Cosmic Encounter
Encyclopedia
Cosmic Encounter is a science fiction
-themed strategy
board game
, designed by "Future Pastimes" (collectively, Peter Olotka, Jack Kittredge and Bill Eberle, with Bill Norton) and originally published by Eon Games in 1977
. In it, each player takes the role of a particular alien species with a unique power to break one of the rules of the game attempting to establish control over the universe
. In 1992, a new edition of Cosmic Encounter won the Origins Award
for Best Fantasy or Science Fiction Boardgame of 1991, and placed 6th in the Deutscher Spiele Preis
. The game was inducted into the Academy of Adventure Gaming Arts & Design Adventure Gaming Hall of Fame in 1997.
Cosmic Encounter is a dynamic and social game, with players being encouraged to interact, argue, form alliances, make deals, double-cross, and occasionally work together to protect the common good. Most editions of the game are designed for three to six players, although official rules exist for playing with as few as two or as many as eight players.
s (the "home system
"), four starship
s on each planet, and a hand of cards. The goal is to found colonies on (i.e. have ships placed on) five planets outside of one's home system. There is also "the Warp," an area where lost ships go, and two decks of cards: one that the players draw their cards from, and one "destiny" deck.
On a player's turn, he or she retrieves one ship from the Warp, turns over a card from the destiny deck that determines which system to attack, and sends one to four ships to any planet in that system. The attacker and the defender then have the opportunity to ask other players to send in ships to help. They both select a numbered card from their hands, play the cards face down, and flip them over simultaneously. The cards and ships are added up, and the higher total wins. All ships on the losing side are sent to the Warp, where they cannot be used until retrieved. A victorious attacker's ships and allied ships land on the planet. A victorious defender gets to keep the planet, and any allies are allowed to take ships from the Warp or draw cards from the deck; usually, a player may only draw cards after using up a hand.
Each player has one or more alien powers which distort, extend, or break the rules in some way. For example, Macron's ships are worth four of any other's ships, Zombie never loses ships to the Warp, and Oracle can see what card its opponent plays before it chooses one. Some powers encourage a limited role-playing
aspect, for example the Sniveler, with the power to "whine" when doing worse than the other players. While some powers have limited effects that affect a single aspect of gameplay (such as Clone being allowed to keep a card it has just played instead of discarding it), others change the game more substantially (such as Void removing enemy ships from the game permanently) or even change the object of the game (such as Masochist instantly winning if all of its ships are lost).
Powers are selected randomly at the beginning of the game, so each game requires a different strategy to win. Many of these powers interact with one another in complex ways that are not immediately apparent, sometimes even requiring group consensus (or experience) to resolve conflicts. However, should a player have fewer than 3 colonies in their system, their alien powers become inactive until the player can regain a 3rd colony back in their home system.
Players' cards include both numbered ("encounter") cards and "artifact" cards, which may be played at various times with many different effects, such as instantly releasing all ships from the Warp. There are also "negotiation" encounter cards that lose the encounter to any numbered card, but the loser may draw cards from the winner's hand. When both sides of an encounter play negotiation cards they can trade cards, colonies, and other game properties, though if no deal is reached within a short time, both players lose ships to the Warp.
More advanced optional game components can add further levels of complexity and unpredictability. No edition has all of the optional components. They include:
Some players have created their own "homemade" powers, and have posted these along with other various game extensions on the Internet
.
Major variants include multiple-power games (in which players have multiple alien powers at once) and hidden-power games (in which powers are not revealed until their first use). Official variants include rules for adding a seventh or eighth player, and there has been a version providing enough components for a ten-player game (when combined with a previous release).
The first Eon edition was released in 1977. It allowed up to four players and included fifteen alien powers. Over the next five years, Eon released nine expansions, adding sixty more alien powers, components for a fifth and sixth player, and several new types of pieces, including "Flare" cards, money (Lucre), Moons, and special power planet systems. The artwork on these early editions included images painted by Dean Morrissey.
In 1986, the game was republished in the U.S. by West End Games
. The game used the same deck of cards and number of players, and the same powers with five additional powers from Eon expansion sets #1 and #2. However, the cards and tokens were incompatible with the Eon edition. Meanwhile, in the UK, the game was published by Games Workshop
. The GW edition supported six players, with powers from the Eon base set and some of the first three expansions.
In 1991, the game was licensed by Mayfair Games
. Mayfair published Cosmic Encounter, an expansion called More Cosmic Encounter (1992), and a stripped-down introductory version of the game called Simply Cosmic (1995). The Mayfair edition revised some powers from the original Eon set, introduced many more, and significantly revised some of the existing components. It also introduced several new components. By combining the three Mayfair products, it is possible to play a 10-player game.
In 2000, Avalon Hill
(by then a division of Hasbro
) published a simplified version in one box with plastic pieces. This version was limited to 20 powers and four players.
On Aug. 17, 2007, Fantasy Flight Games
announced plans to reprint the game "in the Summer of 2008." This was later updated to "November 2008." Game designer Kevin Wilson gave demonstrations of the Fantasy Flight Cosmic Encounter version at Gen Con
2008. This was released in December 2008, and included 50 alien powers, a new Technology variant, and support for 5 players. Fantasy Flight released an expansion set called "Cosmic Incursion" in February 2010 that added 20 aliens (some new and some old), ships for a sixth player, and a "Rewards" deck which includes, among other things, Kickers and Rifts. In February 2011, Fantasy Flight released the second expansion set, "Cosmic Conflict", which included 20 alien powers, ships for a seventh player, and a "Hazard" deck which adds special conditions to encounters.
. Magic designer Richard Garfield
has often cited Cosmic Encounter as being influential in the design of Magic, going so far as to say, "[Magics] most influential ancestor is a game for which I have no end of respect: Cosmic Encounter."
The game also heavily influenced the Dune
board game, which was also designed by Future Pastimes.
Wiki
Discussion and reviews
Science fiction
Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...
-themed strategy
Strategy
Strategy, a word of military origin, refers to a plan of action designed to achieve a particular goal. In military usage strategy is distinct from tactics, which are concerned with the conduct of an engagement, while strategy is concerned with how different engagements are linked...
board game
Board game
A board game is a game which involves counters or pieces being moved on a pre-marked surface or "board", according to a set of rules. Games may be based on pure strategy, chance or a mixture of the two, and usually have a goal which a player aims to achieve...
, designed by "Future Pastimes" (collectively, Peter Olotka, Jack Kittredge and Bill Eberle, with Bill Norton) and originally published by Eon Games in 1977
1977 in games
This page lists board and card games, wargames, miniatures games, and table-top role-playing games published in 1977. For video and console games, see 1977 in video gaming.-Significant games-related events of 1977:...
. In it, each player takes the role of a particular alien species with a unique power to break one of the rules of the game attempting to establish control over the universe
Universe
The Universe is commonly defined as the totality of everything that exists, including all matter and energy, the planets, stars, galaxies, and the contents of intergalactic space. Definitions and usage vary and similar terms include the cosmos, the world and nature...
. In 1992, a new edition of Cosmic Encounter won the Origins Award
Origins Award
The Origins Awards are American awards for outstanding work in the game industry. They are presented by the Academy of Adventure Gaming Arts and Design at the Origins Game Fair on an annual basis for the previous year, so the 1979 awards were given at the 1980 Origins.The Origins Award is commonly...
for Best Fantasy or Science Fiction Boardgame of 1991, and placed 6th in the Deutscher Spiele Preis
Deutscher Spiele Preis
The Deutscher Spiele Preis is an important award for boardgames. It was started in 1990 by the German magazine "Die Pöppel-Revue", which collects votes from the industry's stores, magazines, professionals and game clubs. The results are announced every October at the Spiel game fair in Essen,...
. The game was inducted into the Academy of Adventure Gaming Arts & Design Adventure Gaming Hall of Fame in 1997.
Cosmic Encounter is a dynamic and social game, with players being encouraged to interact, argue, form alliances, make deals, double-cross, and occasionally work together to protect the common good. Most editions of the game are designed for three to six players, although official rules exist for playing with as few as two or as many as eight players.
Gameplay
Cosmic Encounter combines a simple basic structure with a wide selection of complications. Each player begins with five planetPlanet
A planet is a celestial body orbiting a star or stellar remnant that is massive enough to be rounded by its own gravity, is not massive enough to cause thermonuclear fusion, and has cleared its neighbouring region of planetesimals.The term planet is ancient, with ties to history, science,...
s (the "home system
Star system
A star system or stellar system is a small number of stars which orbit each other, bound by gravitational attraction. A large number of stars bound by gravitation is generally called a star cluster or galaxy, although, broadly speaking, they are also star systems.-Binary star systems:A stellar...
"), four starship
Starship
A starship or interstellar spacecraft is a theoretical spacecraft designed for traveling between the stars, as opposed to a vehicle designed for orbital spaceflight or interplanetary travel....
s on each planet, and a hand of cards. The goal is to found colonies on (i.e. have ships placed on) five planets outside of one's home system. There is also "the Warp," an area where lost ships go, and two decks of cards: one that the players draw their cards from, and one "destiny" deck.
