Hi there,

I am unable to find the number of players for this game: on BGG it is said 3-5; however the old Cosmic Encounter was 2-4; TricTrac said 2-5, and I have not seen any indication on the FFG mini-site.

So, playable with 2?

And about the duration: 60'?

2-player CE is generally a bad idea; alliances are important to the game, and facing the same player multiple times in a row generally isn't fun (especially if there's a nasty power combination such as Macron and Anti-Matter going on). Some people have written 2-player variants in which each players controls 2 systems, which I suppose helps a little.

As for the FFG version of CE, the box comes with parts for up to 5 players, with hints of an expansion pushing the limit to 8.

I never bother trying to play CE with fewer than 5 players....

Here is one 2-player variant mentioned: http://redamedia.com/warp/twoplay.php

I'd rather play CE online with 3 bots than try to do a 2 or 3 player game. For me, CE is best with 6 (or more!)

Kratos38 said:

This edition is officially 3 to 5 players (box and rulebook are consistent on this). No attempt is made to provide any support for a 2-player version, although I wouldn't be stunned to see 2-player rules in a future expansion.

You can play the game just fine with two players. It is just a subset of the game.

You have to be careful with alien selection. A lot of aliens have powers that depend on alliances. No alliances in a two player game.

I play two player games sometimes and we just pick a subset of allowable aliens and do away with destiny (just attacking where each wants).

Agreed. By my reckoning there are only six powers in the FFG version that cannot be used in a two-player game: Observer, Parasite, Will, Shadow, Dictator and Grudge. Also, some of the flare abilities are not applicable in a two-player game - again its the ones that refer to the alliance rules. The Force Field artifact becomes a useless card - but in the original Eon rules, it was kept in play.

Also, in a two-player game the destiny deck is not used. Each turn, the player has the option to attack the opponent's system or else an opponent's base in the player's home system.

gunslinger said:

I don't really see why Shadow wouldn't work in a two-player game. It might be a little BRUTAL, but so would a lot of powers.

There is a variant where each player has two planetary systems and two alien powers (but only one hand I think -- can't remember for sure, but see The Warp for details). Basically, you play an almost normal game, where you can invite your other self to ally, etc. If you use that variant, then Observor and Grudge become good. Will and Dictator do something, but are probably too weak to include, and Parasite still needs to be left out.