Ameritrash Championship: Dune vs. Cosmic Encounter

JonJacob wrote: I wouldn't put either in the top 5. But I'll go with Dune because I can choose who to attack all the time and it's more of an event. Cosmic can hit the table more often which is all the more reason to be more excited about a night of Dune.

It's also much less abstract then Cosmic, although both are pretty abstract, and if I'm voting best AT game of all time that is a big deal.

Yeah, Space Hulk would've been my choice had I my druthers. You can argue that Cosmic is too abstract, and you can argue that Dune can only be played by a certain amount of people with a certain mindset, not to mention its complexity....

Space Hulk is what pops into my head when someone says Ameritrash, not Dune.

C O S M I C

This is a Beatles/Stones thing, really. But Cosmic is the winner, because Cosmic is the best game ever designed. It's also one of the most important and influential. But more significantly, it's the most fun game ever designed. It has a perfect mix of interactivity, emergent gameplay/emergent narrative, variability/volatility, drama, and surprise.

Sure, playing Dune is an event...but if you're playing with the right people every game of Cosmic -even if it's weekly- is an event.

There's also one or two too many conditionals about Dune as written...but Cosmic is as close to a flawless design as there's ever been.

Win-win, either way.

Slight nod to CE, I guess, as it requires no knowledge of a particular setting. Not that Dune does, either, technically speaking, but knowing the story from at least the first book really adds some depth to an already fun experience.

Vote: CE.

Dune (the book) has a special place in my heart, but this is still an easy choice.

Cosmic Encounter

DUNE!!! Notice, it's not Rex vs Cosmic Encounter here...

Cosmic Encounter is certainly the better game, was really impressed by playing it for the first time. Wanna vote for Dune cos I like Dune soooooooo much (both themewise and gamewise), but in my heart I know Cosmic Encounter is the better game.

Vote: Cosmic Encounter

Arrakis... Dune... Desert Planet.

People of Earth: We are all about theme here. CE is crazy fun. Even if/when it goes fucking nuts. But the theme is absent. It's just a pile of powers. "Oh, I am a Mutant Macron. What are you?" When sitting down to play Dune, there's no ambiguity. Er, well, no more than is implied in the book.

There was a time playing Dune when I've made a strategic choice that mattered more in the context of my character than in the context of winning the game. I have only seen that in a few other games (BSG and AgoT, but it wasn't me in either case there) and certainly not in CE. CE's metagame is exclusively a function of whom you are playing with, and really has nothing to do with the game itself. Dune, for me, is the more complete experience.

jeb wrote: People of Earth: We are all about theme here. CE is crazy fun. Even if/when it goes fucking nuts. But the theme is absent. It's just a pile of powers. "Oh, I am a Mutant Macron. What are you?" When sitting down to play Dune, there's no ambiguity. Er, well, no more than is implied in the book.

Theme is overrated. Me, I'm all about fun. Interaction. The ability to have a dynamic experience in a game. Dune provides all of those things, but Cosmic Encounter does all of them better. The only argument for Dune over Cosmic is Herbert's setting. That's not an invalid argument or a bad reason to vote for Dune, but everything else about Dune that's awesome was already in Cosmic Encounter. And Cosmic Encounter is a much more flexible, dynamic, exciting game.

San Il Defanso wrote:

jeb wrote: People of Earth: We are all about theme here. CE is crazy fun. Even if/when it goes fucking nuts. But the theme is absent. It's just a pile of powers. "Oh, I am a Mutant Macron. What are you?" When sitting down to play Dune, there's no ambiguity. Er, well, no more than is implied in the book.

Theme is overrated. Me, I'm all about fun. Interaction. The ability to have a dynamic experience in a game. Dune provides all of those things, but Cosmic Encounter does all of them better. The only argument for Dune over Cosmic is Herbert's setting. That's not an invalid argument or a bad reason to vote for Dune, but everything else about Dune that's awesome was already in Cosmic Encounter. And Cosmic Encounter is a much more flexible, dynamic, exciting game.

Don't make me get kanly up in here.