Obvious the games have different IP and scale. But is Cosmic encounter merely a scaled-down version game comparable to Twilight Imperium? It seems they both have you controlling a race and having to deal with other alien races for a battle for victory.
Cosmic Encounter versus Twilight Imperium
They are not at all comparable beyond what you've already deduced: both are sci-fi games where you take the role of an alien race. If you are already familiar with Twilight Imperium, the simplest thing to do would be to look over the rules and play a game at cosmicencounter.com (it's free, though you can only play as one of six aliens in the free version, compared with the 30-something if you pay, or the 100-something the board game will have with the new expansion).
The similarities are very thin.
Both are science fiction in theme. Both have alien races which work differently for each player (though this mechanic was original to Cosmic Encounter in the 1970s). Both have some cards and some plastic bits. Both can accommodate a large group of players, with expansions. Beyond that, they're really different games.
Cosmic Encounter: beer & pretzels, chaotic, humorous, relatively short, huge replayability and highly unpredictable with little to no downtime.
TI3: fairly heavy, much less chaotic, serious, very very long, good replayability with significant downtime.
Yeah, the more I think about it, the more it's an apples and oranges thing. Both are gamerly nutritious, but they taste completely different and need to be approached in different ways to enjoy them.
Kobold Curry Chef said:
Yeah, the more I think about it, the more it's an apples and oranges thing. Both are gamerly nutritious, but they taste completely different and need to be approached in different ways to enjoy them.
Truly the words of a chef who knows his trade.
Beer and pretzel versus a full course meal. Thanks for the feedback you two!
I see "beer and pretzel" used to mean different things. Cosmic has a lot of strategic depth once you get used to the chaos and start to know what to expect. For me, Cosmic is a full course meal; Twilight Imperium is an all day buffet.
Oh, and maybe you already knew, but it was remiss of me not to mention that the upcoming game Rex is a remake of a game by the makers of Cosmic Encounter and is now set in the Twilight Imperium universe. So if you're torn between one or the other, voila: compromise!