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(More customer reviews)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.
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Build a galactic empire...In the depths of space, the alien races of the Cosmos vie with each other for control of the universe. Alliances form and shift from moment to moment, while cataclysmic battles send starships screaming into the warp. Players choose from dozens of alien races, each with its own unique power to further its efforts to build an empire that spans the galaxy. Many classic aliens from earlier editions of this beloved game return, such as the Oracle, the Loser, and the Clone. Newly discovered aliens also join the fray, including Remora, Mite, and Tick-Tock. This classic game of alien politics returns from the warp once more. It features 50 alien races, flare cards to boost their powers, 100 plastic ships, a host of premium components, and all-new tech cards that let players research and build extraordinary technological marvels! No two games are the same! Cosmic Encounter includes: Rulebook, 1 Warp, 5 Player Colony Markers, 1 Hyperspace Gate, 25 Player Planets (5 per player), 100 Plastic Ships (20 per player), 50 Alien Sheets, 20 Destiny Cards, 72 Cosmic Cards, 50 Flare Cards, 40 Tech Cards, 42 Cosmic Cards, 7 Grudge Tokens, 1 Genesis Planet, 1 Lunar Cannon Token, 1 Prometheus Token, 1 Alternate Filch Flare
