how much this game rocks. Any other game would have died off by now.

Thankfully, Fantasy Flight Games has been buying up licenses to out-of-print classics and re-releasing them using their high production values.

The result is an immensely satisfying game that should bring a smile to hard-core Cosmic fans and newcomers alike.

The basic premise of Cosmic is that each player assumes the role of an alien civilization and tries to land their ships on five different planets belonging to other players.

The core mechanic of the game ([total ships on each side + a numeric card], highest total wins the encounter) is easy to understand, yet has endless possibilities for tactics, diplomacy, or out-and-out strangeness.

By far the two strongest aspects of this game's offense vs. defense encounter are these:
1) Allies: No matter whose turn it is, any player has the opportunity to be involved in the current encounter. None of this "is it my turn?" monotony of other games. You always have something to do. "Do I risk getting involved?" "Can I afford to help defend?"

The opportunities for diplomacy/negotiation are endless - and the ally rules ensure that nobody is a wall-flower.

2) Random destiny: In the vast majority of encounters - who attacks who is determined randomly. This does not adversely affect tactics and (more importantly) cuts down on hurt feelings. While there are plenty of ways to mess with other players, when you do get attacked - the game's mechanic is to blame.

Any true fan of this game loves the endless variety it offers - each player has an alien power that allows them to break the rules in a limited way. Different powers will collide in unique ways and since there are 50 different alien powers you are unlikely to see the same combinations twice.

Example 1: the normal rules say players start with four ships on each of their planets, but the alien called Macron has all of their ships count as 4 ships. so attacking a Macron planet, you find yourself facing the equivalent of 16 ships instead of 4. Advantage: Macron.

Example 2: the normal rules say that in an encounter, the side with the highest total (ships + encounter card) wins. The alien called Anti-Matter reverses this - and so when Anti-Matter is attacking or defending, the lowest total wins.

Combine those two examples and you have Anti-Matter attacking the Macrons with one ship while the Macrons are wishing their ships were like everyone else's.

And the craziness just goes on from there - that's barely a taste of the variety you will see when you play.

Component wise - FF has done us all a solid. Plastic flying saucer pieces that stack, quality cardboard pieces with gorgeous art, special cards with instructional text (helping new players and veterans alike).

Cosmic was always a game that begged to be supplemented and FF has provided a good jumping off point (50 aliens, instead of the 100+ that existed in earlier versions).

Expansions are undoubtedly in the works - and the components have been built to support this. The destiny cards have special graphics for Hazards (which are not in this game) - and the planet tokens have a different graphic on each side, something that will doubtless support some diabolical new rule whenever FF gets around to publishing expansion #1.

The sticker price is daunting - and I hope new players aren't put off by it too much. This is a game that is well made and a lot of fun - it's worth the money. Players who are afraid of lots of rules should not be afraid of Cosmic, but they should be aware that the rules as written will almost always mutate in bizarre (and entertaining) ways.

E.g. Players are allowed to "Cosmic Zap" or negate a player's power. In the example I gave earlier (Anti matter vs. Macron) the enterprising Macron player who finds themselves losing by ten or so will Cosmic Zap themselves (changing their ship total from 16 to 4) and allowing them to score less than Anti-Matter - and therefore win. The Anti-Matter player (if they were especially fiendish and had the card) would also zap their own power (making the lower total a losing total) and would win because their total was now higher than Macron's total!

Bizarre - but fun! When was the last time a boardgame surprised you?

Cosmic will show you something new in pretty much every session.

I've been playing Cosmic since my teenage years. I'm now in my 40s and have introduced my own teenage children to the game. There are many version of the game of varying quality and with slightly different rules. This version is one of the best, probably second only to the long out of print and incredibly expensive Eon version.

This is the game that inspired Magic the Gathering. The goal of the game is to establish colonies in other players' star systems. It is very easy to learn how to play, one practice game lasting 15 minutes is usually all it takes. What makes the game brilliant is the alien powers, each of which allows you to break one of the rules of the game. The result is a game that is different every time you play. This is a social game that requires lots of interaction between players. Social skills are just as important as strategy. Rarely can a player bully his way to a win. Teens can play with other teens. Parents can play with their children. Most amazingly, parents can play with their teenage children and their children's teenage friends. There are not many games where that can happen.

This version is scaleable. Players may chose to play one of the basic rule sets or add some or all of the various expansion sets that are included. These add to the complexity of the game.

