Cosmic Encounter - Gameplay & Discussion

[@ErroneousPlanet]

Great channel! This has quickly become one of my more favorite board game shows! I've never played Cosmic Encounter but it certainly looks fun. Looking forward to more episodes!

[@boardgamereplay]

That's awesome to hear Craig, thanks so much! Glad to have you as a viewer!

[@ZeSuperEskimo]

I played this at school with a teacher and one of my friends and we all LOVED IT!

[@KnucklesEki]

5 players with 5 planets each... I wish I can play that with my Cosmic Encounter, normally just 3 players with 4 planets each (5 planets each on a 3 player game seems too much). But far out, I must remember Jeremy's strategy of sticking reinforce cards on the OPPONENT for the Loser to trigger. That was seriously well played.

[@boardgamereplay]

Yep, Jeremy is good like that :)

[@legato147]

Another excellent video. Love the format!

[@boardgamereplay]

Thanks a lot!

[@CameronAudet]

this game has huge replay value as well. count me in for another round!

[@kylejacobs1007]

I've played with 3 and still enjoyed it. I would definitely prefer a game of 5 but I dont have a core group to play with consistently. When I play with 3 we basically never invite allies which sometimes takes some of the fun out of it but it is till enjoyable. We still had a game the other day take almost 3 hours. We played a double alien variant where you pick on and pass the other to the left. Fun when you draw two good aliens and have to decide which one you want and which one you want to give up :). We had some pretty chaotic aliens that made the game take a while and we lost foreign colonies multiple times again. At one point I had 4 foreign colonies and lost them all and then I lost my alien power. Then and only then someone played a mobius tubes. Luckily I got a card from the rewards deck that allowed me to establish a colony on my home system but it didnt matter a few turns later someone finally won. It definitely makes it more interesting with more people and more aliens but it definitely can still get crazy with only a 3 people playing.

[@boardgamereplay]

Ahh, that's very cool Kyle. Thanks for sharing that idea. Certainly something I'll try if we've got fewer players!

[@vincentmallia7643]

Great show guys. Just started to watching your video's and love the format. Very different than what is out there. Keep up the good work!!!!!!

[@boardgamereplay]

Thanks so much Vincent, glad to hear it :)

[@PPKantor]

saw all your videos today! great entertainment! looking forward to the next episode! :)

[@owenphillips6421]

I have kind of wanted this game for years, finally going to buy it!

[@-Markus-]

Late to the party here but this was a really nice way to review a game, gives a really good impression on how it plays and what to expect from it!

[@DracosDiabolis]

Just found you guys, I bought Comic Encounters a year ago to try it out, but never really had the change to try it out, so I like this video. It shows me the game play which is what I was looking for. by the by you guys remind me of the guys I play Magic, and play dnd with. lol, take no offence cause I hold my troop in scarcasim and high reguards.

[@boardgamereplay]

Very cool Dan, thanks a lot for watching! Glad it was helpful for you!

[@KaraNolting]

Smoooooooth transition there when Jeremy held up his loser card and KAPOW it was bigger.

[@boardgamereplay]

Haha, thanks Kara. Im slowly building my skills with that software!

[@JamesCusano]

Holy hell, that WAS an awesome transition!

[@facepalmjesus1608]

its one of my favorite games of all time and I own the whole FF collection. The only thing I never understood is the use of flares in game. Why the hell such powerful cards have an endless recycled use? We play CE with a house rule that makes you discard the flare card after a SPECIAL use. we follow the normal rules for the WILD use

[@steviev2504]

great videos! keep them coming!

[@boardgamereplay]

Thanks a bunch, we certainly plan to keep the videos coming!

[@RafaelMaia]

That seemed like so much fun! I really hope I get the opportunity to play this some time... good job, thanks!

[@boardgamereplay]

It's definitely a great game, so much variety and craziness. Thanks so much for watching!

[@ivanconrad6102]

Really great show. So glad WIP suggested this channel.

[@boardgamereplay]

Thanks Ivan! Rodney is a great friend to plug this channel so much :) Glad to have you here!

[@adamheeley285]

I would love to see a more in depth video for the strategies of this game. All the veteran board gamers love it but teaching it is hard since its about negotiation strategies. I own this game and me and my friends have played it once after watching this video but we couldnt really figure out the strategies part... Love your videos keep up the good work :)

[@boardgamereplay]

Thank you Adam! I completely understand the issue starting out with new players. It's a bit of an unusual game and takes at least a few tries before the optimal play style really starts to show. The biggest thing I can recommend is starting with nothing but green level aliens. From there just remember that it's much more about keeping the other players in check, than trying to push for the win yourself...I know that doesn't sound like it makes much sense at first, but I've had friends tell me it's helped them play differently! Good luck and thanks so much for watching!

