Replace "Small World" with "Cosmic Encounter"

I'm back to dreaming of one day playing Cosmic Encounter on the Apple iPad.

Saturday's announcement that Days of Wonder's Small World boardgame was being released in a digital version in the iPad App Store ($4.99; here's a handy link) was a welcome surprise. Not only is Small World a pretty fun little game on its own, but it shares a number of features — light basic rule-set, races with variable powers, social aspect, etc. — with a game we have discussed quite a bit around here.

Small World serves as proof that interesting boardgames can be done for the iPad (and, peeking into the future, for whichever directions mobile computing takes in the next few years). This isn't yet another app for hearts, or poker, or a Yahtzee variant — it's a beautiful recreation of a very popular boardgame. It can be done, and it can be done well.

So why not Cosmic Encounter? Well, as Cosmic Encounter Online owner Peter Olotka is quick to point out, time and money are two big factors. But those are hurdles that can be overcome — they might not be easy, but they can be conquered. And, once they are, I really see no reason at all why we won't someday be playing CE on our iPads. Picture the following set-up:

• Cosmic Encounter app: $4.99 for a base version with 10 to 16 aliens;
• Alien expansion packs: $1.99 (or maybe 99 cents) for maybe four to six more aliens;
• Large expansion packs: $3.99 or $4.99 for a major addition such as moons or lucre; $2.99 or $3.99 for a mega-pack of 15 aliens.

That's all off the top of my head. It seems like a win-win to me: the owners of the CE brand can generate some much-needed revenue beyond CE Online; veteran CE players will feel like they've died and gone to heaven; newcomers — and there would be hundreds, at least — will experience a classic game for the first time.

My God ... Cosmic Encounter is full of stars!

It looks like the Cosmic Encounter creativity bug has bitten some of the usual suspects. Two major homebrew projects are currently getting a lot of reaction over at the self-proclaimed Leading Boardgames Site, and both are pretty neat (both are what might be called "planet-based," too, which is kind of interesting). Anyway, point that clicking thing at these links for Cosmic Stars and Planetary Profiles.

As an aside, I'll add that I really enjoy this direction for CE variants. As I've made clear elsewhere, I am pretty much over the whole "homebrew alien" thing; we just don't need a 37th variant of Pacifist. In fact, I'm actively boycotting any discussion at any site regarding homebrew aliens — I just literally skip right over those threads. Bleh. I've got your Macron variant right here, pal!

But adding entirely new concepts to the game — especially those that have been playtested at least a little bit — is definitely something TheDukester can support.

It'll be Twilight: Dune. Wait, no, it won't! Hmmm ... yes, it will! Gah! I can't decide

Some out there in gamer-land might remember that Fantasy Flight Games ended its annual GenCon "state of the nation" address with a mysterious graphic showing three large black boxes. These served as teases representing three larger products — apparently, two huge "coffin box" games and one game of "standard" FFG size — that the company had in production, but was not prepared to announce publicly.

Now, two months later, the boxes are back.

Pictured above is a screen capture from FFG's home page, heralding the return of the three black boxes and promising that details are forthcoming. Being basically the same person I was two months ago, I'm still wondering the same thing I was back in August: will we be seeing Twilight: Dune (or Dune: Imperium, or Dune with Dinosaurs, or whatever) in one of those boxes?

I think we might. Being a gamer has taught me that wishful thinking is often a disappointing road to travel, but there's a few reasons to believe that there might be a new Dune game announced soon. For one thing, the original announcement that FFG would use the Dune mechanics for a new Twilight: Imperium-themed game came in 2007, so they've had plenty of time to work on it. For another, FFG
has lately shown a willingness to go into stealth mode concerning some upcoming projects (Android, I'm looking at you), and I think Dune: Imperium would fit in with that concept quite nicely. Lastly, Twilight: Imperium will always be important to FFG and founder Christian Petersen — the first edition essentially launched the company — and I'm just having a gut feeling that it's time to announce something that involves the TI universe.

So, my official prediction: yes, there is a new Dune somewhere in one of those boxes. Some other guesses from throughout the interwebs can be found here and here.

Anyone else have any strong feelings? Hunches? Complete guesswork?

Okay, now it just needs to stop

The "let's stretch the rules to the breaking point" game is great fun ... every so often. It's not meant to be a daily thing ...

