Ok, I maybe am interested in picking this up down the line, but had been holding off due to so many other cool games I wanted coming out (BSG, Talisman).

How does this compare to the old editions though? People may say this is blasphemy, but I really like the look of the Avalon Hill version. I liked the look of the ships and the board better, and also liked that the race cards could stand upright.

I was actually curious if it would hurt anything to just use the new cards, races, etc from this new version, but use the ships and the board from the Avalon Hill version. If so this might be worth it to me, as a ton of new races would be pretty sweet.

Thx.

There is no gameplay difference between the versions, barring technicalities, timing issues, and the fact that there's over 400% more stuff. (Quoted figure is not a shot in the dark.)

You could technically play a FFG-style game with AH pieces, but I don't think it would make you very popular.

Toomai said:

Lol, true, though really, the AH pieces imo are no lamer than the little flying saucers you get from FFG, but I can maybe see your point.

There's really 400% more stuff? Man, that's crazy, but awesome.

Thanks for the info.

Mattr0polis said:

Plus 5 players, a lot more cards, much better components except possibly the ships, though both are good. And... wait, what's this... oh right: confirmed expansions. What more do you need?

You could certainly mix and match, but it would be going out of your way since you'd be limiting yourself to four-players and everything else in the new game is without a doubt better. Especially given that the only area the two can even be compared in, ships, is not important to gameplay whatsoever.

In terms of look and design:

I haven't yet played the new version, but there are definitely things to like about this set. The spaceship design looks good to me and is very functional. The AH ships look good, too, but these are much easier to stack and disentangle. They're certainly prettier (and larger, and easier to pick up) than the Eon or Mayfair tokens. It'll be worth playing the Fungus just to see the cool stacks.

The AH board is visually very impressive. If I owned the AH set (or better yet two, for 5+ players), I might keep using the board along with the new Fantasy Flight pieces. On the other hand, I thought the AH hyperspace cone was annoying. The new set's separate planets do still look pretty, though they're not as striking as the AH spiral. They're probably very functional, too: They're much larger than earler versions' planets (especially Mayfair's), and the lack of hexes means there won't be a bunch of filled up but unused table space. No doubt I'll be making pretty patterns with my planets, just because.

[As a minor aside, I wish they had put identifying markings like I, II, etc. on the planets, with future inclusion of the Terrorist in mind.]

I don't see any reason why you couldn't use the AH board with the Fantasy Flight set. It would look odd if you were playing the four base variant, but otherwise it would work just fine. It seems likely, though, that a future expansion will add new powers which make use of the movable planets, in which case the old sets will run into trouble.

In terms of playing the game, the Fantasy Flight set should be a lot better than AH's. There are gameplay differences between versions beyond the list of aliens. The flares in this set are slightly different from Eon's (and very different from Mayfair's), there are changes to the edicts, the card mix is different, the Mimic card is new, and some of the old alien powers have changed a bit.

They're largely sensible changes, mostly with an eye toward making the game slightly fairer. Based on looking through the set, I'll probably end up liking most of the changes but disliking others.

I was hoping to see how this compared to older versions, but being older than Methusela, no-one seems to have even heard of the original Eon version which came out in the mid 70s. That was then my favourite game and still is up there with the thousands of other games I have played since. My ancient set is very well worn now, as it still gets played, but I really should pension it off and keep it reverently preserved with wonderful memories in a place of honour. That version had upgrades for up to 8 players, flares, kickers, moons, lucre,double sided systems and cone, plus 75 'official' powers. Needless to say I played them all but never at the same time. Too mindboggling!!! I am also new to this forum at FFG - great company - so I thought this a good chance to introduce myself - I am in the UK - and pick up a bit of info. Cheers!

I have every version of Cosmic Encounter and I can tell you that it compares very well. It has more than any base set has ever had... it should surpass a full Eon set in a couple years, once a few expansions have been added in.

Well, I had a post, but my browser just ate it.

I agree with The Warp- I have all the previous versions, was prepared to hate this one and decided that it holds up very well indeed. I will probably play it by preference unless I have more than 5 players or want the sheer chaos of an "everyone draws 5 powers, keeps one, passes one to the right, passes one to the left, and gets 5 moons" game. The stuff that is entirely new, Morph and the Techs, fit very well thematically into Cosmic, with the Techs replicating some abilities from otherwise unused Edicts and as yet not included moons. I look forward to seeing what comes out in future expansions.

