REVIEW: Cosmic Encounter (Board Game)

Cosmic Encounter is a bluffing/negotiation game for 3-8 players depending on whether you're just playing the basic game or with expansions mixed in - to be honest, I think the more the merrier as long as you're prepared for a bit of chaos with 6+ people. It's a Fantasy Flight game, which means it is extremely well produced, with excellent component quality including lots of awesome plastic flying saucers and large planet tokens. You see, in Cosmic Encounter you are an alien race trying to spread yourself across the galaxy and colonise as many worlds as possible in order to win the game, and you can do this either through conquest or through peaceful negotiation (or through ball-faced lying as is usually the case).

Now, this game is one of my absolute favourites, and is often voted as the "best game of all time" in many polls and top ten lists. The reason for this is that Cosmic Encounter, more than any other board game in existence, has near-unlimited replay value. In just the basic game itself you get loads and loads of aliens to play as (randomly determined at the start of the game), each with their own special powers which break the rules of the game in some way and sometimes with alternate victory conditions. Once you mix in the expansions, not only do you get more player pieces, but also more and more aliens to choose from - now numbering the hundreds! This effectively means that every time you play Cosmic Encounter, you will be playing a different game, with a different mix of player powers and sometimes lots of different victory conditions to keep track of.

At this stage it's worth mentioning that the aliens powers are not balanced, not equal, and this is also part of the Cosmic Encounter game design. If you are someone who likes dry eurogames with little or no player interaction, and where all participants have an equal chance to win on their own, you won't like Cosmic Encounter. In this game you have to ally with other players in order to keep more powerful aliens in check, and you have to lie and cheat your way to the top if you are weaker, or aren't dealt the stronger cards. It is an experience as much about the metagame as it is about the rules around the table and I *love love love* this sort of thing. Cosmic Encounter is right up my street and really exemplifies why I enjoy playing board games (often more than video games) - lots of player interaction, lots of fun, great theme and really taxing to play and win, especially trying for that solo-win and not just relying on your allies.