My official CE: Incursion predictions

I figure we're almost exactly 24 hours from the expected announcement of the first Cosmic Encounter expansion — see post below — so here's a quick guess at what we'll be seeing:

Title: Cosmic Encounter: Incursion.
Size: No more than half the size of the big CE box. Thinner, like one of the Lords of the Rings expansions.
New aliens: 20 to 25.
New mechanics: Hazards is a definite, as its already mentioned in the original CE rulebook. Rules and pieces for a sixth player will be added. I also expect to see one totally new mechanic (much like Tech was completely new in the original edition).
Price: Either $29 or $39, depending on how much of the new stuff is printed on heavy stock.

Who will be king of the Cosmic mountain?

Things are still very, very close at the ongoing Alphabetical Aliens league at Cosmic Encounter, where six players have at least two wins, but only one has at least three. The latest standings, heading into tonight's action, can be found here.

Interested parties should also note that a new qualifying procedure is in place. Rather than set an arbitrary number of minimum games played to be eligible for the finals, the number will be determined by computing an average number of games played for all players. This makes much more sense, and it will allow a greater degree of flexibility (busy leagues will have a higher minimum-games-played number than less-busy leagues, but both will be using a valid method to determine the finalists). I hope this new qualifying procedure remains in place for all future leagues.

Fantasy Flight's FAQ a fabulous first

While going over Fantasy Flight's official Cosmic Encounter FAQ today, it occurred to me that the document really is the first of its kind. Despite a 30-plus-year history, CE has never had an official** FAQ of any kind, with simple poor timing being a big part of the reason.

Consider the history:

• Eon (1977): The concept of an "internet" was understood by about 23 people in the whole world when Cosmic was first published, all of whom worked for the Defense Department, so that wasn't exactly a big factor. The Future Pastimes gang was able to issue some rulings in their Encounter newsletter, which was nice, but that publication certainly didn't reach every CE player. Later, Expansion #9 cleared up a lot of issues — and, in its own way, was sort of FAQ-like — but that was it for CE in its original form. There would be no further Eon-branded items.
• Mayfair (1991): I think Mayfair, had they kept the CE license a bit longer, likely would have eventually posted some sort of FAQ on their ultra-primitive website of the mid-90s. And we all would have gleefully paid AOL even more usage fees to dial up our 56K modems and have a look at it. Sadly, we'll never really know, though. By the time the concept of the fabled World Wide Web was familiar to more people than just the propeller-heads, Mayfair had long since ceased to actively support CE.
• Avalon Hill (2000): This one is a no-brainer. There's no doubt at all that AH would have eventually released a FAQ ... of course, that would imply that they chose to support the game in the first place, which we all know didn't happen, for whatever reason. But had AH announced plans for, say, one or two expansions, they certainly would have also taken the time to add a FAQ to their support pages, which were actually pretty good for that time period.

(All of which reminds me: you know what other classic game from the same era could really use an official FAQ? Dune. Big-time. Not a bizarre Q&A session that many people have attempted to pass off as a FAQ over the years, but an honest-to-God real FAQ. Anyone who doubts this needs to poll 10 experienced Dune players and ask them exactly how Bene Gesserit co-existence works.)

Wait, I'm digressing. Where was I? Oh, yeah: welcome to the Cosmic family, Mr. Official FAQ Document. Now prepare to be picked apart.

**Official = a FAQ produced by the publisher. Unofficial = all other attempts at FAQs, no matter how well-researched or well-intentioned.

A bit of Cosmic flavor from Bruno?

I've got a firm radar-lock on Ad Astra, the new title from Bruno Faidutti that's due out this summer, and I'm really liking what I'm seeing so far. In fact, I'd go so far as to say that Bruno — an official Friend of Cosmic — has included some Cosmic-like elements in Ad Astra, which will be distributed in the colonies by Fantasy Flight Games. Take a look at the FFG.com page and judge for yourself.

Either way, this is a must-buy for me. Bruno has designed some wonderful asymmetric, variable-power games in the past — check out Citadels, especially, if you haven't played it yet — and by putting a nice space-exploration theme on Ad Astra, he's basically reaching into my wallet already. I'm okay with that, though, as long as I get to zoom around in spaceships and intimidate/bribe/exploit interesting alien races for fun and profit.

Come on, summer! I want to start playing now.

Shared wins: Okay, or spawn of the devil?

