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Cosmic Encounter (CE) is an epic science fiction board game originally created and published in 1977 by the relatively obscure Eon Games. The game is with its fourth publisher now, Fantasy Flight, which took over publishing CE in 2008 and is one indication of the quality and popularity of this game. Many other board games would have folded by now given the same circumstances.

The basic foundation of Cosmic Encounter is easy to understand: Each player assumes the role as leader of a super advanced alien race with their own home system of planets. The objective of the game is to establish 5 colonies on planets outside of your home system. In other words, you have to conquer 5 of your opponents planets and it does not matter which 5, as long as they are outside your home territory.

The technique that the game uses to determine who wins or loses each encounter is rather simple also. One deck of “Destiny” cards determines who is attacked and one deck of numbered cards is divided between the players. During each encounter the numbered cards are added to the number of ships involved on each side and the side with the highest total wins the encounter. Of course, there are a number of variables which can affect the total score of each side during an encounter. But very basically that is how the game works.

The objective and mechanics of CE may sound simplistic but rest assured that the game is not. Due to the dynamic nature of CE each player has the opportunity to engage in every progression of the game. No matter whose turn it is, every player must constantly make decisions. Should I join the defense of another player? Join the attack? Form an alliances through diplomacy? Or break a treaty with deception and treachery? It is very hard to get bored with this game once it starts gaining momentum.

The genius of Cosmic Encounters as a game is the inclusion of human emotions and the social skills that the players exhibit at any moment of the game. Are you good at persuading? Can you deceive? Are you a brute force type of person? Can you cooperate with another player at one point and then back stab them later? The possibilities are virtual limitless, which in turn makes it almost necessary to adopt a different strategy in order to win each time the game is played.

Chess, this exciting game of strategy and skills and originated in India, spans some 1500 years back in history. In the 6Th century AD it spread to Persia. While the Arabians took over Persia, chess had been taken up by the Muslim’s world and from there it reached Europe. In Europe, during the 15Th century chess was developed towards its present form and rules. Back in the 1800′s competitive chess became more and more noticeable. Throughout the 19th century, modern tournament play began and the very first world chess championship was scheduled in 1886. Throughout the time of the 20Th century the chess theory and the World Chess Federation (FIDE) was founded. The very first chess tournament event was held in the Great Britain, in London and surprisingly it was won by Adolf Anderssen, a player from Germany. Since the end of the 19th century the amount of annually held professional tournaments and competitions grew very fast. If you look closely at a chess board it can teach you the way the people lived in middle age times. Look at the method by which it is set up. After that review of the figures and the way they are used, you will soon recognize that chess is a historical past of medieval times – just in miniature.

The Europeans gave chess pieces the actual names we use them today, simply because this mirrored the way they were living. A thousand years ago they displayed the very way in which both, typical people and persons of rank were living their lives.

The Pawns on the board symbolize serfs, or simple the hard working lower folks. Presently there are a lot more of them on the board, compared to any other piece on the board and usually they are sacrificed to save the much more valuable pieces. In medieval times, serfs were considered to be no more than property of landowners, or chattel. They were mostly left unprotected even though battles were ongoing all around them.

The castle is the next piece or figure on the board. The castle piece is the home, or the refuge, just as it was a refuge in medieval times. In chess, both sides have 2 castles, or rooks, as they are sometimes called too.

Stats:

No. of players: 2-4 (2-6 if you have the Dominion Base Set)

Amount of time to play: 30 minutes

Age requirements: 10+

Set-up time: 5-10 min

Description:

Dominion Intrigue expands Dominion adding new cards and more possible supply combination’s. This review will show some of the differences between the two games and highlight some of the new things introduced via Dominion Intrigue

Dominion Intrigue’s game play is the same as Dominion’s and it is still easy to learn and teach. The new Intrigue cards offer more options on each individual card. They say choose an option, then they list the different things the card can do. Some cards let you gain a card and based on the type of card you take from the supply, you add either: a buy, a card or a treasure. The increased decision points may slow the game down, but usually not by much.

The other major difference is action-victory and treasure-victory cards. These combo-cards perform double duty. Not only do you earn victory points but they are also action cards. They don’t clog up your deck as they can serve two purposes. This is a nice change and allows you to buy these victory points anytime.

Some people complain about the almost solitaire nature of Dominion and I think that dynamic is being challenged in Intrigue. Many of the cards are geared toward more interaction, but I feel it is only moderately successful.

A Quick Review:

I have been playing Dominion and Dominion: Intrigue a ton. The easy game play and quick playtime have this on my table more than any other game recently. Being able to expand the game to up to six players with Intrigue is awesome. Increased options for the Supply configurations are great and add to Dominion’s already awesome replayability. Honestly if you like the base game I cannot think of any reason you won’t like Dominion: Intrigue.

For those that are fans of word games, there is no choice quite as versatile and fast paced as Bananagrams. This game comes in a small, banana-shaped pouch, filled with 144 letter tiles. The game is extremely portable- great for trips and outings. In addition, it can be played in just ten minutes or so, making it a great choice for when you are waiting for something. Playing Bananagrams is easy and there are plenty of good strategies to help you win this game.

Bananagrams is played by dealing a certain number of letter tiles to each player, the actual number depending on the total number of players in any given round. Once tiles are dealt, each player turns them over and starts to form words with them. This works much like Scrabble, except that each player is creating their own individual word grid. There is no taking turns in Bananagrams; everybody works on their words independently. If any player finds that they don’t have sufficient letters to continue, they may call “peel” and everybody draws another tile. This continues until there are no tiles left to draw. At this point, the first player to use all their tiles is declared the winner, as long as all their words check out as legitimate.

Having a good base of vocabulary will greatly help in consistently winning Bananagrams. It’s also a good idea to look up some simple words that use unusual letter like Q, Z and J. Another good suggestion is to build a large base of 4-letter words with a silent E. Many letters can be arranged into this type of word and it will help you organize your hand quicker. With Bananagrams, there is no extra points for making difficult words, so using more tiles with simple words is a great approach. Finally, always be on the lookout for those words that can easily be incorporated into another word, if necessary.