[@TheOldMan-75]

I've been watching so many cosmic encounter videos these days. Fuck the christmas holidays. I HAVE TO WAIT UNTIL MONDAY UNTIL MY GAME GETS DELIVERED. I WANT TO PLAY IT YESTERDAY

[@TheOldMan-75]

By the way... first time I stumbled upon one of your videos and I really enjoyed it. I'll sure be looking into your channel more often in the future.

[@kinagrill]

I played this once before and my Race was just silly. they had the secret Power to Crashland. that meant even if they lost an invasion, one ship crashlands on the planet anyways and basically just occupies the planet even though i technically lost the invasion X3

[@boardgamereplay]

TheAngryDanishViking Oh man, I've never played with that one but it sounds pretty crazy. It's insane that I've owned this game for several years and still haven't seen all the races!

[@louisdesroches]

This game is tons of fun. Thanks for a great show!

[@boardgamereplay]

Thanks for watching!

[@reallifeistoflat]

been interested in this game for awhile and i think you just put it on my to buy list.

[@boardgamereplay]

It's really nice to see our attempts to show the experience of a game are coming through in the videos! I'm sorry for the damage to your wallet though :) Thanks a lot for watching!

[@romancingsaga2935]

Great video! I just got the game recently. There are many things that I did not understand.. like when I am able to use flare cards.. or how many non-action cards I can use in my turn.. Also the other cards like zap cards, cosmic and artificent cards.. no idea about them 😑

[@facepalmjesus1608]

in every card of the game there is a timing bar below. It shows the phases of the encounter. The orange colour is when you can use it. When all is orange it can be played at any time during the encounter. Above that bar it says ''as any player'' or ''as a main player'' all rules are covered in rulebook

[@errie806]

Do you ever find that the alien powers can remove some of the skill it takes to win this game? I'm afraid that this game would get too hectic with the exotic powers and feel like victory is somewhat out of your hands and up to chance. I hope this makes sense. I'm thinking about buying this.

[@boardgamereplay]

Eric, I know what you're saying and certainly understand the concern as I felt the same way when I was looking at the game. Cosmic Encounter is really all about having a bunch of crazy powers clashing together. The core of the game is really in the social interaction and negotiation with other players that comes from that power clash. There are definitely some powers that are stronger or more obvious than others, but this is what creates the interesting dynamic during the game. If you've got a power that everyone knows is very strong, you need to find ways to secure temporary allies here and there so that the other players don't outright shut you down. The opposite is true for playing a somewhat "less powerful" alien. There's a lot more to game aside from just the alien powers as well. Managing your own hand of cards and keeping an eye on your opponents' hands is equally important. There is also a fair amount of bluffing / reading other players with things like playing cards or having "may use" alien powers. Overall Cosmic Encounter is far less about finding a key mechanical strategy to follow and much more about "playing" the other players at the table. I'm by no means trying to sell you on the game here, I'm just trying to explain the finer points of the game as they can be a little hard to see. Hope this helps! :)

[@errie806]

Board Game Replay Big help! Thanks a lot. You made me more comfortable about this. I'm picking it up today. :)

[@mintsponge]

ryan gosling on the right?

[@boardgamereplay]

Yeah... he's kinda that one in the group? :P

[@DanielGuerraVF]

Hello guys! During the last turn, Isaac was with 2 home colonies? So, he had lost his alien power (he was with less than 3 home colonies) and could not redirect the encounter. That's correct?

[@boardgamereplay]

You're absolutely correct! We were all aware of this rule during the game, we just all happened to overlook this at the time. There's so much going on it's hard not to miss things on occasion. Good catch!

[@facepalmjesus1608]

hi there! we have dismissed this ''3 planets off'' many times at our first CE plays. I think this should be fixed someway...I own Mission:Red Planet and I made 18 pieces of the Phobos tile for use when we lose home planets in CE. Problem solved and its eye candy too! :) p.s I also upgraded the CE colony tracker token with the Mission: Red Planet astronauts and space stations tokens with War Suns from TI4

[@PauloRenato23]

Fantastic game and another awesome show Matt... Thank you

[@boardgamereplay]

Thanks so much Paulo! Would you say this is one of your favorites? I know with the right group I'd never turn down a chance to play it!

[@PauloRenato23]

Board Game Replay It's up there :) I have to play it more times :) One of my favorites is "Libertalia" you guys should check it out... it's an awesome awesome game

[@boardgamereplay]

Paulo Renato Nice, I really like Libertalia! Isaac and Michelle actually own that one!

[@PauloRenato23]

Board Game Replay I think it deserves a place here in the show... it's such an underestimated game...

[@boardgamereplay]

Paulo Renato It's certainly the right kind of game for the show. I'm definitely considering it!

