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Weekly Trash - Cosmic Encounter
- ChristopherMD
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- Away
- Road Warrior
I've only played this game once, and that was several years ago when I first got into board gaming as a regular thing. I recall not being all that impressed with it and not thinking much of the theme (Zombies as an alien race?). I know this game has had a lot of influence in the industry and I appreciate those influences, but I also like some of the games it influenced better than CE.
So what's so great about Cosmic Encounter? Is it worthy of the praise it still receives? Or is that all nostalgia coupled with respect for the impact its had? I've read a few good table-flipping stories about it in the past. Got any sessions that are still remembered fondly you'd like to share?
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The Philanthropist has the power to save other people's guys in exchange for drawing cards from the deck. This seemed weak to us at first, of course, until the game in which the philanthropist almost literally had the ENTIRE deck in his hand. The only cards he didn't have were the cards in our measly hands. The game then became a scramble to be the first one to draw whatever card the Philanthropist used (and therefore discarded and immediately became the entire deck). So he spent the first half or so saving all our guys and drawing all the cards, and then spent the second half using his discards as a bartering device.
Rules-wise, the game completely fell apart: all kinds of things were coming up that were not even remotely covered in the rules. A power had been COMPLETELY abused to the point where we weren't even sure if we could technically finish the game. I'm sure a lot of BGGers, after that game, would have called it "broken".
Well, duh. MOST of the powers are broken.
The diplomatic part is probably my favorite part of Cosmic Encounter, and there's lots of things I love about it. But the fact that the game isn't afraid of EXTERMELY game-changing powers, instead of the truly wussy-in-comparison powers of Twilight Imperium, is what I love about Cosmic Encounter.
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- Michael Barnes
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- Mountebank
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All that variety is bought with that volatility. And that's a pretty good bargain as far as I'm concerned. I've played games of COSMIC that just sucked. Not because the system is bad, the mechanics are broken, or whatever but because a player didn't get it, a combination of powers didn't work quite right, or because I just wasn't in the right mood for it.
The last time we played Robert Martin complained the whole time that the game wasn't as good as DUNE. That DUNE was a better version of CE and that there's no reason to play CE when you can play DUNE. I think that's crazy talk- DUNE is a more controlled, structured, and (dare I say it) refined iteration of ideas that came out of CE and with a stronger, centralized theme. But it's a vastly different game. Both are brilliant, DUNE is probably the best game ever published, but I've played games of CE that are better than any game of DUNE I've ever played.
Is it essential AT? Abso-fucking-lutely.
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The game (like a lot of AT games) is player dependent. If you're into it though and are even a little bit of a wheeler dealer then it can be insanely fun.
the new AH cosmic encouter is a cleaned up (and much tamer) version of the others, runs about 45 minutes, and accomidates only four. Frank GameGuru Branham said he prefered it to the older versions and after many plays of both I reluctantly have to agree with him becuse it takes a lot of the fiddlyness out of the game.
It also takes out some of the crazyier powers, cosmic eidicts and some of things that make the game wacky. Worst of all...no Snivelers. "I have fewer bases than than anyone else, All my ships are in the warp..you still have lots of your ships...I don't have an attack card over 15"
Best Power Evah!
Steve"The power to Whine"Avery
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- Michael Barnes
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The trick is getting people into the structure of the wheeling and dealing though...for some reason, some people (Robert Martin) just can't come to terms with the incentive-based negotiation and I think the way the game balances out tit-for-tat dealings sort of makes people miss the point that it's about determining how close you're willing to let other players get to winning to get ahead yourself.
The AH edition of CE was unfairly lambasted just because it didn't have all the expansions and a lot of internet complainers made it seem like if you were playing it then you were somehow missing 90% of the game or something. Which is nonsense. The AH edition is a great, streamlined version of the game that plays exactly the same as any other. The big downside to me is that it only supports four, but four is actually the best number for the game in terms of giving you the full CE experience without going too long or without a lot of clutter. The production value is FAR beyond the hopelessly ugly Mayfair version and the selection of powers is right on the money for what this edition needed to be.
It sounds like the FFG version is going to split the difference between the AH version and the all-or-nothing Mayfair one...
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EDIT: they are up again (for now)
www.boardgamegeek.com/viewcollections.ph...ting&dir=-1&pageID=3
Kevin Wilson: "This game took awhile to grow on me, but once I played it several times, I found that I really enjoyed the ebb and flow of it, not to mention the enormous variety of alien powers. I probably only use about 50 races when we play, to cut down on the wackier elements, but it's still tremendous fun and I'd never turn down a game."
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Well, as the wielder of an actual Philanthropist avatar here, I'm forced to point out ... that ain't Philanthropist's power.The Philanthropist has the power to save other people's guys in exchange for drawing cards from the deck.
Philanthropist does not get to draw from the deck. His power is the ability to give a card to either the offensive or defensive player (if Phil. is an ally) or to give a card to his direct opponent (if Phil. is the offensive or defensive player). Due to Phil. constantly giving away cards (or, at least good CE players recognize that Phil. should be giving away cards pretty much around the clock), his hand size actually tends to be small.
It sounds like you might be remembering a different alien power. If not, then ... well, you pretty much played it wrong.
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I prefer to add in a lot of the options like negative cards... kickers etc.
This is the game I am most looking forward to being released this year.
-M
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Kevin Wilson's Fury of Dracula -- revamp (heh)
Kevin Wilson's Cosmic Encounter -- ???
Hypothetical question: Would it be a mistake if FFG doesn't opt for a faithful reprint and instead re-imagines it as they did with these other games?
On the one hand, CE is already a beloved game that people wanted back in print as is. On the other hand, I think few people here would argue that Wilson didn't do a fantastic job with AH and FoD.
The reason I ask is that Valley Games is simultaneously reprinting the classic Titan and only making cosmetic changes. Now, I haven't played CE or Titan, and I'm not sure which upcoming release I'm more excited for: the one that's definitely faithful to the classic source that will enable me to experience some of the history of AT that I've missed, or the one that may be a great game after Kevin is done with it, but one that might be a lot different than the older versions.
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Healer, maybe? (gets cards for "healing" other players' ships out of the warp).Yeah, I'm not sure who I was thinking of, then...
gcbrowni wrote:
Hey, don't we all have one game we've just played the hell out of ... like 10,000 times too many?Jesus, there's no escaping the Dukester!
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