I often buy this game as a gift for others in an attempt to spread the word about this most amazing game.

Cosmic Encounter was first created in by an obscure, small-run publisher. In 1977.

Fantasy Flight is the game's fourth publisher.

That alone should tell you how much this game rocks. Any other game would have died off by now.

Thankfully, Fantasy Flight Games has been buying up licenses to out-of-print classics and re-releasing them using their high production values.

The result is an immensely satisfying game that should bring a smile to hard-core Cosmic fans and newcomers alike.

The basic premise of Cosmic is that each player assumes the role of an alien civilization and tries to land their ships on five different planets belonging to other players.

The core mechanic of the game ([total ships on each side + a numeric card], highest total wins the encounter) is easy to understand, yet has endless possibilities for tactics, diplomacy, or out-and-out strangeness.

By far the two strongest aspects of this game's offense vs. defense encounter are these:
1) Allies: No matter whose turn it is, any player has the opportunity to be involved in the current encounter. None of this "is it my turn?" monotony of other games. You always have something to do. "Do I risk getting involved?" "Can I afford to help defend?"

The opportunities for diplomacy/negotiation are endless - and the ally rules ensure that nobody is a wall-flower.

2) Random destiny: In the vast majority of encounters - who attacks who is determined randomly. This does not adversely affect tactics and (more importantly) cuts down on hurt feelings. While there are plenty of ways to mess with other players, when you do get attacked - the game's mechanic is to blame.

Any true fan of this game loves the endless variety it offers - each player has an alien power that allows them to break the rules in a limited way. Different powers will collide in unique ways and since there are 50 different alien powers you are unlikely to see the same combinations twice.

Example 1: the normal rules say players start with four ships on each of their planets, but the alien called Macron has all of their ships count as 4 ships. so attacking a Macron planet, you find yourself facing the equivalent of 16 ships instead of 4. Advantage: Macron.

Example 2: the normal rules say that in an encounter, the side with the highest total (ships + encounter card) wins. The alien called Anti-Matter reverses this - and so when Anti-Matter is attacking or defending, the lowest total wins.

Combine those two examples and you have Anti-Matter attacking the Macrons with one ship while the Macrons are wishing their ships were like everyone else's.

And the craziness just goes on from there - that's barely a taste of the variety you will see when you play.

Component wise - FF has done us all a solid. Plastic flying saucer pieces that stack, quality cardboard pieces with gorgeous art, special cards with instructional text (helping new players and veterans alike).

Cosmic was always a game that begged to be supplemented and FF has provided a good jumping off point (50 aliens, instead of the 100+ that existed in earlier versions).

Expansions are undoubtedly in the works - and the components have been built to support this. The destiny cards have special graphics for Hazards (which are not in this game) - and the planet tokens have a different graphic on each side, something that will doubtless support some diabolical new rule whenever FF gets around to publishing expansion #1.

The sticker price is daunting - and I hope new players aren't put off by it too much. This is a game that is well made and a lot of fun - it's worth the money. Players who are afraid of lots of rules should not be afraid of Cosmic, but they should be aware that the rules as written will almost always mutate in bizarre (and entertaining) ways.

E.g. Players are allowed to "Cosmic Zap" or negate a player's power. In the example I gave earlier (Anti matter vs. Macron) the enterprising Macron player who finds themselves losing by ten or so will Cosmic Zap themselves (changing their ship total from 16 to 4) and allowing them to score less than Anti-Matter - and therefore win. The Anti-Matter player (if they were especially fiendish and had the card) would also zap their own power (making the lower total a losing total) and would win because their total was now higher than Macron's total!

Bizarre - but fun! When was the last time a boardgame surprised you?

Cosmic will show you something new in pretty much every session.

I began playing Cosmic Encounter many, many years ago, when the creators introduced it as a Beta program at the science fiction convention, Boskone. Back then, there were less aliens, less rules, but more than its share of enthusiasm.

Once, I was up almost all night with some fellow enthisiasts at a con, and at about 3 in the morning, the Diplomat managed a multi way tie for the win, allowing us all to go to our rooms and bed.

I still have my old game, but I'll be getting this version in order to preserve the old one. It brings back a lot of good memories!

