As the Cosmos becomes more crowded and its riches become more scarce, some aliens cling to outdated militant ideologies, some sit back and party, and others adapt to their surroundings. But whether these resourceful races evolve naturally over the course of millions of years, or help the process along with a bit of cybernetic tinkering, they’ll be well prepared for the coming cosmic showdown!

Last month we announced Cosmic Alliance , the latest expansion for Cosmic Encounter . This new addition to the beloved game of galactic politics brings 20 alien races, both original and classic, exploding onto your tabletop. It also features components for another player, rules for large eight-player games, and a new variant – team rules, which allow steadfast allies to dominate the Cosmos together!

In our last preview , we looked at the Team Cosmic variant, and we saw how the charismatic and inspirational General stands ready to lead his troops to victory. Today, we’ll catch a glimpse of two more upcoming aliens: the multi-talented Cyborg and the pint-sized (but multitudinous) Pygmy.

The perfect marriage of biology and technology

The Cyborgs are a no-nonsense race of floating Swiss Army Knives; they always seem to have the right tool for the job. Able to “attach” three extra cards (which cannot be stolen) to their sheet, the Cyborgs let a player constantly adapt his strategy, building the perfect alien with which to dominate the Cosmos.

The Cyborg Alien Sheet. Click to enlarge.

Tiny terrors

Meanwhile, having survived the near destruction of their twin home worlds, the Pygmies (designed by Cosmic Encounter enthusiast Jack Reda) found a way to turn disaster into an advantage. Their home planets may be little more than floating stones, but they have lots of them! Using the home planets of an unused player color, the Pygmies begin the game with double the standard number of planets in play. But this bounty of worlds boasts a handy deterrent: since each pebble-sized Pygmy planet only counts as half a colony to would-be predators, why would anyone bother to attack?

The Pygmy Alien Sheet. Click to enlarge.

With the versatile Cyborgs and the innumerable Pygmies joining the interstellar struggle, the Cosmos will never be the same. Keep checking back for more in the coming weeks, and look for Cosmic Alliance on store shelves later this quarter!

Cosmic Encounter is a classic board game that puts players in charge of the fate of an alien race. Three to five players each strive to be the first to conquer five enemy colonies and establish themselves as the dominant life form in the galaxy. With over 50 alien characters to choose from, no two games are ever the same.