Cosmic Encounter (Base Game)

I'm going to preface this review by saying that I own many board games and host a weekly game night at my house to play awesome games with my closest friends. What is this game? The galaxy is at war. You are the leader of a specific alien race. Use your special species specific powers to take control of your opponents planets and claim them as your own. Ally together and negotiate with others to help and hinder each other along the way. At its crazy heart, this is a card game, plain and simple. Yes, there are neat little planets and colony ships to mark who is winning, to "wager" in fights and such, but the vast majority of the action has to do with the cards in your hand and how you manage them. The strategy has to do with alliances forming and melting throughout the game. Also the crazy variety of different aliens with different powers to end up with ensures that every game will be different than the last one. First one to gain five colonies on five opponents planets wins. Should you buy this game? Probably! If you don't mind a bit of randomness. This game provides for some truly epic moments. It's a classic of a game. Strategic yet randomized. The best way to introduce it to new people is: "These are the rules, and this is how your specific power lets you break them." By the way, the rules themselves are at MODERATE so you do have to have at least one person sit down to read through and know them before everyone gets together to play for a smoother teaching and learning experience. (Also, having a sheet with all the different phases of the game written down in order and moving a marker to the current one helps everyone better keep track.) My thoughts: What can I say? I have about 50 board games in my collection, and this one is the best of them all (my game group would contest this). It's awesome. Every game is memorable. Every encounter tense. I'm always jumping at the chance to introduce it to new people and play it every time I can. I see a couple of people who have written reviews on here seemingly haven't read the rules on the Alliance Phase. It is crucial to the games strategy and is by far my favorite mechanic. Hmm... trying to convey joy and fun through typed words is hard. Play this game, if you get the chance. That is all.

Amazing Game!!! LOVE LOVE IT! I’ve played Cosmic Encounter more than any other game, and it’s still just as great every time. RECOMMENDATION TO THE DEVELOPERS: I recommend removing the second turn for the offense after a win. At 6 players, the game can end before the last player even gets two turns. We made a house rule—no second turns after a win—and now everyone gets to play more, and the game feels less dragged out. I highly recommend considering this as a firm rule because right now the game plays best at 5 and only 5. My tweak makes it great at 6 also, and we need more games with higher player counts and flexibility. Also, since tech cards are so fun, we added a rule where everyone starts with the standard tech card and then gains a tech every time they lose a home planet. It keeps tech in play and adds a nice bonus when you’re behind. Thanks for an incredible game!

I first played the original Eon CE in 1978 at a friends house, ran out and bought it and all its expansions. When I joined the military I brought CE with me everywhere and played hundreds of games with hundreds of people all over the world. Mayfair brought it back with bad artwork, weird player color choices and some odd new rules, but it was still CE. Hasbro published the game in such a bad way with dismal rule re-writes and a clear effort to prevent expansion or mix with old game elements, that I threw it in the trash after spending the overblown price. Now I've packed up my worn, beloved CE box. CE has returned and Fantasy Flight just GETS the game. It's clear the developers are long term lovers of the game. It's colorful! Artistically Mayfair CE was muddy and...well...not very good. FF CE is beautiful, vivid and has depth without looking cluttered. Everyone knows that when you play old CE your chances of losing one of the ship token are pretty good. FF solved this problem with plastic ships that are cute, clever, and stackable. The alien powers have been heavily play tested and researched. Some changes from the older versions have been made but in all cases to the benefit of the game. But some of the old, highly debated elements, such as the Filch Wild Flare power have been added as Options to the game. So you can use the balanced Filch Flare, or use the optional Eon version as you choose. Nice touch. Initially I was sad to see that the card design was changed so that I can't use my old CE cards with the new, but that's okay because they have produced a good number of Expansions so I don't really need my old game elements. Some of the newer game elements like Tech and Hazards aren't to my taste, but neither were Moons and Lucre neither of which (thankfully) made it to the FF version, but its nice to have choices and neither of them are silly or burdensome or frankly lame, like the aforementioned Moons and Lucre, and are in their own way, vibrant and interesting. I gave the durability of the game a fairly high rating because I'm comparing it to the old versions. The card stock is heavy and matted (and the ships are larger and plastic!). The box is cleverly designed and I was able to easily fit the game and all expansions in the game box. One thing missing might be a sturdy place to put added cards from the expansions, but I have put those in standard card deck boxes for their protection and easy storage. I have only two VERY SMALL critiques of an otherwise spectacular version of my all time favorite board game: -Though the rules were very well written and ordered clearly some were not. For example, Hazards aren not clearly explained. Their backs don't match the standard game cards and appear to be used seperately from the standard deck. None of this is cleary explained in the rules which seems to make assumptions that I am not aware of. -Second, the rules changed the names of various game elements, most of which seem pointless (like Edicts to Artifacts). None of these changes are used by any of our dozens of players. I guess it was just FF's way to put their mark on the game. In closing, after excitedly opening and searching through the last expansion (Cosmic Alliances), I was heart broken when my favorite Edict card, Warp Break, didn't make it to this version! I hope that means they are saving it for another expansion. ;) Get this game! If you're new, you'll love it. If you're an old player, you'll love it all over again!

