Cosmic Encounter Review
Cosmic Encounter Review
Life on Earth is too turbulent, so let’s go to intergalactic worlds that are light years away!
Pack your space suit, oxygen and quick quick thinking to defeat your extraterrestrial opponents as you compete in establishing your extraterrestrial race at cosmic speed. Here we will tell you all the secrets of planetary domination! * show evil laughter *.
Let's dive into our Cosmic Encounter review!
A brief overview of the cosmic encounter
The Pandemic Galactic Brother, Cosmic Encounter, operates with a high replayability and more user-friendly features as players try to spread their extraterrestrial race far and wide.
Infect your opponent's home planets by playing your cards correctly, lying and overplaying a bit. Since this is an outdoor space , new rules apply - in your battles, any player can join you, and opponents can call their alliances to defend.
There is a decent chance that you will win alongside your ally in the space world, or disappear if you are colonized by invading the genetic funds of aliens.
Unpacking Cosmic Encounter
The Sci-Fi Art game adorns the Cosmic Encounter set of boxes and decks as you open and begin unpacking layers of piles of maps, boards, and home bases of your future alien family. Together in the box you will find:
- Rules
- 1 Deformation
- 1 Hyperspace door
- 50 Alien sheets
- 50 flare cards
- 1 replacement beam Filch
- 72 cosmic maps
- 20 technical cards
- 42 cosmic tokens
- 7 tokens of resentment
- 1 Genesis Planet
- 1 token of the Lunar Canon
- 1 Prometheus token
- 100 plastic ships
- Colony marks for 5 players
- Planets for 25 players
- 20 cards of fortune
The whole quality seems to be made on Mars - and for all of you, the people out there - that means it’s top notch! Folding pieces of UFOs are functional and cute as they are used as poker chips in your galactic agenda. Card decks are organized, from large to small kits, which are made of thicker card materials.
The quality of the components is in line with the usually high quality expected from the Fantastic Flight Games . The action maps could have been a little more detailed, but the text on these has been cropped up compared to the longer taste text on the alien maps.
The components are extensive and beautifully detailed . I especially liked the art of aliens and their personal special acts. One of the special powers of the alien was to replace the loser and the winner of the role , the Strategic Little Gremlins!
- BUILD A GALACTIC EMPIRE: In the depths of space, aliens ...
- SCI-FI ADVENTURE GAME: This game of interstellar exploration, ...
- STRATEGY GAME: Every planet is ruled by someone and the only way ...
How to play Cosmic Encounter
Set-Up
To begin your quest for galactic conquest, start by choosing a color representation of your extraterrestrial race. Catch 20 ships and five planets of your chosen color and stack parts of UFOs in piles of four on your five home planets.
Shuffle your cards into Destiny Deck and place the Warp and Hyperspace gates on the same player range. You will then deal two Flare cards to each player, allowing players to choose their alien sheet. Ten flare cards are shuffled into the cosmic deck, all players get a hand with 8 cards and the race is over!
Stages of conversion
When you play Cosmic Encounter, the turn is divided into eight phases:
- Start Turn
Violating players start the round by looking for a meeting card in their hands: attack, negotiation, or transformation. If a player does not hold the meeting card, he must discard the whole hand and pick it back up to 8 cards.
- combined
At this stage, the offending player catches one of his ships back from Warp and places it on a pile of foreign or domestic colonies.
- Destiny
The offender draws the top card of the Destiny kit to see which opponent he will face in battle. There are three types of destiny cards: wild, colored and special cards.
- Startup
The Destiny tab will dictate which color planets an attacker can target during the launch phase. The player who violates must direct the Hyperspace door to the chosen planet and decide how many ships he will assign for this conquest. In case the offense pulls the colors of their planet, they can re-draw or fight against an alien colony in the area of their home planet.
- Alliance
Call on your extraterrestrial siblings to unite with you in defensive and offensive attacks. The offense can first invite players individually, and then the defense can call their space partnerships. It is important to note that players cannot accept an invitation until it comes to them in a clockwise direction. There is also no need to accept the invitation.
- Planning
Now only the main striker and defender lays down the face-down meeting card. If the defense does not have a meeting card, he can show all the cards, discard his hand and pick up back to his current 8 limit. In the rare chance that the offending player still has no meeting card, his turn ends immediately and all player ships return.
- Discover
It’s time to turn the meetings around and see what awaits you!
Attack vs. Attack: Number of personal and allied ships in attack / defense + selected amount of attack with meeting card = total amount of attack
Whoever has the highest number wins the attack - obviously! If everything is the same on the court, the defense takes that victory and you withdraw.
Attack against negotiations: Here the attack wins and negotiations will follow.
Negotiate against Negotiate: Allies withdraw and peace is established by exchanging cards or establishing colonies. Make a quick deal or you both risk losing 3 ships to Warp.
Morph to any other card: If you play a transformation card, you will see that your outcome changes to the card played by your opponent. Perform the next battle with the above pairs.