On a player's turn, he or she retrieves one ship from the Warp, turns over a card from the destiny deck that determines which system to attack, and sends one to four ships to any planet in that system. The attacker and the defender then have the opportunity to ask other players to send in ships to help. They both select a numbered card from their hands, play the cards face down, and flip them over simultaneously. The cards and ships are added up, and the higher total wins. All ships on the losing side are sent to the Warp, where they cannot be used until retrieved. A victorious attacker's ships and allied ships land on the planet. A victorious defender gets to keep the planet, and any allies are allowed to take ships from the Warp or draw cards from the deck; usually, a player may only draw cards after using up a hand.
Each player has one or more alien powers which distort, extend, or break the rules in some way. For example, Macron's ships are worth four of any other's ships, Zombie never loses ships to the Warp, and Oracle can see what card its opponent plays before it chooses one. Some powers encourage a limited role-playing
Role-playing
Role-playing refers to the changing of one's behaviour to assume a role, either unconsciously to fill a social role, or consciously to act out an adopted role...
aspect, for example the Sniveler, with the power to "whine" when doing worse than the other players. While some powers have limited effects that affect a single aspect of gameplay (such as Clone being allowed to keep a card it has just played instead of discarding it), others change the game more substantially (such as Void removing enemy ships from the game permanently) or even change the object of the game (such as Masochist instantly winning if all of its ships are lost).
Powers are selected randomly at the beginning of the game, so each game requires a different strategy to win. Many of these powers interact with one another in complex ways that are not immediately apparent, sometimes even requiring group consensus (or experience) to resolve conflicts. However, should a player have fewer than 3 colonies in their system, their alien powers become inactive until the player can regain a 3rd colony back in their home system.
Players' cards include both numbered ("encounter") cards and "artifact" cards, which may be played at various times with many different effects, such as instantly releasing all ships from the Warp. There are also "negotiation" encounter cards that lose the encounter to any numbered card, but the loser may draw cards from the winner's hand. When both sides of an encounter play negotiation cards they can trade cards, colonies, and other game properties, though if no deal is reached within a short time, both players lose ships to the Warp.
More advanced optional game components can add further levels of complexity and unpredictability. No edition has all of the optional components. They include:
- Flares: Cards based on the alien powers that provide a player with a limited aspect of that power. If a player holds a Flare that matches his or her alien, the Flare upgrades that power instead.
- Lucre: In-game currency that allows more control of resources (such as buying more cards for one's hand). Multiple alien powers affect Lucre.
- Moons: Colonies on moons do not count towards victory conditions, but occupying one grants access to its special ability. Moon abilities can be powerful (such as retaining an alien power when it would normally be lost), while others are best described as "silly" (such as forcing the owner to speak in rhyme).
- Special planetary systems: Printed on the reverse side of the normal systems in most prints of Cosmic Encounter, the special systems have additional rules in regards to the player's initial setup, colonies, and victory conditions.
- Technologies: An array of boosts and special abilities, none of which can be used right away. Technology cards are placed face down on the table. The owner may move one ship from a planet onto the card at the start of any player's turn. Once the number of ships on the card meets the cost printed on it, the technology is "discovered," the ships return, and the card is flipped face up. The power of technology cards varies wildly. The Xenon lasers card costs two ships, and its owner may change encounter scores by one point. The Omega missile card costs eight ships, and destroys a planet.
- Rewards: A deck's worth of incentives, reward cards can only be drawn by victorious defensive allies. Reward cards include "kickers," multipliers for encounter cards, and "rifts," booby traps that free ships from the warp, or send ships there if they ever change hands.
Some players have created their own "homemade" powers, and have posted these along with other various game extensions on the Internet
Internet
The Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard Internet protocol suite to serve billions of users worldwide...
.
Major variants include multiple-power games (in which players have multiple alien powers at once) and hidden-power games (in which powers are not revealed until their first use). Official variants include rules for adding a seventh or eighth player, and there has been a version providing enough components for a ten-player game (when combined with a previous release).
History
The original version of Cosmic Encounter had exactly six alien powers and was designed for up to six players. This edition was nearly published by Parker Brothers in the mid-1970s; when it was not, the designers founded Eon Games to publish it.The first Eon edition was released in 1977. It allowed up to four players and included fifteen alien powers. Over the next five years, Eon released nine expansions, adding sixty more alien powers, components for a fifth and sixth player, and several new types of pieces, including "Flare" cards, money (Lucre), Moons, and special power planet systems. The artwork on these early editions included images painted by Dean Morrissey.
In 1986, the game was republished in the U.S. by West End Games
West End Games
West End Games was a company that made board, role-playing, and war games. It was founded by Daniel Scott Palter in 1974 in New York, but later moved to Honesdale, Pennsylvania...