I haven't checked in for a while over at the World's Leading Boardgames Site™, so I missed this item when it first appeared. It's a poll subject I've thought of posting here, but I'll just piggy-back onto theirs (and they'll get more responses over there, anyway): shared wins in Cosmic Encounter. Are they acceptable or just one step removed from kicking puppies?

For once, my feelings are lining up with the popular vote. Depending on the situation, I'll take my wins where I can get them, especially against top-level opponents.

Why I'm glad The Two Hacks aren't gamers

Winds of Dune, the upcoming new "Dune" book — and those quote-marks are there on purpose — is so bad that it causes computers to crash. Alleged "writer" Kevin J. Anderson says so right on his self-indulgent Twitter page.

So it's time to give thanks to Shai-Hulud, once again, that Hack One and his idiot friend Frank Herbert's Son had nothing whatsoever to do with the classic Dune boardgame. Nor will their input be needed for the upcoming Twilight: Dune.

Bless the Maker and all His Water. Bless the coming and going of Him, May His passing cleanse the world. May He keep the world for his people.

Homebrew aliens: Has it all been done before?

Unlike many Cosmic Encounter players, I'm not a big reader of other players' homebrewed aliens. And I never really have been, even back in the days when there were far fewer of them. Currently, for example, there's a number of active internet discussions regarding homebrews (such as here, here, here, and here), and I've barely glanced at any of them.

Yet I'm a huge fan of the game. I maintain the only actively updated CE news site on the interwebs, for crying out loud! And I like variable-power games in general, so it should stand to reason that I would like discussing new powers, right? But I can barely focus when I begin reading a homebrewed-alien discussion, and I almost never stick around to the end. Why? Sadly, I'm a big believer in the following:

It's all been done before.

That's right: there's basically very, very few original ideas that are left to explore. The pod-moving alien someone scribbled down on a napkin and then posted to FFG.com? That's just the wild flare from some other homebrew first posted to the old CE newsgroup in 1995. That math-based creation you've got tucked away in your old Eon box? Sorry, it's too similar to alien X or Y from Eon Expansion #7. That flash of inspiration you had while playing Human or Fodder or Hacker for the first time? Bzzzzt! That was published way back in Encounter Magazine. Or ...

• ... it's too much like this wild flare;
• ... or that super flare;
• ... or it's just a weak version of this alien;
• ... or a stronger version of that one.

I'm finding, also, that even the really unique ... uh, I'll say "attempts" ... at completely off-the-wall aliens fall far, far short of being anything I'd ever include in my game. These aliens might manage to not be similar to any existing alien, but most of them also manage to be virtually unplayable. Usually, it's a case of ...

• ... it's too specialized and can only be used maybe once per game;
• ... or only you understand it;
• ... or it requires 20 minutes to explain and needs to be reproduced in 4-point type to fit on even the huge FFG alien sheets;
• ... or it flat-out breaks the game;
• ... or it's just not any damn fun.

Circling back to my original thesis, if I may: the more homebrew items that I come across, the more I'm convinced that there's just not a lot of original ideas left out there, as least as far as the basic mechanics of the game are concerned. Here's what I'm talking about:

Anyone looking to author, say, an ally-based alien (just to use one traditional and easily-understood CE mechanism) needs to take a look at the long history of such powers, which dates back all the way to the original Eon box and includes numerous aliens, both official and unofficial. Have all the angles been covered? That's a legitimate question, and one that can only be answered by studying the relevant official aliens (Parasite, Crystal, Magnet, Observer, and their friends ... even Philanthropist would need to be examined) and also attempting to research the literally hundreds of homebrews that are accessible on the Information Superhighway (most easily, probably, at The Warp's excellent database). Even if our hypothetical homebrew author's new idea still seems original enough, there's always the specter of flares to make him think twice and want to go play Fireball Island instead. Because without researching a metric butt-load of flares — many of which include some sort of "use as an ally" mechanism — our author can't really be sure that his idea wasn't first conceived and published to the webs in like 1992.*

Here's a case in point: the author of this thread at FFG.com posts 11 homebrewed creations and pretty quickly gets the feedback he was asking for. Within one page, a number of questions have been raised ... and within three pages, his ideas have been riddled with enough lead to open a pencil factory. Or, as one user puts it, none too gently (spelling and grammar errors left intact):

Unfortunately most of these aliens you suggested are EXACT copies of already existing one's on The Warp or are way to close or are close but inferior, and therefore are pointless to add to The Warp since they already exist and would just clutter things up with spam. And unintentionally plagiarized spam at that.

