pgocosmic replied the topic: #306189 15 Jan 2020 10:48

A dive into the decades long history of Cosmic Encounter reveals the existence of a two player game tacked into the rules of many CE versions. You can see it all the way back to our homespun UNIVERSE game that we created in 1972.



In truth, the 2-player iterations were often pretty lame. Even so we persisted in the belief that Cosmic Encounter had a two player version buried within. The reality that two players can have fun playing was driven home when I spent countless hours taking select aliens and playing 2-player games with my then young grand daughters. Realizing that even though these games were not ready for primetime they still led to hilarious encounters between two aliens with powers that play off one another with surprising outcomes.



At its heart Cosmic is a face-off between two aliens. Over the decades all sorts of tapestries have been draped over that fundamental framework. But the because the core of the interaction is still "one on one" it invites the creation of a two player game.



Here's an analogy. Basketball is a team sport with five players on each team requiring intricate teamwork, shifting rapidly between offense and defense. Sometimes offense is stalling, playing keep away while the clock ticks. Sometimes its moving at breakneck speed. Sometimes defense deliberately fouls to stop the clock. Sometimes a free throw is deliberately missed to get another chance for 2 points on a layup. And on and on. So heres the question.



Does that mean a game of One on One between Larry Bird and Magic Johnson is not fun for the players or the audience?



COSMIC DUEL