Cosmic Encounter

About this board game

Cosmic Encounter is a negotiation and conflict game for 3–5 players, with sessions lasting about 120 minutes, in which alien races compete to build a galactic empire.

Each player leads one of dozens of alien races, and every race has its own unique power. On your turn, you become the offense, sending a group of your starships through the hyperspace gate to encounter another player on a planet.

Encounters are shaped by force, cunning, and diplomacy. Both sides can invite allies and play cards to tip the battle in their favor, while alliances form and shift from moment to moment. Cataclysmic conflicts can send starships screaming into the warp, changing the balance of power across the Cosmos.

• Lead an alien race with a distinct special power.
• Move starships through the hyperspace gate to attack other planetary systems.
• Invite allies and use cards to influence each encounter.
• Build colonies beyond your home system to pursue victory.

The goal in Cosmic Encounter is to establish colonies on planets belonging to other players. The first player, or players, to have five colonies on planets outside their home system wins.

Because alliances are central to the game, victory does not always belong to a single player. Multiple players can win together, making every encounter a tense contest of negotiation, shifting loyalties, and daring interstellar ambition.