[@blksbth1]

Quick question - can a player ask to see another player's alien race information card, or are they restricted to just that abbreviated power (displayed upside-down)? If they can see the entirety of the card, wouldn't knowing someone's special powers and/or "win conditions" completely stonewall that player's chances of winning? Great video by the way!

[@boardgamereplay]

Everyone at the table is free to know the full powers of the other players. It's what actually helps facilitate the negotiations and decisions for each encounter. Many of the powers have a "may use" part of them so you never know if they will use them or not. Then with the powers that are "mandatory" the players have to factor them into their decision when picking allies. I also want to point out that every players "win condition" is exactly the same (with very few exceptions based on Alien powers). They're all trying to get control of 5 foreign colonies. Cosmic Encounter is all about negotiating with other players and trying to control the craziness of a bunch of unique alien powers clashing together. The challenge of the game is using your power and social skills to NOT get stonewalled by the other players :)

[@blksbth1]

Board Game Replay Thanks so much - makes sense. Just pulled the trigger on ordering this awesome game. Can't wait to play it!

[@zatedford]

Awesome, I liked the blow up graphics, that was a cool addition. I love cosmic encounter, and in my experience you can get 5 and 6 player games down to about an hour to an hour and a half with some experienced players. Awesome work as always, can't wait for Kemet. Kemet is my current #1! Any chance you are going to play with the c3k expansion?

[@boardgamereplay]

Zach, glad you liked the video and the graphics. I've been trying to make time to learn the software a little better. Always nice to get positive feedback! Good to know about your game times as well. I figured once the group gets a little more familiar with things it'll move faster. As for Kemet, we shot the game Sunday night but we didn't use the C3K expansion. I had it on the table and everything but decided we'd stick to the base game to minimize any confusion with the new creatures. There are some REALLY cool powers new creature powers in there though! I'll look forward to your feedback on the Kemet video since you're a big fan. Look for it later this week. Thanks as always for watching and sticking with us!

[@zatedford]

Board Game Replay Awesome, looking forward to it! I don't have the c3k expansion...and have been really wanting to pick it up...but it is currently out of print and selling for marked up prices at 3 times the normal price. There has been rumors of a re-print...so I'm waiting patiently. Then of course I'll have to buy Cyclades....and so it goes...I keep making excuses and my collection keeps getting bigger :), hope you all are having a great week. Keep it up, and I'm looking forward to Kemet!

[@TIEbaron]

These are hard to come by. Where can I find a copy for a reasonable price?!

[@arichardson0972]

+TIEbaron The version shown is the Fantasy Flight reprint, which can be found on Amazon.

[@VictorZz_OPCG]

Who would be the defender if the planet is your colour but you do not have any ship on there?

[@boardgamereplay]

The defender in that case would still be you. You always defend your home colonies even if you have no ships there. You just defend the planet with 0 ships but everything else is the same. Hope this helps!

[@VictorZz_OPCG]

Thanks, but what would happen to the other player's ship on the planner if you lose the encounter?

[@Susanoo0097]

Any chance for twilight imperium replay?

[@boardgamereplay]

ethicks, I'm unable to respond to your comment (I think it's G+ privacy setting). But I'll answer your question by saying the official rule is that white would still have defend that planet, their ship count is just zero. Sure, this puts them at a disadvantage numbers wise, but they can still reinforcement cards or activate their powers like any normal encounter. Any other ships that have taken over the planet before aren't able to defend at all, they're just bystanders in the fight. Hope this helps!

[@arichardson0972]

+Board Game Replay +ethicks The question was more along the lines of "If White's planet is attacked by Green, but only Red has a colony on that planet, why should White have to defend with zero? White's not really incurring any more loss on her part allowing Green to have a colony on that planet too." Except that there is a loss - a player still wants to prevent her opponents from gaining more colonies than herself. That is the goal of the game, after all. I feel if the rules were different, and Red would have to defend White's home planet (as the only colony there), there would be much less diplomacy and betrayal between players.

[@boardgamereplay]

I definitely agree with you. Cosmic Encounter is all about that diplomacy and betrayal. It's a game that's been around for a long time too, so I trust that the current game rules are ther to encourage those elements as much as possible.

[@CosmicUtube]

The first ever annual Cosmic Encounter Galactic Championship Tournament will be held on May 24 -26 at the Museum Science Fiction’s Escape Velocity Convention (EV2019). The Museum of Science Fiction is a non profit organization and the tournament’s fees go to that cause. All tournament players will take home some unique Cosmic Swag courtesy of Fantasy Flight Games with help from CE Champ Jack Reda. You can see the tournament details at: www.cosmicencounter.com Location: Gaylord National Resort and Convention Center 201 Waterfront Street National Harbor, MD 20745 We are also devoting some time to do interviews about the Galactic Championship Tournament, the Escape Velocity Con and the very exciting new Future Pastimes products that are on the horizon.

