• Abstract and Figures
• Public Full-text

Welcome to Game Overview the Cosmos In Cosmic Encounter®, each player is the leader of an alien race. The object of the game is to establish colonies in other Uncountable eons ago, at the dawn of a forgotten age, a race players’ planetary systems. Players take turns trying to estab- evolved at the heart of a spiral galaxy. Later, they would come to lish colonies. The winner(s) are the first player(s) to have five be known as the Precursors. They were the first intelligent life in colonies on any planets outside his or her home system. A player the universe, and they were alone. does not need to have colonies in all of the systems, just colonies on five planets outside his or her home system. These colonies Their technology was nothing short of miraculous, and it allowed may all be in one system or scattered over multiple systems. them to explore the universe as they sought out other sentient be- ings. However, their search was in vain. Feeling the weight of their solitude, eventually the Precursors sent out probes to thousands of inhabitable planets. Each probe What is a Colony? contained the seeds of life, with the hope that sentience would eventually follow. A colony is defined as one or more ships of the same color on a planet. If a player has one ship on After that, no one knows what happened to them. Perhaps they fell a planet, he or she has a colony there. If a player victim to some unknown threat, or perhaps they simply evolved be- has two or more ships on the same planet, it still yond this universe. In any event, by the time the probes’ “children” only counts as one colony, composed of multiple began to master space travel, the Precursors were gone. ships. A player may only have one colony on any given planet. However, a planet may have more They left behind a mighty legacy, however. At the edge of each than one colony, provided each colony is con- solar system where they planted one of their ‘seeds,’ the Precursors trolled by a different player. A colony that a player left a cache of technology and a hyperspace gate. Through this gift, owns in her or her home system is referred to as a their children could find and communicate with each other. home colony, while a colony that a player owns in any other player’s home system is called a foreign And so they began to do so. Although the younger races did not colony. Establishing foreign colonies is the key to completely understand the Precursor’s technology, they were able winning the game. to use it easily enough. Of course, without the guiding hand of the elder race, the younger races soon fell to squabbling among them- selves. Eventually this gave rise to the current age – the Cosmic Age. Cosmic Encounter® is a game for three to five players (the more players the better), playable in one to two hours. In Cos- During a mic Encounter®, players take on the role of various alien races in a struggle for cosmic supremacy. The players must use force, Player’s Turn cunning, and diplomacy to ensure their victory. The winner(s) will be the first player(s) to have five colonies on any planets out- On a player’s turn, he or she becomes the offense. The offense side his or her home system. encounters another player (the defense, determined by draw- ing from the destiny deck) on a planet by moving a group of his or her ships through the hyperspace gate to that planet. The offense and defense invite allies to their side and then, after alliances are declared, play an encounter card facedown. The 2 encounter cards are revealed, and the combination of ships, encounter cards, and other effects determines the outcome of Component the encounter. The offense and its allies may establish a colony on the planet, they may lose their ships to the warp, or some Overview other outcome may result. Although both players can see how many ships each side has in the encounter, neither side knows The following sections briefly describe and identify the compo- which card the other side will play or what other effects may be nents of Cosmic Encounter®. brought to bear on the outcome. If a player loses the first encounter, that player’s turn ends and The Warp play passes to the left. If a player wins the first encounter, that player has the option to have a second encounter. Regardless This board is the center of the play- of the second encounter’s outcome, the player’s turn then ends ing area. Defeated ships go here and play passes to the left. while waiting to be freed. The Warp Alien Powers and Player Rules Conflicts