I'll type the names of your version and the one's that have existed in the Warp or in Eon/Mayfair for years to clarify.

Hitchhiker = Jack Reda's Stowaway; Strategist = Eon's Worm; Quarker = Jack Reda's Ninja; Colossal = A worse version Cendric Chin's Terminator; Aegis = FFG's Observer; Mechanism = Jack Reda's Engineer; Fanatic = FFG's Kamikaze

Egads. That's pretty harsh, and it's not exactly how I would have phrased it**, but it does get to the gist of what I'm arguing here. Maybe not literally, but in a very basic sense, there's no new alien ideas remaining out there. Or, at best, very few ...

We've talked about the alliance mechanism, but it seems fair to say that the same problems would apply to basically any standard CE operation. Card movement, card alteration, hand manipulation, Negotiate cards, Attack cards (and Attack cards of certain values), Destiny, ship movement, the Warp, the other powers in the game, artifacts, and on and on. All of those areas have dozens of already-established aliens, both official and homebrew. When I find myself reading a homebrewed-alien thread — whether at FFG.com, BoardgameGeek, the CE forums, or anywhere else CE is discussed — I usually don't get very far before I begin (much like our friend who is quoted above) mentally checking off problems, something like this:

Too similar to Trader ... that's just the Virus flare ... a weak Pacifist ... that one causes too much book-keeping ... that one looks like it's written in Aramaic ... that one just sucks.

It's like I can't help it. And it certainly doesn't make me want to stop what I'm doing, dress these aliens up in Photoshop, print them out, and actually use them. I've already got Philanthropist, Sorcerer, Reserve, Fido, Dictator, and Hacker; I really don't need minor variations of them.

Now, just to be clear, I won't go so far as to say that every angle, literally, of every CE mechanic has been covered. For one thing, it's impossible to prove one way or the other — in fact, I'll even agree that the existence of brand-spanking new aliens in the FFG box at least partially damages my theory. For another, I suspect that the real cream of the crop of homebrew authors (and, frankly, beyond Jack Reda***, that's a pretty short list) can still come up with some interesting variations. But they will be diamonds in the rough, and there will be acres of chaff to wade through to get to this sort of nourishing wheat.

So where does that leave the concept of homebrewed aliens? Am I saying that the entire idea is not even worth the effort? Not exactly. What I suspect is going to happen — and we're already seeing some of this — is that a different type of homebrew is going to begin to grab most of the spotlight.

Frankly, the CE system does not need a 200th variation on collecting compensation; what could be of benefit, though, are entirely new concepts: Tech-based aliens, "planet-manipulation" powers that take advantage of the independent planets in the FFG edition, aliens that play off the Hazard Deck concept that the FFG rulebook practically admits will be in the first expansion, and — last, but perhaps more important — alternate-win aliens that are as clever as Masochist and Tick-Tock, which are already claiming a large part of the attention currently being lavished upon the new FFG aliens. Some of these concepts have even been featured at this very site, which was one of the first to say, "Hey, look how cool these planet-based powers can be!"

If I was a homebrew writer — and, for the record, I most assuredly am not, at least as far as aliens are concerned — those are the areas I'd be looking at. I'd want to be the first guy to write an uber-cool Hazard-based alien rather than the 99th guy to write a "new" Trader. And as a fan of the game, I can guarantee that aliens based upon those new concepts are the only ones that I'll actually be paying much attention to as CE prepares to enter its fifth decade.

It's probably a safe bet that a couple of completely new aliens will be published for the first time in the upcoming CE expansion set, much as Remora made its debut in the recent big box. I'll be very interested to see those aliens and to guess why they were considered good enough — and different enough — to be worthy of publication.

I can't help but think, though, that those aliens will definitely be the exception to the rule. The cosmos is already pretty much filled up, as far as I can tell.

* To say nothing of Moons, which should also be researched. There's a number of good Moons out there, and many of them essentially have an "alien power."

**And can I just add, quickly, that I really can't stand the "So-And-So's Alien" vernacular? It's from the heyday of the CE newsgroup in the mid-1990s, and some of those guys have a hard time rembering that not every current CE player was involved with the game a dozen years ago. I don't mind giving credit for an alien creation, but let's not get too crazy about it.

