Otterzero's Cosmic Encounter Page

Jump to History || Review || House Rules/Variations || Experiences and Memories || Links

History and Background

Cosmic Encounter is a game with a history almost as complicated as its rules...

Review

It's a good game, but chaotic. In games with more people, diplomacy can play a larger role. You have to take it with a grain of salt, roll with good or bad luck when drawing cards, not be afraid to prey on weak or strong players (and not get upset when you get picked on)... and most of all to have fun. This is a game best enjoyed when not taken too seriously.

Variations and House Rules

Our gaming group usually plays with a set of Cosmic/More/Simply or another set of Cosmic/More. The advantage to including Simply is that it adds more, distinctive colors for players to choose, and beefs up the deck of cards. After dozens of games, lots of rules problems, and a few not-fun games, we decided to remove a few powers from the set of possible aliens. This table lists each power and our take on it:

Disease Too specific and weak. No one ever chooses to play this power.

Doppleganger Slows game; annoys opponents by picking their hands apart.

3 4

5 6

7 8

9 10

11 12

13 14

15 16

Virus Too powerful. Drawing the Virus system in the destiny draw is disheartening.

Witch Too vague and too powerful. Not fun to play against.

17 18

Amoeba Anomaly Anti-Matter Aristocrat Assassin Assessor Aura Berserker Boomerang Bully Busybody Butler Calculator Cavalry Changeling Chosen Chronos Clone Connoisseur Crystal Delegator Demon Deuce Dictator Diplomat Disease Doppelganger Dragon Empath Ethic Extortionist Filch Filth Force Fungus Gambler Ghost Gnome Gorgon Grief Grudge Healer Hurtz Industrialist Insect Judge Laser Lloyd Loser Machine Macron Magnet Mesmer Mind Mirror Miser Mutant Negator Obverse Oracle Pacifist Parasite Pavlov Pentaform Phantom Philanthropist Plant Prolong Prophet Queue Reincarnator Reserve Schizoid Seeker Serpent Silencer Siren Skeptic Sniveler Sorcerer Spiff Sting Subversive Symbiote Terrorist Trader Vacuum Vampire Virus Visionary Void Vulch Warpish Warrior Will Witch Worm Wrack Wraith Zombie

Experiences and Memories

Cosmic Encounter was one of the first gamer-ish board games I got into...

Links

Cosmic Encounter has quite a presence on the web. The following links [to be added soon] give a sense of the community of players of the game on the web...

Copyright acknowledgement

Cosmic Encounter and the names of elements and powers within the game are all copyright of Hasbro (I think.) References to the game are included for the purpose of review and analysis and thus fall within fair use guidelines of copyright law. If the copyright owners contest this usage I will remove any material they find infringing.

Last Updated April 11th, 2001.

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