Jeremy Yoder
United States
Sioux Falls
South Dakota
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This is a short, simple, 2-player game that I'll give a short, simple review. If you're familiar with Yahtzee then learning this game is a snap. If you're not familiar with Yahtzee... then what rock were you living under as a child?
The Premise
The premise is light and fun: You and your opponent are competing aliens in space ships on opposite ends of a grazing field of 9 cows. The goal is to tractor beam 3 of the cows to your ship before your opponent does the same. The result is an interstellar bovine tug-of-war. Sound goofy? It is, which is what makes this a good filler game that plays in about 10-15 minutes.
Basic Mechanics
Like Yahtzee, on your turn, you...
1) Roll five dice to create combos
2) May roll them three times
Unlike Yahtzee, you...
1) Will create the same roll combos more than once during the game
2) On each turn, you can re-roll dice that you previously set aside
The game is not won with points, so very little math is required. How does it work? There are 9 possible combos, each corresponding to a cow. The combos are 1's, 2's, 3's, 4's, 5's, 6's, Small or Large Chance (the only time math is required), Small or Large Straight, and 5-of-a-kind (Yahtzee).
By creating a combo, you pull the relevant cow(s) closer to your side. When you pull 3 cows into your "red zone" (any of the last three spaces on your side) then you win. (Note that a "full house" counts toward two cows, meaning if you roll two 4's and three 6's, you pull the "4" cow two spaces and "6" cow three spaces.) The base choice later in the game is do you play offense or defense once your opponent has almost won? The latter is possible by pulling cows out of your opponent's red zone.
Final Thoughts
That's the game. The components are nice (little plastic cows and a nice colorful board) both of which are cartoony to supplement the bizarre premise. (The cows are even a bit cross-eyed from all the pulling back and forth on them.) It's a perfect filler that's easily taught and played when time is short and you have one opponent. It's also cheap at $10 to $15.
Personally, I like "To Court the King" better, which is also a dice game but with more depth and allows for multiple players. Yet TCtK is not a filler game as it requires a little setup and plays longer. Therefore, I don't think it's fair to compare them as they each fit very different niches, with their only similarity being that they are both "dice games".
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I will not rest until Biblios is in the Top 100.
United States
Budd Lake
New Jersey
Well I been watchin' while you been coughin, I've been drinking life while you've been nauseous, and so I drink to health while you kill yourself and I got just one thing that I can offer... Go on and save yourself and take it out on me
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For 2 players, I will play this game every single time over TCtK. I like Cosmic Cows because its fast and fun. I think there's actually a lot more unpredictability in this game than TCtK.
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Oliver Harrison
Canada
Kamloops
British Columbia
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You guys should both try Combo King. I had a great time with it on the weekend. It's quite similar to Cosmic Cows, Knights, and TCtK.. but there's 60 combos available; You'll have to complete between 4 and 8 of these each game, depending on how many cards your opponents force on you.
I just wrote a review, so check it out.
Oliver
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Bill H
United States
Absecon
New Jersey
You can't take the sky from me!
"A master in the art of living draws no sharp distinction between his work and his play, his labour and his leisure, his mind and his body, his education and his recreation." LP Jacks
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It took my 7 year old one game to learn the various combos (he'd never played Yahtzee), but when he ignored a pair of 5's to keep trying for a pair of 1's (which he got, stepping his 3rd cow into his red zone), I knew he understood.
Great game for teaching kids probability and simple strategies (should I try to slow them down or keep moving my cows closer?).
Fun, fast and different.
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Star IP
Hong-Kong
Mongkok
Unspecified
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Wrevilo wrote: You guys should both try Combo King. I had a great time with it on the weekend. It's quite similar to Cosmic Cows, Knights, and TCtK.. but there's 60 combos available; You'll have to complete between 4 and 8 of these each game, depending on how many cards your opponents force on you.
I just wrote a review, so check it out.
Oliver
I prefer Cosmic Cow as a 2p game - it's more clean and tactical. Combo King is better with more players.
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Tony Wai-kit FUNG
Hong-Kong
Mongkok
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Cosmic Cow is definitely a preferred 2p dice game for casual time killing. It's fun from inside and adorable from outside.
Combo King is so better and replayable with 4p.
If you would ever want to play a quick fun interactive dice game for 6p, Last Chance is recommended.
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Jeremy Yoder
United States
Sioux Falls
South Dakota
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Thanks for the game ideas. I'll have to check them out.
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