Apellön

Easy to learn :
Cosmic encounter is pretty easy to understand “mechanic” wise, the challenge will come in understanding all the different powers , flares , and cards that come up … ( ill talk more about those Powers and cards later… ) just know , that in its essence its easy, it sometime feels a little like a game of Poker….

Who is this for ? :
If you are not into sci fi or some of your group aren’t , i doubt this game will be a success …you might want play something else instead…
while other sci fi games work well with Not So Geek friends , i find this one harder to digest for most casual not too geek gamers.. in how it plays it could be casual , its not even that long , but i can tell you right now in my experience , the couple of time I’ve played it , it was very dependant of the group , a lot of the fun in the game is the interaction between players , and this interaction will not happen if some people find it akward or weird…

Replay:
huge replay potential … you have a lot and a lot of different races , with different powers , tons of cards that are all different , lot of things to do.
But this is where i think this game could not work for you , a lot of cards , or races are very overpowered … wich in turn kind of break the all “strategic” part of the game… even if you don’t play those races you ll probably end up with some cards or flares pretty powerful that suddenly breaks the strategies of some other player … that is why it becomes more a pocker game than a real strategic game at the end… but ! there is no dice , and you can still plot your path and strategy with the card you have and how you decide to move your ships , wich make it , in its core a very interesting game.

Component :
well the cards are great, the new edition had a better feel to it , wich give justice to all those races … the rest of game is solid , but nothing spectacular …

mechanics:
like i said, It is simple mechanics … you send your ships and you bet how many you want to attack with, and you hope the cards you have in hand are powerful enough to get you ur victory … you also hope some of your friend will help you out … and this is when the fun begins ! it can be very funny to support or defend with other friends , but it also can be to some friend something they hate ( especially if they are too serious ) …
another fun thing is that depending on your race , this game is played very differently , wich is really interesting .. but then it can also be a bummer if you feel your race is lame comparing to some others … they are all interesting , but there is balance issues for sure…. maybe if you check at some home rule you can make it work best.

Conclusions:
So i may have been a little harsh with my review , i hope i don’t hurt some feelings … this game is a classic , it is a really great , and interesting game … but i would advice you to try it before you buy it , see if the balance system don’t bother you and to make sure it works with you group ( since its a fairly expensive game ) . I feel that this game is ton of fun if you are with the right people , but also can be a game never played if you misjudge it.
i ll copy my Youtube friend “JeremyJahns” on this one and give it the award : ” great fun , no alcohol required” .. with the right people.

before starting … if you are fairly into boardgame and you are a fan of game of thrones … do yourself a favor and buy this game… it is a must….
now if you are not a game of thrones fan , it is still an amazing game and i invite you to read the rest of the review…

Easy to learn :
No… this game is not easy to learn … i often had to spend a lot of time explaining the rules to new players … and it s always taking forever… and even while playing you have to explain it back or add some other things … buuutt during the game most players will start to understand the mechanics … and by the end of a full lenght game , most players will start having a good feel of it and start thinking of their mistakes and what they can do next game to not get screwed… But you will need a good 30min to explain the rules and then a 3hours game or more to have everyone on board … in fact i think most people will not experience most of the game before playing at least 2 full games… after that my friends , it will be money ! so dont scare away ! it is still a lot of fun ! in fact , i think it might be one of the greatest game i ever played.

Who is this for ? :
So yes , it is not a game you want to play in a rush , it is a game you want to play on a good chill evening when everyone is into the game of thrones show and ready to kick some ***** … because in this game you will feel like being one of the king of westeros , a general in his tent manipulating his armies …. your decision will affect your alliances , your position of inflence your power over the land and ultimately being on the iron throne…
I find it best to play over and over with a group of friend that know the game… i often do a thematic >game of thrones> night were everyone is ready , with already some strategies in mind…. this is when the magic starts.

Replay:
it has an enormous replay value, since its a strategic game, depending on the opponent moves , the alliances created , wich house you play , the number of player on the table , the lvl of skill of the people around … makes it a very different and fun game to play each time !!! i play and i play it over an over , and still i m thinking I’m not grasping all the fullness of the opportunities i have and the richness and deepness of what an order could mean … should i be more aggressive , should i be less aggressive , try get an alliance here ? muster there ? support here cause i think he will attack or use my support somewhere else cause i think i ll be able to attack him somewhere else … anyhow …. its never enough to be brought back into this world…
you can always change your style of play , in fact a lot of the game is also reacting to the other players moves…. so the game succeed in making you feel part of this story , to be indeed the one controling armies and the future of the kingdom …