- Resolution
Every battle must end, be it a victory in attack, a victory in defense, a successful deal, or a failed deal.
Victory in attack: The victorious player and their allies attack the defensive planet and secure a colony. The defense forces are sent into orbit and placed in Warp. Extend the colony mark for each player who has gained their position on another planet.
Victory in defense: Same as victory in attack, only instead all allies receive a reward of their choice: pull a card from the space deck or obtain one of their ships from Warp.
Successful business: Follow your space conditions and don’t forget to read the fine print.
Failed deal: Three of your ships (offensive and defensive) suck in Warp. It pays to make a deal!
Galactic victory!
Winning a cosmic encounter is simple - the first player to establish five foreign colonies wins and their alien race survives. Thanos would be so proud: ')
Your first cosmic encounter game
If you consider yourself a professional at Risk or Pandemic , then you will be doing very well in other solar systems as well! Cosmic Encounter refers to lying on your way to the top and getting others on your side for a sweet win.
Give other players a chance to succeed by making an alliance and then letting them eat your dust as you quickly colonize and sweep the galaxy. With any angle for Strategy , this game is a proven favorite, and here are our three best tips for winning:
- Cards dominate ships.
Since technically you only need 5 ships to win the game (although this will be a challenge), make sure you play cards with a lot of damage to hit opponents where it hurts.
- Save to fight big dogs.
It will be easy to dominate some planets, but make sure your eyes and tentacles are peeled off because of these complex defenses and forces. Eventually, you may need to colonize a well-protected area, and you will need large rifles to do so.
- It is right to share your victory!
While we don’t recommend counting on allies all the time (remember, this game is about punching your opponent in the back), winning together can be enjoyable. If your hand looks pretty boring, find a vacuum cleaner that will pull you (and them) to the finish line.
- BUILD A GALACTIC EMPIRE: In the depths of space, aliens ...
- SCI-FI ADVENTURE GAME: This game of interstellar exploration, ...
- STRATEGY GAME: Every planet is ruled by someone and the only way ...
Advantages disadvantages
Advantages:
- Great diversity of aliens
- Total victories
- Lying (enough said)
With more than 50 alien options come countless special powers and thus high repeatability. I’ve played this game many times and I’m still confused about how fast the game can turn based on alien abilities. For example, one foreigner nicknamed the “Prophet” secures a free colony if he announces who wins correctly. Instead, “genius” alien cards are advertised instead of colonies and they can declare victory if their hand reaches 20cards !
It seems taboo to share victory, but if you are left with cards worthy of people (ew, mortals), it could be very helpful for you to win with the help of an ally. Of course, not everyone likes free loaders, so get ready to sell as a used car dealer.
Lying, enough said. If you need more reasons for this “pro,” lie more. Bonus points if you secure your entire planetary system for this.
Weaknesses:
- It’s not that much fun to play with fewer people
- It's hard to learn / catch
The only downside I can think of for Cosmic Encounter is that it’s not a lot of fun with fewer people and it can be a bit of a hassle to teach newbies. A larger crowd allows you to attract different allies, and conquering other planets is much less strenuous. Most extensions allow up to 6 players so you will have more slimy opponents against which you will be able to team up.
A possible drawback is the flexibility of this game for new players. It can be a bit more technical than other land conquest games due to all the phases of the turn, times and scammers in the middle. Once you play a lap once or twice, you’ll be better equipped to compete in more covert, more advanced extraterrestrial races.
Cosmic Encounter Review (TL; DR)
When you enter the routine of the phases of the plant, the circles run like butter, allowing a smooth transition to planetary colonization. The ever-changing ways of attacking ensure that you never get too involved with your allies, which keeps you on your feet (Limbs? Tentacles? Snail Tails?).
No matter what extraterrestrial race you are, your special abilities offer even more chances to throw deformation into the mix and win randomly. Try new strategies in your offensive phase of disclosure to see what works best for your colonization missions, and watch the table. You never know when a spaceship full of aliens is destined for your journey.
Variations and extensions
Conclusion: a verdict?
If the cosmic senses make you ant and you are thirsty for cosmic conquests - I can't recommend Cosmic Encounter enough. Since its birth in 1977, countless extensions have solidified this classic tabletop as a fan favorite, and I love the new adaptations that extraterrestrial extensions offer to play. The expansion provides more enjoyment to players and a greater variety of allies and enemies.
This game is best suited for a night of play with good friends who are not bothered by your deceptive tactics of deception and bloodthirsty desire to win. Since it can be considered technical, I would refrain from having a younger audience play this game, as it could be difficult and the stages of the turnaround boring.
Personally, I enjoyed this type of game more than the usual manual control, the game of conquering the earth because of the false aspect. You are guaranteed some laughter and at least one outrageous victory, shared or not. That's a long way off, man!
- BUILD A GALACTIC EMPIRE: In the depths of space, aliens ...
- SCI-FI ADVENTURE GAME: This game of interstellar exploration, ...
- STRATEGY GAME: Every planet is ruled by someone and the only way ...
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