***Who, BTW, the first two images in this article are shamelessly stolen from.

Mayfair's goofy icons: 1991-2008, R.I.P.

So long, ridiculous Mayfair timing icons. You had a good run, and you certainly have your fans, but Fantasy Flight's 50-times-better timing strip is pretty much putting an end to your alleged usefulness.

You didn't "save" Cosmic Encounter, just for the record; that's one of the biggest myths in gaming history. And your errata, if anyone had bothered to compile it, would have been a hefty document. Still, you weren't all bad, I suppose. Maybe you helped settle a rules argument or two. I wouldn't know; I was too busy fondling my Eon collection.

Godspeed, goofy timing icons. Go in peace.

And that will about do it for the Amazon idea

A few weeks ago, over at the old address for this site, I posted the news that Amazon was offering a fairly substantial discount on the new Fantasy Flight Games version of Cosmic Encounter. At the time, I hesitated to post the information at all, knowing from painful experience that Amazon is not exactly a big player in boardgame distribution, but, in the end, I decided that the potential savings might be something that Blogmic readers would be interested in.

Interested or not, I now regret even bringing it up. Amazon is light years beyond useless when it comes to gaming: inaccurate listings, shipping dates that change on a whim, robotic replies for "customer service" ... these are just three of the problems with the typical Amazon game listing. And, sadly, many Cosmic Encounter fans are now caught up in Amazon's web of inaccuracies:

Horror stories I

Horror stories II

Horror stories III

Horror stories IV

So, yeah, I think that will about play a Quash on any further Amazon mentions from me. They are the best in the world at delivering books, CDs, and DVDs, but truly hopeless when it comes to games.

FINALLY, there's multiple CE listings at BGG

In a move that's at least three years overdue, the powers-what-is at BoardGameGeek have deigned to give Cosmic Encounter multiple entries in their database. The new Fantasy Flight Games edition has been split off into its own listing, although every other edition of CE ever produced — Eon, Mayfair, West End, all of the foreign editions, you name it — are still lumped together in one area. This means, among other things, that about half of the CE discussion regarding the "all-in-one" CE revolves around which edition is better.

This is a site that thinks nothing of having about 10,000 entries for Monopoly — even though 99 percent of those are exactly the same game with only the names of the spaces changed. It's also a site that didn't blink twice before immediately creating separate entries for new editions to games such as Britannia, Arkham Horror, and Fury of Dracula, to name just three (all of which are FFG properties now, interestingly enough).

This being BGG we're talking about, there is, of course, no guarantee that the various editions of CE will remain split. From the main page of the new CE listing:

This is the new entry for the Fantasy Flight printing of Cosmic Encounter. As the new game changes several mechanisms of the original, and is available in a much wider release, the two games should be regarded as separate entities. This is a tentative determination based on prospective information; If the games are deemed the same after release, then they will be merged.

Whatever, clowns. Go back to your Agricola-worship.

5 reasons Reincarnator is a great CE Online alien

In many ways, Reincarnator is the perfect Cosmic Encounter Online alien. Here’s five reasons why:

1. He’s random and chaotic. Thirty years ago, the designers decided to build Cosmic Encounter around a foundation of randomness and chaos.
2. He’s a blast to play, even when you’re losing (in some cases, especially when you’re losing).
3. He is a potential building block for future CEO features. The CEO design team can take what they learn from building Reincarnator and possibly apply it to future features such as "join in progress" or "get 3, pick 1."
4. He will generate enough buzz in the lobby that CEO is almost guaranteed to gain some new membership subscriptions.
5. With Reincarnator, you’re never going to be out of the game.

That last one is actually the most important factor to me. I’m a firm believer that the most important rule ever written for Cosmic Encounter is the one that allows you to retrieve a ship from the warp to begin your turn, ensuring that no player — no matter how hopeless the situation — is ever actually eliminated from a game.

Reincarnator reflects this rule in a lot of ways. No matter how desperate the situation might look, this is an alien power that ensures you will never be truly eliminated. Think about switching to Warpish when the warp is full … or switching to Trader when your foes all have huge hands … or switching to Pacifist when your hand is full of Ns. I’m sure you get the idea. This is a power that can take you from the outhouse to the penthouse in a matter of just a couple of turns.