Cosmic Encounter review

Cosmic Encounter is a veteran of the space board gaming genre. The first version came out in 1977, the same year that the original Star Wars released, which is fitting because this game is all about fighting wars amongst the stars too. The most recent version of the game is from 2008… kinda. The version you're most likely to see in stores these days is the 2018 rerelease that came with new art and a new alien race, but it's the same game as the 2008 version otherwise.

The easiest way to describe Cosmic is that it's Risk in space, but it fixes almost everything that's wrong with Risk along the way too. Three to five players each take control of an alien race, chosen from a roster of 51 different species. You're each given five planets and a simple mission — turn those five planets into ten. You'll battle it out with other players using numbered cards and, as you'd expect, the bigger numbers win. However, it's those alien races that give Cosmic Encounter the immense depth and replayability that have made it a staple of best space board games lists for closing in on 50 years.

Each race has their own special rule that breaks the game wildly in some specific way, giving them a huge advantage. This is balanced out by the fact that everyone has their own broken power, and it's these clashing abilities that create some of the most tense and tactical moments in board gaming.

Cosmic Encounter: What's in the box & set-up

Setting up a game of Cosmic Encounter is a simple affair. Basic mode is advised for beginners, though there is an advanced mode to add some variety for experienced players too. 

The main rulebook is very simple to follow along with, explaining set-up quickly and concisely. There is also a quick-start guide written in the style of a comic book with several of the game's races explaining the game. It's cute, but honestly far harder to follow than the actual rulebook so I'd advise you just stick to that.

Players choose a color and set up the corresponding color's components in front of them — 5 planets, 20 spaceships, and a colony marker. The spaceships are adorable little UFOs that stack on top of each other to keep the mess of pieces to a minimum, which is a great design consideration that other games could do with taking note of. 

The warp marker (which serves as the spaceship graveyard and score tracker) is placed into the center of the playing area and everyone puts their colony marker in the number zero position. Next, you'll set up the two decks of cards — the destiny deck and the cosmic deck — somewhere central.

All that remains is for everyone to choose their one-of-a-kind alien race. If you're playing the basic mode, you can use the preset cards which match together five alien races that complement each other to make an interesting, but somewhat balanced experience. Advanced players can just randomly select a race from the pool of 51 to create a truly chaotic battle.

Alien race cards are placed face-up on the table so everyone can see them. Each card comes with a fun backstory for roleplayers, some pretty artwork, and a section explaining their unique ability. There is a simplified version of their rule upside down on the top of the card, so opposing players can quickly remind themselves of your distinctive rule. I love this addition, as it keeps the game flowing without players constantly stopping each other to ask “what was your rule again?”.

Image 1 of 2

Once everyone has their alien race sorted, each player is dealt an eight-card starting hand from the cosmic deck. Now you're ready to begin the battle for cosmic supremacy. The official rules say the youngest player goes first, but feel free to ignore this rule and just randomize the first player (otherwise the youngest player in your group will always go first).

Cosmic Encounter: Playing a game

Playing Cosmic Encounter is just as easy as setting it up. The aim is to capture five enemy planets, and you do this by sending ships out to conquer them. Unlike a game like Risk though, you don't get to choose who you're battling. Instead, you draw from the destiny deck and fate decides who your opponent will be every turn. This is a brilliant system that avoids the kind of ganging up tactics that are so prevalent in Risk. You can't pick on the weakest player, you go where destiny tells you to go.

Once destiny has picked your target for you, you point the hyperspace gate token at one of their planets and send up to four ships out to attack them. Both players can then call for allies to help them out in the battle, starting with the attacker. Multiple players can share conquered worlds, so there are real benefits to teaming up, but you also want to be careful that you don't help someone else too far up the ladder to victory.

Winners are determined by the number of ships on each side of the battle, along with encounter cards. These cards have numbers on them between 0 - 40. Once all the ships have been assembled for both sides, each main player (i.e. not any allies) places an encounter card face down. Players then flip the cards and add their total ships and card number together — whichever side has the higher number wins. The losing side's ships go to the warp and if the attackers win they gain a colony, moving the victory tracker up a notch. If you win as the main attacker, you can choose to attack again and draw a second destiny card but after that, win or lose, it's on to the next player.

And that's the basics of the game. It's delightfully simple… too simple on its own, but that's where the alien abilities come in, bringing some much needed depth and strategy to proceedings. The alien abilities are wild and many seem horribly broken in isolation. The Mind can see their opponent's hands, the Gambler bluffs about what their encounter card value is, and the Loser wins fights by losing them. And there are 51 of these epic abilities! This results in an ungodly number of combinations meaning no two games will feel the same. I've played dozens of games of Cosmic Encounter and every one of them felt fresh and different — not many board games can manage that.

Game design is often a delicate equilibrium, with the creators trying to make sure that every ability is fair and balanced. Cosmic Encounter throws all of that out the window, taking the ‘Syndrome from The Incredibles' approach — when everyone's super, no one will be.

Beyond the alien abilities, there are some other card types that can throw a spanner in the works. Alongside the numbered encounter cards, there are also artifact, reinforcement, and negotiate cards in the cosmic deck. Reinforcement cards can add extra bonuses to a combat score after the encounter cards have been revealed, while artifacts trigger powerful one-off effects when played. Negotiate cards let you get some compensation in defeat (and if both players play a negotiate card, they have to put their money where their mouths are and hammer out a deal against the clock — if they can't agree, they both lose ships).

If you choose to play with the advanced rules, there are also technologies you can research and powerful flare cards which trigger special effects that anyone can use, alongside even more powerful versions if played by a specific race. These all add a bit of extra variety to games, arming players with even more tools to screw each other over with.

The end result is a game that hits that wonderful sweet spot of being easy to learn and hard to master. Knowing how to fight and win battles is one thing, but knowing when to call on allies, when to use your reinforcement cards, when to spend artifacts, and even knowing when to save your resources and just lose a battle are all key to victory. This offers a lot of replayability to Cosmic Encounter, which is undoubtedly why it has survived in one form or another for nearly 50 years. You can also bolt on one or more of the seven expansions to spice up your gameplay even more.

My only real complaint when it comes to playing Cosmic Encounter is that it suffers from the same issue as games like Munchkin — the player who gets close to winning first gets nuked by everyone else, as they spend all their cards and ships trying to stop them winning. This means the second place player just behind them often coasts to victory unopposed, resulting in an anti-climactic final battle. 

Should you buy Cosmic Encounter?

If you're at all interested in space and sci-fi board games, Cosmic Encounter should be a part of your collection. It's easy to pick up and play, meaning you can introduce new players quickly. It also offers such an immense amount of depth and variety that veterans will get years of fun out of it without getting bored.

Randomising who each player fights is a stroke of genius that prevents those feels bad moments where players gang up on weaker players, kicking them when they're down. Instead, Cosmic Encounter is a true free-for-all and, for my money, one of the best board games ever made. 

If Cosmic Encounter isn't for you?

Want a bit more diplomacy and politics in your galactic conquests? Then Twilight Imperium is the space board game for you. Think of it as a game of Risk mixed with a meeting of the UN security council. It's expensive and each game will likely take you a full day to play, but you'll be rewarded with one of the most immersive and tactical games out there.

Or perhaps you have a more optimistic view of space travel, and don't want to blast aliens to pieces? Then check out Terraforming Mars, a wonderful game about turning the red planet into a paradise.