. The game used the same deck of cards and number of players, and the same powers with five additional powers from Eon expansion sets #1 and #2. However, the cards and tokens were incompatible with the Eon edition. Meanwhile, in the UK, the game was published by Games Workshop
Games Workshop
Games Workshop Group plc is a British game production and retailing company. Games Workshop has published the tabletop wargames Warhammer Fantasy Battle and Warhammer 40,000...
. The GW edition supported six players, with powers from the Eon base set and some of the first three expansions.
In 1991, the game was licensed by Mayfair Games
Mayfair Games
Mayfair Games is a publisher of board, card, and roleplaying games. They also license German-style board games and publish them in English throughout the world...
. Mayfair published Cosmic Encounter, an expansion called More Cosmic Encounter (1992), and a stripped-down introductory version of the game called Simply Cosmic (1995). The Mayfair edition revised some powers from the original Eon set, introduced many more, and significantly revised some of the existing components. It also introduced several new components. By combining the three Mayfair products, it is possible to play a 10-player game.
In 2000, Avalon Hill
Avalon Hill
Avalon Hill was a game company that specialized in wargames and strategic board games. Its logo contained its initials "AH", and it was often referred to by this abbreviation. It also published the occasional miniature wargaming rules, role-playing game, and had a popular line of sports simulations...
(by then a division of Hasbro
Hasbro
Hasbro is a multinational toy and boardgame company from the United States of America. It is one of the largest toy makers in the world. The corporate headquarters is located in Pawtucket, Rhode Island, United States...
) published a simplified version in one box with plastic pieces. This version was limited to 20 powers and four players.
On Aug. 17, 2007, Fantasy Flight Games
Fantasy Flight Games
Fantasy Flight Games is a Roseville, Minnesota-based game company that creates and publishes role-playing, board, and card games. Fantasy Flight Publishing was founded in 1995 by its CEO, Christian T. Petersen. Since the release of its first game product in 1997, the company has been doing...
announced plans to reprint the game "in the Summer of 2008." This was later updated to "November 2008." Game designer Kevin Wilson gave demonstrations of the Fantasy Flight Cosmic Encounter version at Gen Con
Gen Con
Gen Con is one of the largest and most prominent annual gaming conventions in North America. It features traditional pen-and-paper, board, and card-style games, including role-playing games, miniatures wargames, board games, live action role-playing games, collectible card games, non-collectible...
2008. This was released in December 2008, and included 50 alien powers, a new Technology variant, and support for 5 players. Fantasy Flight released an expansion set called "Cosmic Incursion" in February 2010 that added 20 aliens (some new and some old), ships for a sixth player, and a "Rewards" deck which includes, among other things, Kickers and Rifts. In February 2011, Fantasy Flight released the second expansion set, "Cosmic Conflict", which included 20 alien powers, ships for a seventh player, and a "Hazard" deck which adds special conditions to encounters.
Online version
In 2003, original designer Peter Olotka and partners launched a new version called Cosmic Encounter Online that may be played over the internet. , this version has 35 powers, including four new aliens and two more that are designed for online play (such as Dork, which blocks other players' screens).Influence
The possibility of an organic and completely different experience every time one plays was one of the influences in the design of the card game Magic: The GatheringMagic: The Gathering
Magic: The Gathering , also known as Magic, is the first collectible trading card game created by mathematics professor Richard Garfield and introduced in 1993 by Wizards of the Coast. Magic continues to thrive, with approximately twelve million players as of 2011...
. Magic designer Richard Garfield
Richard Garfield
Richard Channing Garfield is a mathematics professor and game designer who created the card games Magic: The Gathering, Netrunner, BattleTech CCG, Vampire: The Eternal Struggle , The Great Dalmuti, Star Wars Trading Card Game, and the board game RoboRally...
has often cited Cosmic Encounter as being influential in the design of Magic, going so far as to say, "[Magics] most influential ancestor is a game for which I have no end of respect: Cosmic Encounter."
The game also heavily influenced the Dune
Dune (board game)
Dune is a strategy board game set in Frank Herbert's Dune universe, published by Avalon Hill in 1979. The game was designed by Bill Eberle, Jack Kittredge and Peter Olotka.- History :...
board game, which was also designed by Future Pastimes.
External links
Official sites- Cosmic Encounter's Facebook https://facebook.com/cosmicencounter page
- Cosmic Encounter Online Cosmic Encounter Online
- Fantasy Flight Games' Cosmic Encounter page
- Avalon Hill's Cosmic Encounter product page
Wiki
Discussion and reviews
- Cosmic Encounter Library showing the complete version history along with photos and components as well as general CE information.
- TheDiceTower.com Interview with game designer Peter Olotka, June 13, 2005
- GameSpy.com Interview with game designer Peter Olotka, January 2002
- Eon Games article (with brief mention of Cosmic Encounter) at TheGamesJournal.com