Customer Reviews

Cosmic Encounter

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is an interesting strategy game that pits different alien races against one another in a quest for galactic supremacy. The aspect that makes it somewhat unusual is that each alien persona (i.e. player) has a special power. Depending on the different combinations of powers, the dynamic of the game changes and the players' strategies must change accordingly. Lots of possible combinations keeps things interesting. The ability to forge alliances between players and gang-up on common foes adds another dimension. Lots of fun and a good interactive alternative to video or computer games, especially for boys in their 'tweens. Mom and Dad like it too.

I gave this a low educational rating because there's not a lot of information/knowledge transmitted. However, it is very good for teaching strategic thinking, so perhaps it deserves more stars in that category after all.

As in Risk, your goal is to grab territory, specifically to establish colonies outside your own solar system. Battles for territory combine Risk and the card game War, since you put a certain number of ships (armies) at risk as well as show a card from your deck--your strength is the combination of ships at risk plus the face value of your attack card. Plus any allies.

Unless of course you choose to negotiate.

Thanks to the Alien cards (unique powers), the strategy changes with every game, a boon to learning and fun. Macron sounds like a great power--every ship is worth 4!--until it goes up against Anti-Matter, where the lower total wins. Advanced players will want to distribute 2 powers to each player, for even more interesting games. It's a shame they only issued 20 powers in this version--the original has many more. (Why isn't there a booster pack?)

Speaking of shortchanging, why only 4 players in this version? Six (old version) is even more fun, thanks to ever-shifting alliances. And alliances really mean something--real rewards: colonization, extra cards (ammunition), and real losses (ships).

Same goal evey game, but a totally different strategy every time. It takes a few games to 'get' it, but once you do you'll never grow tired of it.

I've been searching for this game for years and now it has been reworked and reprinted by Avalon Hill. Like most multiplayer games it is funner with four players. The object of the game is to get five colonies outside of your own system. Every player has one of twenty special alien powers that influence the game. These powers are definitely not balanced but they do make for interesting combinations. Once you learn the rules you can play a game in 30-60 minutes.
Hopefully Avalon hill will release expansions in the future that add more alien powers and players.

I first played this game when I was a teenager over 20 years ago. We would play the game through the night switching aliens and seeing which aliens would win against other aliens. Often the most powerful aliens who we thought should win would not and the ones that seemed to be the weakest would. The play balance is great.

The story is easy. Each player assumes an alien with a special power and tries to take over enough planets to win the game. Along the way the players can make or break alliances. The rules are easy and the aliens are fanciful. I have played the game now with my family and it has stood the test of time. Now if they would only add all the expansion sets of the old game we would be set.

This version is by far the worst version of the game. Still, it's CE, so it's fun if you don't have access to the other versions and are willing to pay the overblown price. This version is pretty, which is its only good point. The rules were changed poorly, and this version is set up to prevent any possibility of expansion...a major flaw in Cosmic Encounters. Even the tokens (ships) though pretty, are bulky and oversized. The artwork was a substantial improvement over the Mayfair version, but for me, a long term Cosmic Encounter fan, its multitude of careless flaws made the game less enjoyable. I do not recommend this version. I imagine only a collector would want this one. I threw mine in the trash and dusted off my old Mayfair version. The new Cosmic Encounter from Fantasy Flight is distantly superior and much less expensive, as is every other version.

I must admit that I'm biased, as I have been playing the Mayfair Games version of CE along with its expansion for about ten years now. The old game allowed six people to play at a time and had close to 80 powers when you added the expansion pack. While it got a bit unruly, it was a blast. I must admit that the new plastic spaceships that stack are nice, and the board artwork is good, but still. . .

While this game is kind of obscure, it's a HUGE amount of fun! Pick an Alien race (each one gets its own unique power), and conquer enemy territories! It's fun, dynamic, moves fast, and is extremely well conceptualized. Everyone should play!

The thing that is cool about Cosmic is that it really is DIFFERENT everytime you play it. The alien powers that you become let you gain a great advantage over the other players. But of course they have their own power over you. you are always surprised by the outcome of a cosmic game. You can even try it online first before you buy, at cosmic encouter online.