As pointed out, it has more than any other base set had, topping Mayfair's base set by I think 5 Aliens. Doesn't mean I'm not still hoping to see more of the old aliens in expansions.

Thanks for the responses! It does seem that there are a few of the original sets out there. Most people seem to agree that this FFG version is very good, so once my old set has completely worn away, it looks a good replacement. The stackable tokens/ships look nice but the individual planet spaces look a bit small for multi bases. Are there any new rules or mechanics that differ from the original and all its add-ons? Cheers!

Rashley said:

Then some aliens have been changed. For example, Macron's ships are worth 2 for compensation and rewards, Void cannot take a player out of the game, and Chosen gets to take 3 cards and choose any one of them. Of course there are new aliens.

Artifacts are mostly the same, but the Plague can only be played during Regroup. Some Artifacts got merged; the Ionic Gas replaces Stellar Gas and Cosmic Gas, while Card Zap replaces Artifact Zap and Flare Zap.

Encounter cards are pretty much the same (they range from 40 to 00), although they now all use double digits. The new encounter card is the Morph, which basically makes both played cards equal before anything else happens, but there's only one of them.

Flares return to your hand once played, like the original Eon.

I had my doubts about the individual planets as well, but once I got the game, I really like them. They are plenty big enough to fit more than one player's ships on there.

I have my doubts about how the planets will fare once more players are added in expansions, but for the time being, they fit five ship stacks fine. These planets are at least as big as every other edition's planets, as far as I can tell from a glance without pulling out a ruler, so I'm guessing 6+ players had the same problems in older editions? I never played that many, so I don't know.

The planets are bigger, but the ships are also bigger, so it's a moot point.

Of course, it's pretty difficult to even get five players on a single planet to start with (in a five-player game). You'd need a full-out attack with all offensive allies, and then the defensive player would later have to reclaim his planet without injuring anyone else (so through a deal or a power such as Mite's).

Cheers to everyone who commented on this new version. I have been sold on it, and as soon as finances allow I will be getting it. Come to think of it, my birthday is coming, so hints could be in order. It will be hard to let the old classic go, but we all get older. Have some great gaming!!

I'm becoming sold on this version as well, Rashley. I have the Mayfair editions of Cosmic and More Cosmic. I was heart broken to see how AH butchered the game, chopping it into a pale imitation of it's former self, albeit with pretty pieces. After reading about FFG's take on the game, and watching the video review at www.boargameswithscott.com , it looks like a pretty faithful remake. I may have to keep my colored glass beads to use as ship marker (I'm a sucker for colored glass beads), but this one looks like a winner.

This game definitely remains at the top of my all time favourites. This version is very good. Mayfair's was just about OK, but AH's was a disaster. I did buy a copy of FFG's version for a friends birthday and have played it a couple of times and all the great memories came flooding back. Many of the old upgrades will probably see the light of day, but I will not miss the boring Lucre or awful 7th and 8th player options. The unique Planetary Systems and Reverse Cone rules were OK, but added more complications than interesting play options. I did enjoy the Moons, which I thought did add enough interesting options over the added complications. I still can't bear to part with my old set, but I will have to get used to not drawing '7' new cards, going for 'Bases' with 'Tokens' and playing 'Edicts' and 'Compromises'. If I ever get the chance to play this excellant game with any of you, I hope you will allow this old gamer the odd slip into the old 'jargon'. Cheers!

Toomai said:

Hmm? If you draw your own color from the destiny deck, can't you repopulate for free and ignore foreign colonies on the same planet, rather than trying to repop by fighting them off? That's how we've been playing.

Nope. If there is even one ship on your planet, you have to fight to get it back. Only if the planet is completely deserted can you instantly reclaim it.

One difference that I haven't seen mentioned yet is that the FFG version is very nicely designed to help you know when exactly a card may be played and by whom.

Every card has a little turn diagram at the bottom with the phases the card is allowed to be played in highlighted. Furthermore, all the flares, powers, artifacts, and tech have "opponent only", "main player only", "main player or ally", etc. printed on them to help you know when you can use it.

An oddity to note- I constantly misread 10s as 01s and such, but I'm probably in the minority here. I even misread 40s as 04s sometimes, so it's not the symmetry of the number... and I'm not dyslexic.

I've been playing with SkyFalling on his set, and wanted to get one of my own. I did a lot of research into what version of the game I should get, and was eventually won over by the superior usability of the FFG version. Well, that and that fact that a full set of Aon expansions was going for over $200 on Ebay.

Keep_Evolving said: