Board Game Reviews #8: Cosmic Encounter
Oh my god... WE ARE THE ALIENS!
Cosmic Encounter is a 3 to 5 player game that is sort of like a cross between Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy and Guardians of the Galaxy made into a board game. Featuring 50 alien races, colorful ships and planets, and a barrel of laughs, it's unlike any game you've ever played before or will play again.
And, probably, it's the best board game ever made. Did I mention that?
How to Conquer the Galaxy or It's All About the Aliens
The brilliance of Cosmic Encounter is all in the aliens. At the beginning of each game you randomly choose two from the pile, unbeknownst to all the other players. When you've all chosen you turn them over, revealing your alien.
Every alien has a power. Some of these powers are simple to use, like the Macron who has each of their ships worth 4 instead of 1 when they attack. Others are harder to use, like the Loser, who wins encounters when they lose them, and loses them when they win. Because each alien's power is so wildly different, each game is utterly unique. And though the powers don't always feel fair, you often find that the person who everyone thought was sure to win gets annihilated and the underdog comes out on top.
Encounters of the Cosmic Kind
And this is part of what makes Cosmic Encounter so hilariously fun. Each turn, the player whose turn it is draws from a special deck called the Destiny Deck in order to find out which player they'll be encountering (denoted by the color of the card - each player is the color of their alien ships and planets regardless of what alien they chose - there are also wild cards and cards with special rules in the destiny deck, but never mind that for now). When you draw from the Destiny Deck you must have an encounter with that player.
Encountering another player means deciding to either attack them or negotiate with them. You can talk with them all you like, but your encounter cards are placed face down and you flip them at the same time. This leads to all sorts of hilariousness and betrayal, because if someone plays an attack card against a negotiate card, the negotiate card always loses. If both players play an attack card, the higher attack card wins (attack encounter cards have numbers on them). If both play a negotiate card, the players must negotiate a deal within one minute, meaning either cards or colonies have to exchange hands.
Rule With an Iron Fist... Or a Squishy Tentacle, Depending
At the start of the game each player chooses planets and ships of the same color. The goal of the game is to negotiate or force your way into getting 5 foreign colonies. If you manage to, you win. But it's easier said than done. There's nothing more bitterly funny than seeing a friend get to four foreign colonies, only for you and the rest of your friends to gang up on them or take away one of their colonies?
How can you "gang up" if each encounter is determined by the Destiny Deck? How can you take away colonies? As far as grouping up on other players, well, that's what allies are for. You see, when an encounter happens each side can ask for other players to be allies. More funny memorable moments as people who are pissed off at you for attacking them when you said you'd negotiate pile together to try to destroy you. Even more hilarious when they totally fail. You can take away colonies from others by attacking their colony on your planet when you draw your own color form the Destiny Deck.
If this game doesn't sound amazing, it's only because you haven't experienced players playing their aliens and using their powers in concert. The game has been around a long time, and it plays surprisingly smooth and simple considering that the number of combinations is quite large.
Cosmic Encounter may well be the best board game created to date, it's certainly the best in my collection. Give it a try and try and go where no man has gone before.
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