issue 23 // volume 42

arts // no. 9

Chairman of the Board: The truth is out there

> ‘Cosmic Encounter’ board game review

Ed Appleby
Illustrator

 

L is strange that aliens in most
science fiction are pretty
human. Xenomorphs, Klingons,
and Hutts have two arms,

teeth, and a healthy appetite

for violence. Cosmic Encounter
offers players the chance to play
with some truly alien aliens.

Cosmic Encounter is a
strategy game for 3-5 players
published in 2008 by Fantasy
Flight Games. In the game,
players take turns attempting
to settle on other players’
planets. Players can either
attack or negotiate, as well as
request assistance from other
players. The first player to
settle on five planets outside of
their own star system wins.

The one major factor in this
game is the wide variety of alien
races that players can choose
from. Each race has its own
abilities that can break the game
in new and interesting ways,
which leads to a great challenge
in a simple game as well as a
huge amount of replay value.
Most expansions for Cosmic
Encounter add even more alien
races to the mix, upping the
challenge factor even further.

The one major downside
of the game is that it suffers
from the Munchkin paradox,
wherein the latter stage of the
game becomes about preventing

Getting 1n character

> Douglas students talk ‘Waiting for the Parade’

Adam Tatelman
Arts Editor

 

his week, the cast of

the Douglas College
theatre program’s upcoming
performance, John Murell’s
Waiting for the Parade, sat down
with the Other Press to discuss
their work in the program
and their personal methods
for getting into character.

Rebecca Troock was cast as
Marta, an immigrant from Nazi
Germany facing discrimination
from Canadians. “She is isolated
from Canadian society,” Troock
said. “For this specific role, I like
to make connections to current
events right now. We’re going
through this refugee crisis,
unfairly judging Syrian refugees
coming to North America.”

Rachel Fournier found it
very easy to get into the shoes
of Catherine, a young woman
searching for the positive
aspects of life that can help
to keep people hopeful and
lighthearted even in wartime. “I
think we have a lot in common,”
Fournier commented. “She’s a

very strong-willed, confident
person, and she takes a weird
observing role in everyone’s
grief because she doesn’t
indulge in it much herself”
Pamela Carolina Martinez
also found it easy to identify
with Eve, the youngest character
in the cast, on account of their
personal similarities. “She tries

4

any player from getting that last
planet and winning the game.
This can cause the endgame to
drag on and make the players very
bitter with each other. This makes
the game more about psychology

very hard to be mature, like the
other women, but sometimes
her naivety comes out. She’s
sort of the comic relief in the
play,” Martinez said. “With Eve,
it’s not that hard to get into her
shoes. I just warm up with her
personality sinking into me—I
start to move and speak and
behave more like her. She tends

  

and playing the other players

rather than gaming strategy.
Cosmic Encounter is

for strategy players who are

looking for a diplomatic sci-

fi themed game with lots of

Concept art by Amanda Larder

”

to walk with a strut, for instance.
Shannon Lindsey was

cast as Janet, awoman who

takes on the responsibility of

contributing to the war effort

in a civilian capacity because

her husband will not join the

fight. “I try to be on top of

things. If I’m not, it would come

as a surprise, and that kind

 

Illustration by Ed Appleby

depth and replayability. Casual
players may be able to pick

up the rules very easily, but
they may also get turned off
by the later stages of play.

of bugs the other ladies,” said
Lindsey. “Janet’s one of the red
triangle hostesses—a group of
women who organize things
around Calgary. We organize
parcels for the men making
their way east, like bandages.
We also practice evacuation
drills in case of a bombing.”
Lily Gillette took ona
very different role from her
own personality—Margaret,
an aging mother of two whose
sons are embroiled in the war.
Her youngest son is jailed for
being a communist, throwing
her life into chaos. “Margaret
goes from having the perfect
family and being able to pay her
rent to having nothing. She has
friends, but none of them like her
because she’s always miserable,”
Gillette said. “I’ve never played
anyone this old before, so I’ve
been working on my physicality,
the way | talk and carry myself”
To find out what happens
to these characters, catch the
free preview of Waiting for the
Parade in the Douglas College
studio theatre on March 10 at
2:00 p.m. Performances run
from March u- 18 at 7:30 p.m.