Second in a series of articles taking a (mostly) fond look back at the 15 aliens included in the original 1977 release of Cosmic Encounter: Name: Virus
Description: "Multiplies in attack"
Power: "You have the power to multiply"
Art: A scary-looking bacteria dude
The rule it breaks: You add your ships to your card number.
Still active? Yes; included in the FFG core set
CE Online? Yes; generally regarded as "unbeatable" ... until it starts getting beaten all the time
One-sentence pass/fail test*: Pass. "You multiply your ships times your card."
Power scale (1-5): 4. Definitely powerful ... and easily beaten. Virus often seems like a 6 on the power scale; a bit of experience proves this isn't the case.
For 30 years, Virus fans have said: "200! Booyah!"
For 30 years, Virus detractors have said: "Seriously? Your total is 200? Clearly, this game is broken."
Description: "Multiplies in attack"
Power: "You have the power to multiply"
Art: A scary-looking bacteria dude
The rule it breaks: You add your ships to your card number.
Still active? Yes; included in the FFG core set
CE Online? Yes; generally regarded as "unbeatable" ... until it starts getting beaten all the time
One-sentence pass/fail test*: Pass. "You multiply your ships times your card."
Power scale (1-5): 4. Definitely powerful ... and easily beaten. Virus often seems like a 6 on the power scale; a bit of experience proves this isn't the case.
For 30 years, Virus fans have said: "200! Booyah!"
For 30 years, Virus detractors have said: "Seriously? Your total is 200? Clearly, this game is broken."
* A completely arbitrary test of whether an alien power can be explained to a CE newcomer in exactly one sentence, using basic English.
8 comments:
As I said before, great idea for a series... keep up the good work.
Virus is definitely a classic, as it is remarkably simple in its execution, but also a heavyweight that does the change the game, and I really agree with FFG's decision to make it a "red alert" alien. I have a vague memory of meeting "friends of friends" in high school, who tried to introduce our RPG group to CE. IIRC, the game's owner had Virus, and I remember having the same "detractor" thought... "160? This game must be broken." I would not hear of or play CE again for 10 years. Virus is not a power that should come out with newbies at the table.
Yet I do enjoy the challenge of being in a game with Virus, and rallying the other players to help me defeat it. Among experienced players, this is one of the more enjoyable experiences. Virus is very well-designed as it has a marvelous Achilles' heel: with 1 ship it's weaker than a "standard power" and with 0 it's helpless. I don't like playing Virus; winning as Virus is like Billy Madison whaling all the kids in dodgeball.
Yeah, the first few times you see Virus win with 60 ... or 80 ... or 154 ... you're convinced that CE is fundamentally flawed. Thankfully, many players are willing to go deeper under the hood to see what's REALLY going on.
Virus being the worst one-ship alien in the game is my favorite piece of "bet you didn't know" CE trivia.
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