Monday, October 3, 2016

Mail Room: Cosmic Encounter

Look what came in the mail yesterday!

And yes, we did play a game and had a blast. This is one of those where you wonder aloud, "How did we miss playing this?" It really is that fun, especially if you like games that twist your mind, force you to negotiate with other players, tempt you to take risks, manage an ever-changing hand of cards, and get you out of your comfort zone.

This is not a Civilisation type game of empire management, it is more like a death-match version of Magic the Gathering mixed with some old-school Paranoia RPG madness when interpreting rules and putting the screw-job to an opposing player. And then the next turn you need their help and you are the best of friends. And back to screwing with that player again the turn after that.

It's madness and we love it. It has think-you-have won moments suddenly reversed in the next turn by a jaw dropping combination of luck, skilled play, poker-player like bluffing, alien powers, and smart card management. It is a blast if you don't take yourself too seriously, love to play out of your comfort zone, and have a Machiavellian streak in you a mile wide.

It also makes you think twice about traditional stat-based RPGs and board-games and how dry those can get at times. There is a lot of design genius in this one, rally simple rules, a dynamic hand, and rule that encourage you to twist your strategy around in ways you would never expect.

We played head-to-head with two players, which isn't really optimal, but we still managed to have a lot of fun and the game still held up and worked. We were constantly in each other's face all night as the losses piled up and the back-and-forth was epic and silly at times, but it still played well and we had a blast.

Check this one out, it is a fun one and a classic.

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