Cosmic encounter is a demonstration of how to do a board game properly. Without a doubt, Comic Encounter exists as the most fun you will have with cards and plastic ships until they reprint it. So, let's power up our warp drives and fly right in.
Gameplay
Cosmic Encounter will oversee you as one of fifty alien races. The goal is simple: have 5 colonies. Do do this, you are going to have a player randomly selected for you, which you have to have an encounter with. You will pledge up to 4 ships, and then you can both ask for any allies to join you for a cut of prize. Players can either fight, or negotiate. 2 Negotiations gives the players 1 minute to strike a deal, a fight and a negotiation goes straight to the fighter (after the talky-type receives compensation), and 2 fights result in a messy punch out for the planet.
The game then piles on thousands of other factors. Artefact cards, flare cards, alien powers, the list goes on. Cosmic encounter takes a simple framework and let's the players make the game work, through negotiation, trash talking, bluffing, double-crossing, and tough decision making. What works so well is the behind-the-scenes, the wheezing engine of the perfectly implemented chance factors and decks of cards. The game could not be better balanced. Every combat is tense, and you are left feeling with a hand full of options rather than a hand full of potential tricks. The alien races too, despite being all extremely balanced and fun to play with, all feel remarkably different, and will actually effect the way that you play the game, rather than just help you win in your usual style. The powers are game changing: never just little powers, or one-shot effects. You will find the entire rules of the game being turned on their heads, giving each game a unique and fresh feel to it. Couple that with some fantastic streamlining and you will have a game that plays smoother than snap.
Design
Cosmic Encounter is beautiful. The artwork does a good job of creating a lighthearted, yet still cool and exciting atmosphere that perfectly suits the gameplay. The game manages to balance having some hilarious races and silly powers with some seriously cool ones. Flavour has been meshed with the game design too, creating a turn that makes you feel like an alien planning an offensive, rather than just a nerd playing a game dressed as a alien. Some clear and visually informative layouts and design choices make the cards almost watertight concerning the rules - you always know when you can do something, when you can't, what's happening now, and what's happening next. This makes the game extremely friendly for new and old players alike.
Theme
I won't touch too much on the theme, but I'll say that it really works with the gameplay. As mentioned before, each race has a distinctive an unique personality to it, and the art helps create an atmosphere are real excitement.
Opinions
I cannot reccomend Cosmic Encounter enough. The price should make you jump, that's normal, but please don't let it put you off the game. If I could own one thing, it would be Cosmic Encounter. It gets a 9.5 out of ten from me.
Glory to Boardgameistan
