Super Space

The family and a few friends gathered at Rancho Thomaso for the Super Bowl. I didn't really care who won, so I was only casually paying attention. After dinner, Liz was able to wrangle some people to play...

Cosmic Encounter 3-5 players
I got this game recently for Xmas. I've constantly heard that it is one of the greatest games in existence so I've had it on my wishlist for a while, but never bothered to pick it up just by myself. Each player starts with 5 home planets and 4 ships on each planet. The goal of the game is to become the first player to have 5 colonies on planets other than on your own home planets. This is accomplished by invading other players. On a player's turn, he or she becomes the offense. The offense encounters another player on a planet by moving a group of his or her ships through the hyperspace gate to that planet. The offense draws from the destiny deck which contains colors, wilds and specials. The player then takes the hyperspace gate and points at one planet in the system indicated by the drawn destiny card. The offense vs. the defenses ships are in the encounter and both sides are able to invite allies, play an encounter card as well as special cards to try and tip the encounter in their favor. Each player then plays a cosmic card and the higher total (card number plus ships) usually wins. If the offense wins they and the allies take up colonies on the planet. If not, then they and the allies lose their ships to the warp. Now, I said usually, because each player gets their own race that creates a few new rules for them. Races do most anything from letting you gain more cards, or letting you win and encounter with a lower total, or letting you win the game when you lose all your ships. The races are what make the game interesting.

We had a five player game going. I was the Pacifist meaning I "always" won an encounter when playing a negotiate card. Becky was the Will meaning she could choose who to attack as the offense. Liz was the Vulch meaning she got to grab everyone else's used artifact cards. Raeann was the Clone meaning she could take her played encounter card back into her hand. Finally, Sarah was the Healer meaning she could return player's lost ships once lost, and in doing so, gained a card for each. People were a little confused at first and it took a little teeth pulling, but everyone eventually got into the swing of things. Soon Sarah, Raeann, and I had acquired 4 colonies with Liz trailing and Becky trailing her. Raeann was on the offense and Sarah on the defense. I assumed that I was out of a win condition, but Raeann invited me to ally with her. I knew she would be unstoppable with her 30 card she continued to use. Liz tried to help Sarah, but she just didn't have enough. Raeann and I tied for the win.

I love this game. I can see what everyone is talking about now. I know I can get a few people to play this, but I'm not sure I've got Liz as a guarantee. She really hates war games or games where you attack other players. It stresses her out, partly because she doesn't often think with the mindset of war strategy and partly because she doesn't want to seem like a "bad guy". I understand her stance. If the game had everyone always choosing who they attacked, she would never play the game again, but since it's not a war game in the strictest sense, I still have some play with enticing her.

We took it easy after that. Becky and Sarah went off to play Dutch Blitz while Raeann, Liz, and I played Machi Koro and The Grizzled. I won Machi and we won the first game of Griz. We play a secong game of The Grizzled and took it up a notch. We died horribly.

Tally: 173/185  Bonus: 43/50