mon jeux de société préféré j'aurai aimé l'avoir en français mais voila après cela ne apprends l'anglais , c'est la version anniversaire TOP plein de pouvoir jouer a 4 minimum

Cosmic Encounter is another of Fantasy Flight Games excellent updated versions of a classic (originally released in 1977). As usual FFG give it a polish, straighten out some of the contentious rules and throw in some top quality components and excellent design work, bringing it to a new generation of gamers. In terms of rules it's initially pretty simple. Each player has 5 planets - their home system. Each player also has a fleet of 20 ships. With each players ships beginning on their home systems (4 on each planet - a single ship on a planet representing a colony), the aim of the game is to get 5 colonies on planets outside your home system. In other words - attack the other players home planets to establish your own colonies there. Yes, that is quite straightforward, however the real fun of the game is the Aliens..... This game comes with a whole lot of Aliens. At the start of the game each player gets randomly dealt 2 Aliens from the large deck, and chooses 1 to play for the game. Each Alien has its own unique rule bending powers. And this is what makes the game endlessly re-playable. No two games are likely to ever be the same with such a wide and varied set of powers and skills available. Your choice of Alien will totally change how you think about playing. Further unique skills are dealt into a deck of cards which all players will use to perform all the interactions of the game. This is a game without dice! So, with your home worlds, your fleet of ships, your unique Alien power and your hand of cards you set about attaining cosmic supremacy. To do this you may form alliances, trick and deceive and totally renege on any agreement to ensure you rule supreme. You will use your Alien power to maximize your attacks, to confuse your opponents, to win you allies and defend your precious colonies - very important as to lose too many of your home colonies will see you lose your Alien skill. At least until you re-establish the colonies again!! The game can also have several winners, as the winning condition can be achieved by a number of players simultaneously. A fantastic package and a brilliantly unique game that has been around 3 decades and counting! This FFG set caters for new players right up to experts, and each game can be customized perfectly to suit the playing group. It expands further with 3 (so far) excellent expansions, each of which allows for another player to join in the madness (the core set is 5 player) as well as more unique situations and even more fantastic Aliens to make the game even more fun. A very unique experience and excellent fun. There is nothing quite like Cosmic Encounter.

Rules-wise, the game is very easy to play, with a rulebook of only 12 or so pages. I taught my group in less than 10 minutes and we were engrossed since the "get-go". There are no dice in this game. It is a card game with funky ships, excellent production values, and a HUGE community support. This product shines with the Player to Player action. To get where you need to be, you must be confrontational but at the same time be willing to ally with them, situation permitting. Each player will be given a unique alien and that aspect alone will make this game replayable almost indefinately. Often the alien powers and the players decisions will bring about tons of hilarity and humourous frustration. Keep in mind though that this is a 3 player + game. I can't see one getting away with playing with 2 at all.

Muy buen juego para pasar el tiempo con los amigos, la dinámica es sencilla y no son partidas muy largas. Tiene la particularidad de que existen muchas razas de alien por lo tanto ningún juego va a ser igual.

Great game fast delivery brand new perfect condition.