Component :
They are beautiful and well made , a lot of the stuff in it are well polished and even are on extra …
the board is a little too big , it takes a full table to set up , but its nice… you ll find well made cards and all kind of stuff, its pretty packed … the only thing is that i wished they made the box to keep that in order , cause it gets messy .. instead its basically nothing but some plastic bags … yet ! the components are amazing , oh yea the art is outstanding…all in all very thematic.

mechanics:
the mechanics are all simple on their own , but it feels like a lot of mechanics are in place in the game wich make it a little complex at first … but with a little time it becomes very easy…This game has almost NO LUCK …and NO DICE ..

most of it is ,mind reading, planning, area control, alliances, ressource management and ofcourse a lot of bluff.. when you battle you use cards from your house (like ned stark, or the redviper and such) , each house is played a little different because of those cards , and because of their starting location wich will influence a lot on how you will do your Area control …. but , you can always see other players cards , the only thing you dont know is what the other player will decide to play .. in this a lot of bluff ! and with experience , you will kind of know wich card they will use depending on the situation… well you will be able to plan ur strategies in consequence.. , for example, you might want to lose a battle on purpose , just to make him use a card you dont want him to have on another attack you plan to do next turn somewhere else and such … you plan your move in the “planing phase” wich is Simultaneous Action Selection time, then you have Auction/Bidding for some other things , player elimination etc.. i mean there is a lot of mechanics , but they work very well together , again , once mastered…
all of this make it so the game can be long if played with slow player … indeed the game often take about 3-4hours…***note : be assured, it is very rare that a player is totaly killed … most of the time , a player might be losing big time , but still has alittle area of resistance, just so he can continue to hope to make a comeback(wich does happen), continue being interesting to be allied with and/or change a battle outcome/or the winner of the game ..
-Some issues exist in term of balance , especially when its not a 6 player game… i leave that to you to make some house rule that works best for your setting , but it can be fixed fairly well ( i find the lannister/greyjoy constant war a little annoying so i make house rule to calm the place there….in other hand i totaly take of some areas when less than 6 since its too easy to get your castle for free if not)

Conclusions:
This game is great .. i dont play it often cause it takes a lot of time , and aslo need some experience players … but it is one of the most interesting and complete game… it is rich , it is mindblowing , and at the end of the day , it really feels like you are moving armies around , like you would on a RTS but on a real table.. it is one of those games that can be a lot of fun , it is the kind of game you will want to play often in spring (during the game of thrones season) but it is not a game for kids or casual gamers ( unless they are GOT fan…?? ). still i would recommend having it in ur shelf for those time , when you want to kick your friend s *ss.

“the north will remember.”

Easy to learn :
King of tokyo is a very easy game to learn, and from 7years old , it s easy to pick up the basic mechanics…. ofcourse i wouldnt expect kids before 10ish years old to really understand all the meanings and plot any big strategy…

Who is this for ? :
So yes , it is a family or casual gamers game ! … I ve played it with people retired , some my age : young adults and some younger … and everytime it was a hit , every time it was enjoyable and fun to play… This game is for occasion when you can kill time and some of your friends are not gamers… this will work , it s easy quick to play.
Now if you are looking for a game you will want to play over and over it is maybe not what you want.

Replay:
it is not a game you will want to play over and over, but it is a game that can be played for a long time on occasions… it has a good replay value due that monsters can change , cards can be different each game and all …
yet after one or 2 times during an evening , you will probably have your share of game of tokyo for the week.

Component :
They are beautiful and well made , a lot of the stuff in it are well polished and even are on extra … like the board is not really that useful yet , it is there and it is nice to have it… Because of the nice art .. overall the theme , immersion is more present.

mechanics:
It is simple mechanics , dice rolling based … Being able to select your dice with 3 rolls kills a little of the randomness and help improve the decision making, but overall the decision you will have are : go in tokyo , get out of tokyo , go for the everyone killed or go for the points … chose my dice , chose my powers on the card available… this allow for some strategy, but be aware than since a major part of this game is dice rolling and picking cards , it is not the most constant/strategic game ever , its still fairly luck based.

those are the actions, you ll always face and like you can see , it is simple , effective , nice , allow some strategies … but yet very simple and can be a little too simple after 2 games, not many ways to win or get to your goal… Overall it s mostly luck based. But fun and quick.

The killing system is well balanced and while it sucks not to play once u are dead…it usually is not a cheap death and since the games are fairly quick .. it is less frustrating …

Conclusions:
This game is good to have in you collection.. it is one of those games that can be a lot of fun and nice to brought up with family and people that are not experienced with games , like munchkin would do …
It is great in what it does, it allows some strategy, yet is random , allows for fun and quick game , with simplicity…
But it will in no case be a game that will quench a thirst for gaming , it feels more like an event than a game.. and it is not a game that people will want to play on regular bases..