Colony Markers Each player has an alien power that allows him or her to break These markers are placed on the certain game rules. In any case where game rules conflict with track around the warp to record an alien power, the power takes precedence. the players’ progress towards win- ning the game. Components Player Colony Markers Hyperspace Gate • This Rulebook • 1 Warp The hyperspace gate is used during • 5 Player Colony Markers encounters to clearly show • 1 Hyperspace Gate where and how an encounter is • 25 Player Planets (5 per player) taking place. • 100 Plastic Ships (20 per player) Hyperspace Gate • 50 Alien Sheets • 20 Destiny Cards Player Planets • 72 Cosmic Cards • 50 Flare Cards Each player receives five player • 20 Tech Cards planets in that player’s • 42 Cosmic Tokens color. These five planets • 7 Grudge Tokens make up the player’s • 1 Genesis Planet home system. Player Planets • 1 Lunar Cannon Token • 1 Prometheus Token • 1 Alternate Filch Flare Plastic Ships Each player receives 20 plastic ships in that player’s color. The ships are designed to stack on top of each other in order to save space while playing. 3 Destiny Cards These cards are used to determine a player’s opponent dur- Alien Sheets ing his or her encounters. See “Destiny” on page 7 for further details. Each of these sheets illustrates a different alien being and describes its unique power. DESTINY YELLOW 5 5 Have an encounter with 4 the yellow player in his or her home system. However, if you are yellow player, either: the A) Have an encounter with any other player in your home system or, B) Discard this card and draw again. ESTINY D Cosmic Cards Cosmic cards come in three varieties: 1 Encounter Cards 2 These consist of attacks, negotiates, and the morph card, and 3 are used to resolve encounters. See “Reveal” on page 9 for further details. 40 ENCOUNTER ENCOUNTER ENCOUNTER 6 7 ATTACK NEGOTIATE MORPH 8 40 Opposed by Attack: Opposed by Attack Duplicates opponent’s Higher total (ships + Loses, but collects encounter card when card) wins. compensation. revealed. Opposed by Negotiate: Opposed by Negotiate Wins, but opponent Players have one minute to 1. Name: This is the alien’s name. collects compensation. make a deal or lose three ships to the warp. 40 E E E R E R E NCOUNT R E NCOUNT 2. Power: This text explains the alien’s special power. NCOUNT The word use in bold italics indicates when a power may be canceled with a “Cosmic Zap.” Attack Negotiate Morph 3. History: This is the alien’s history. It has no effect on gameplay. Reinforcement Cards 4. Short Power Description: An abbreviated explana- tion of the alien’s power for the other players to read. These can be used to turn the tide of an encounter. See “Rein- forcement Cards” on page 13 for a complete description. 5. Skill Level: The recommended skill level of the play- ers when using this alien. Green is beginner, yellow is intermediate, and red is expert. +5 REINFORCEMENT 6. Player Prerequisite: This text explains which role (offense, defense, main player, ally, etc.) the player must be filling to use the alien’s power. +5 Adds to either side’s total. Play after encounter cards 7. Optional/Mandatory: This text states whether using are revealed. Main Player or Ally Only the alien’s power is optional or mandatory. Start Turn Regroup Alliance Destiny Planning Launch Reveal Resolution 5 + NT EME INFORC E 8. Timing Strip: The orange part of this strip shows in R which phase(s) the alien’s power is used. 4 Cosmic Tokens These tokens are used by certain aliens (such as the Warrior or Artifact Cards the Tick-Tock) to keep track of certain alien-specific statistics over the course of the game. These have a variety of effects. See “Artifact Cards” on page 13 for a complete description. ARTIFACT COSMIC ZAP Stops Power. Play this card at any time to cancel one use of any alien’s power, including your own. at power may not be used again during the current encounter. Grudge Tokens As Any Player Start Turn Regroup Destiny Launch - Alliance Planning Reveal Resolution A CT A RTIF These tokens are used by the Grudge to keep track of players being affecting by the Grudge’s power, and their use is ex plained on the Grudge’s sheet. Flare Cards - Flare cards are mixed into the cosmic deck at the start of the game. Like artifacts, flare cards have various effects. Unlike ar tifacts, flares are returned to a player’s hand after being played. In addition, each flare card is keyed to a specific alien and has a different effect when played by that alien.

Load more

  16

Copy Link