Greetings,

I am new to this game, having played it only twice so far. In the rules it states that after each player chooses their Alien Sheet, it is placed "face down" in front of them. This makes thematic sense, because the first encounter between two cosmic races would be as strangers. However, I cannot find anywhere in the rules where it states when the Alien Sheets should be revealed.

So, when should the Alien Sheets be turned face up? What we decided to do was, after setup is completed, each player reveals their alien and reads aloud the text on the Alien Sheet.

Is this correct, or are we going about this in the wrong way?

That is correct. You place your Alien Sheet face down so that knowledge of your alien does not affect other players' decisions about which aliens they will choose.

We play a hidden power variant, in which you do not reveal your power until you use it, unless it is a set up power, which would be revealed at the start of the game. Some powers are stronger using this variant than they would be without it, notably powers with alternate winning conditions, like Masochist or Genius.

We play a hidden power variant, in which you do not reveal your power until you use it, unless it is a set up power, which would be revealed at the start of the game. Some powers are stronger using this variant than they would be without it, notably powers with alternate winning conditions, like Masochist or Genius.

That's so true. The one time that I played with the hidden power variant, I had the Masochist. After choosing it, I felt bad, and told the rest of the players that we should probably reset because I had an unfair advantage. They refused. So, a little bit of "poor decision making," "bad luck," and acting angry/sad, allowed me to easily win the game by losing all of my ships!