posted
I just found out that they are re-releasing the old board game Cosmic Encounters for the holidays! This was my favorite game, i lost it in a house fire and have been trying to get a new copy for a long time. Other than on e-bay for 200$ there was no way to get it.
I know that it will sell for 60$. Can anyone figure out if it comes with the expansion sets or not?
Posts: 549 | Registered: Feb 2008
| IP: Logged |
posted
I was kind of disappointed with the recent Avalon Hill re-release, honestly- only four players, and a pretty lacking selection of alien races. Prettier than the version I played in college, but not quite as much fun.
Posts: 3826 | Registered: May 2005
| IP: Logged |
posted
the re-release being four player is a necessary nod to game balance.
As a result, I like the four player version better since you get many many fewer ridiculous combos and its easier to play synergy-style where you pick/are dealt two races and get to use both of their special powers.
On the whole, Cosmic Encounters is Twilight Imperium Lite. It's fun, it's breezy, it's easy to get the hang of, and you can belt out a couple of games in about the time it takes to get through a single damn turn in a full game of Twilight Imperium.
Posts: 15421 | Registered: Aug 2005
| IP: Logged |
posted
Honestly, I rather think the re-release being four player was more of a nod to the price of molded plastic pieces. But I don't have a very high opinion of Hasbro.
And... I don't think the game is supposed to be balanced. That's the nature of the game; the rules allow people to break the rules, and some powers are better in some situations than others. Being on the end of a power that was less broadly useful didn't necessarily make watching the interplay of powers any less fun.Posts: 3826 | Registered: May 2005
| IP: Logged |
quote:And... I don't think the game is supposed to be balanced.
if it wasn't supposed to be balanced between players, it would be a pretty dumb game.
Each race's special ability is supposed to essentially give each player a more or less equal opportunity to win the game by exploiting that power versus other players who are exploiting their own race's power. it's supposed to be balanced. They are trying to avoid having some races objectively better able to win than other races.
Posts: 15421 | Registered: Aug 2005
| IP: Logged |
posted
Having some powers that are just much better at combat, or interposing pieces on others' planets, or sheer survivability challenges other players to find ways to work around those powers or work with one another to overcome them. It encourages players to "think sideways". There were a lot of moments of "this player is going to win this fight. Unless this player gets involved. But that player isn't necessarily going to want to turn the aggressor's attention on him. Or this player could throw things completely cockeyed on a whim, and cost them both what might be their best cards for nothing. And this player isn't really getting ahead, but no one can touch him as things currently stand..." And so on.
It wasn't from any conventional standpoint balanced, but it was a long way from dumb. And I do think the re-release is inferior. If you prefer it, that's fine; YMMV, but I stand by my position.
Posts: 3826 | Registered: May 2005
| IP: Logged |
posted
You really stand by the position that galactic encounters isn't supposed to be balanced? that there's just worse races than other races and the developers didn't care or intend otherwise?
Posts: 15421 | Registered: Aug 2005
| IP: Logged |
posted
I think if you had a ridiculous amount of time on your hands and could simulate multiple iterations of a game where one player had power 'x' and three other players had no powers at all, you would find that, statistically, certain powers would win a good deal more often than others. I think that the other players do have their own powers makes that far more difficult to predict, but some of those powers aren't really geared so much to bringing about personal victory as stymieing others' efforts to do so. But that makes for a game that's more about creative power use and interplay between players than sheer force of numbers. So by conventional terms, it isn't balanced in a way that's predictable, but it's not a bad game for that.
ADD: To be clear, I don't think there are any power combinations where one player has no chance of winning. But I think there are certainly combinations where one player has a far better chance of going it alone, or gaining an early advantage, while others have very little chance of victory without either some sort of alliance or the other players ignoring him and whittling down their own resources until he can make his move.
To give a similar example: ever play a game called, alternatively, "Primal Soup" or "Ursuppe?" It involves the evolution of amoebas and their efforts to evolve, feed, and survive. One of the possible "evolutionary paths" is called Struggle For Survival, and allows the player's amoebas to use other players' amoebas for a food source; to become a predator, in other words. After many rounds of play, my family's general concensus is that the predator player probably won't win the game, because they're using their resources on that path rather than others that increase reproduction rate, movement, and feeding efficiency. But they may have a significant role in deciding who will win, and they'll probably have a lot of fun in the process. Again, it's not balanced. But it's still a good game.
Posts: 3826 | Registered: May 2005
| IP: Logged |
There are some races which are more preferred than other ones so I wouldn't say it's perfectly balanced. I'm just trying to say that it was the intent of the designers to balance out the powers of the races and keep all the players on as even a keel as possible.
Some races are ridiculous, though. Virus is like Macron without the ship movement limitation.
Posts: 15421 | Registered: Aug 2005
| IP: Logged |
posted
At first, Virus may seem like an unfair, overpowered race. However, I have never found virus to be the common winner in a lot of games that I have played. There can be games where the Virus player just overpowers everyone else due to sheer numbers, but that has been the exception, not the rule, in my own gaming.
For one, if you only brought 1 ship with you, Virus is actually weaker, since 1 X a number is smaller than 1 + a number. Second of all, Macron had the advantage that you still only had to bring 1 ship to equal 4. If you lost a Macron ship, even though it's worth 4, you still only lose 1 ship, leaving 19 still alive. With Virus, sure, you can bring 4 ships, but if they die, you lose 4 ships, not 1. Third, Antimatter is the bane of Virus. If you are choosing powers, instead of picking randomly, Antimatter should always be in a game with Virus, just for kicks.
Even without antimatter, though, Virus was never as tough as people seemed to think at first impression. It's like having a big brute in the game who everyone is afraid of at first, but soon realize that there are ways to outsmart it. You just don't armwrestle with it, because then you will lose.
Posts: 684 | Registered: Aug 2001
| IP: Logged |
posted
the thing that's wrong with virus p. much is that it's a mechanical extreeeeme. Your race either is reduced to one of two categories against it: 'has a means to deal with it' (pacifist, antimatter, etc) or 'virus food' (philanthropist, mind, vulch, filch, etc)
Of course IMO if I had to pick an overpowered race I would go for Laser.
Posts: 15421 | Registered: Aug 2005
| IP: Logged |
Printer-friendly view of this topic