[@paulyhart]

good stuff! thanks!

[@snuphaluphugus]

This a great explanation to a game that seems rather tough to pick up in just 30 minutes.

[@shbenton01]

29:55 TWSS

[@natehollingsworth1927]

Do you have the mayfair games edition?

[@boardgamereplay]

I do not. This is the Fantasy Flight Games edition.

[@cindycruz6867]

I am still confused on how the Bride alien works.

[@DuRZyZieliak]

Hello!I hope some one will answer this question... Today we had for the first time played "ANIMAL"race. And we had a little argue what does it mean "fail to invite". Is it about not inviting the ANIMAL to ally with main player or is it about invited ANIMAL rejecting the invitation (both or one of the main players)?

[@boardgamereplay]

Stephen B, I can never reply to your comments for some reason. Maybe something odd with G+ comments?

[@boardgamereplay]

***** Ahh, well that certainly explains it, thanks for that! Glad you like the format of the show too. I feel like we're getting more comfortable with how we do it as time goes on. Great to get feedback on how we're doing, so thank you! I've got Omega Protocol and I think that would be a good one for the show as well. I still need to try Gravwell but it looks pretty cool. I'll also have to look into Constantinopolis!

[@peterthooft3823]

3rd turn? we played with 6 and it only went around 1 and a half times their could potentially be a win in the first turn we had so many alliances and negotiations people where up to 4 colonies before we went around once

[@boardgamereplay]

Wow, that's fast for sure! Just curious, did everyone remember the rule that you can only negotiate for one colony ship during each negotiation? Either way, sounds like people were being a little too friendly with ally invitations eh? :)

[@peterthooft3823]

yes it was definitely the ally invitations I didn't know that know that one colony only was a rule (but it never would have come into play) co won with 1 person instead of four using a forcefield

[@sigurdhendsethyan5641]

Can «Chosen» use his power (devine intervention) after two negotiate cards are revealed? Can «Chosen» play attack card after both main players are in negotiate (resolution) phase?

[@boardgamereplay]

I just looked up Chosen again and I can confirm that they can use the Divine Intervention power after two Negotiate cards are revealed. This means they could completely replace the Negotiate they played with an attack card if they wanted. As for your second question, the Divine Intervention only works when you are the Main player and during the Reveal phase. Hope this helps!

[@sigurdhendsethyan5641]

Board Game Replay Yeah! Thanks a lot. We were playing and this power suddenly felt way to powerful, and we couldn't find that exact detail anywhere. We actually played with two powers and the one with Chosen had Pacifist at the same time, witch made it unbeatable xD

[@boardgamereplay]

Sigurd Hendseth Øyan Glad to be of help! Wow yeah, Chosen and Pacifist together is a pretty strong combo already. You were right to question that ability! :)

[@ethicks]

This is an discussion that my group has been having for a while. Okay, lets say someone draws a white destiny card and one of the planets on the white's planets/spaces has already been conquered. I think as per the rules it says white still has to defend that planet/space even though red/green/orange(etc)'s pieces might have taken the space being attacked. My group feels that white shouldn't have to defend because there is no gain or loss to be had thus making the defense for white a useless waste of time and instead the person who took the planet should have to defend. They also homebrew that if that person loses he actually loses his point. Basically I just want a clarification on how you think it would make sense for white to defend that planet/space over someone who took over the space/planet.

[@shbenton01]

so... what the heck is ala boom?

[@MoxieMan777]

Excellent Review of a fantastic game! The creators of Cosmic Encounter has planned the first ever CosmicCon! Check it out: www.eventbee.com/v/cosmiccon

[@boardgamereplay]

Thanks a bunch David! We really enjoy the game as well. I heard about Cosmic Con and it looks great...Just wish it was a little closer to us! :)

[@MoxieMan777]

I can't attend in person for the same reason. But they are streaming many parts and doing Google hangouts.

[@KaraNolting]

YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!

[@adrianangelo737]

So we tried this game tonight and it. .. Didn't go well. The instructions were vague on several major points. The alien powers were almost unplayable because they're so vague. An example: the Virus aliens card says they attack with a strength of ships equal to the number of ships fielded x the number on the chosen card. It says this is for attacks. But does that include defending attacks or only offensive? Similarly, the macrow (or whatever the name was, the one the dude was dealing with in the front of this vid) have a 4-times value on ships.... But only when attacking...? What about when they defend? Are ships still worth 4? If not, how are they at all powerful? The game also does not make it clear whether players restock their hands after an encounter, nor do they make it clear when a defence ally would ever get any kind of advantage. We were baffled.

[@kosterix123]

bluf poker the board game. No thanks.

[@boardgamereplay]

You're missing out! This one is a classic :)