inconsequential ruminations

There is a new UK Maths Trade.

It looks like my Richard Breese playtest at Essen will be published as Key Harvest. There is a preview at Boardgame News.

Well I certainly have turned my gaming life around. Plenty of new games and ones I have wanted to play for ages.

I traded for a 1986 copy of the Games Workshop version of Cosmic Encounter and last night I finally got to play this classic.

The game shows its age. Special powers are nothing special these days. In fact, I almost find them a bore. For instance, I was not impressed with Colossal Arena. It just felt like a fast little family game that was bloated with artificial complexity. I have not yet tried my copy of Grand National Derby, the simpler original, but I have high hopes for it.

Anyway, Cosmic Encounter is enjoyable enough, we were just put off by the amount of take-that and the imbalance of the special powers. Having said, that the game definitely works and the ganging-up element and alliance choices add plenty of skill.

One guy dismissed it, and I think I will struggle to persuade him again, but I hope I can get it out before too long so I can make a final decision.
6/10 for now.