First Off, kudos to Fantasy Flight for putting out a superior product; The playing cards are printed on the highest quality stock & the Alien plackards are very sturdy with terrific artwork that really sparks the imagination, but it's the game play of Cosmic Encounter that really shines. That's why the game has survived to be republished for the 5th time since it first debuted in 1977. The movie Star Wars first came out in that same year, and I like most people who saw the film was especially intrigued by all the weird aliens who populated the Cantina in that now famous scene. Who were they? What were their stories? The movie didn't satisfactorily answer those questions, but this game in it's own way attempts to. In C.E. each player takes on the role of one of 50 Alien personalities provided in the game; Each possessing their own unique powers & abilities. The first player to colonize 5 planets outside of his own system wins. C.E. is one of those games that's easy to learn, but difficult to master; For that reason, it has a wide appeal that will challenge a harder core gaming crowd, without scaring away the more casual gamers. It also does something that is rare among strategy games; The Ladies enjoy it as much as the guys. Men are attracted to the competition & the strategic decision making aspects of the game; The Gals like the social interactions and the emotions that they inspire. C.E. is a game that will bring families & friends together to play time & time again as no two games are ever exactly alike. There's plenty of room for Fantasy Flight to offer future expansions as the previous companies published over 100 aliens & numerous other aspects. So for the price you'd pay for another Console Video Game disk that let's face it; When you boil them all down, they just offer you another linear, scripted story experience, or a mindless shooting gallery that leaves you with blood shot eyes and a little closer to a Carpal Tunnel diagnosis. You can instead own a Great Classic Game that actually brings people together in an escape to an ever changing universe of fun & challenge that they'll never tire of visiting!

This is an extremely fun game. It takes a lot of the stress out of other games where you have to decide who you attack (i.e. Risk, etc.). This really comes in handy when playing with sensitive people, non-competitive people, or your spouse ("Sorry honey! Gotta do what the card says!")

But the BEST part of this game is that NO two games are EVER the same... the random alien powers make sure of that, and MAN are they fun to play! I got a alien power called "Filtch" once, which allows you to steal any cards / ships you want. My heart was RACING each time I snag a bunch of cards from the draw pile. I would also ask people if I could see their cards after a battle and while they were talking about the battle, I would just put the best of the cards into my hand and throw the rest in the discard pile. I never laughed so hard during a board game once they found out!!! Their faces were priceless!!

Highly recommended!!

This game was once released in Portuguese in Brazil in early 80's, I've played it a lot and had a very important influence in the kind of games I started to play.

All other games like the Brazilian version of Monopoly, Clue or Risk, started to seem very boring, after playing the Cosmic Encounter. So I've started to play RPG.

The game is the top rating board game I've ever played. The mechanics is simple, the use of cards to solve the combats are full of options, there are many surprises, no session is boring, the now huge list of powers gives the game a fantastic number of options to play.

Cosmic Encounter is another great game that takes the right group of people playing it to make it fun. The mechanics of the game allow for very unbalanced races to play each other (on purpose) and left up to the players to balance it out via diplomacy. If you are playing with a mix of gamers and non-gamers, this game will lend itself to being pretty random and not alot of fun. BUT, with a group of people that normally play alot of board games and can identify the stronger players/races quick enough, this game can be incredibly fun. I did not play the versions of this game before this release, but I am glad I gave it a try.

I've bought pretty much every release of Cosmic Encounter ever published, even the ones released in Europe. Most have been disappointing and uninspired, with the exception of the Eon and Mayfair versions. Eon took a few small expansions to get better but by the time they were done (9 expansions) man it's hard to beat. Mayfair put out a decent version of the game but but it's basic game had less powers and cheaper components than Fantasy Flight's version. The Fantasy Flight version may be the best release out of the box yet.

I've always liked the strategy of Eon but the fun and flexibility of Mayfair. I could play either version on any given day. Fantasy Flight has seemingly melded the best aspects of those two into something even better.
We've played a couple of weeks now and haven't had a rules or timing conflict arise yet. Powers seemed to be better balanced and clearer about when and what they do than in prior releases. They must have really playtested this one. The new Tech addition is better than I had thought it would be as well.
In fact the only real issue we have with the game is where is the first expansion at? I want more powers! Oh and lucre, reversed cones, and maybe even moons.

Best board game I own.

Gameplay is always different because of the many possible combinations of alien races. Every game you have to adjust and come up with new tactics. You can play it with adults or kids, it turns out pretty balanced that way...