User Guide
2
Welcome to
the Cosmos
Uncountable eons ago, at the dawn of a forgotten age, a race
evolved at the heart of a spiral galaxy. Later, they would come to
be known as the Precursors. ey were the first intelligent life in
the universe, and they were alone.
eir technology was nothing short of miraculous, and it allowed
them to explore the universe as they sought out other sentient be-
ings. However, their search was in vain.
Feeling the weight of their solitude, eventually the Precursors
sent out probes to thousands of inhabitable planets. Each probe
contained the seeds of life, with the hope that sentience would
eventually follow.
After that, no one knows what happened to them. Perhaps they fell
victim to some unknown threat, or perhaps they simply evolved be-
yond this universe. In any event, by the time the probes’ “children”
began to master space travel, the Precursors were gone.
ey left behind a mighty legacy, however. At the edge of each
solar system where they planted one of their ‘seeds,’ the Precursors
left a cache of technology and a hyperspace gate. rough this gift,
their children could find and communicate with each other.
And so they began to do so. Although the younger races did not
completely understand the Precursor’s technology, they were able
to use it easily enough. Of course, without the guiding hand of the
elder race, the younger races soon fell to squabbling among them-
selves. Eventually this gave rise to the current age – the Cosmic Age.
C E® is a game for three to five players (the
more players the better), playable in one to two hours. In C-
E®, players take on the role of various alien races
in a struggle for cosmic supremacy. e players must use force,
cunning, and diplomacy to ensure their victory. e winner(s)
will be the first player(s) to have five colonies on any planets out-
side his or her home system.
Game Overview
In C E®, each player is the leader of an alien
race. e object of the game is to establish colonies in other
players’ planetary systems. Players take turns trying to estab-
lish colonies. e winner(s) are the first player(s) to have five
colonies on any planets outside his or her home system. A player
does not need to have colonies in all of the systems, just colonies
on five planets outside his or her home system. ese colonies
may all be in one system or scattered over multiple systems.
During a
Player’s Turn
On a player’s turn, he or she becomes the offense. e offense
encounters another player (the defense, determined by draw-
ing from the destiny deck) on a planet by moving a group of
his or her ships through the hyperspace gate to that planet. e
offense and defense invite allies to their side and then, after
alliances are declared, play an encounter card facedown. e
What is a Colony?
A colony is defined as one or more ships of the
same color on a planet. If a player has one ship on
a planet, he or she has a colony there. If a player
has two or more ships on the same planet, it still
only counts as one colony, composed of multiple
ships. A player may only have one colony on any
given planet. However, a planet may have more
than one colony, provided each colony is con-
trolled by a different player. A colony that a player
owns in her or her home system is referred to as a
home colony, while a colony that a player owns in
any other player’s home system is called a foreign
colony. Establishing foreign colonies is the key to
winning the game.