Cosmic Encounter Victory & Alliance Rules: Five Foreign Colonies
Cosmic Encounter’s core victory condition is simple: establish five foreign colonies. Alliances make that condition politically complex because more than one player can gain a colony from the same successful encounter.
What counts as a foreign colony?
A foreign colony is your ship presence on a planet in another player’s home system, established in a way permitted by the encounter/deal rules. Colonies on your own home planets do not count toward the five-colony victory condition.
Offensive allies can establish colonies
If the offense wins, eligible offensive allies move/leave their committed ships on the targeted planet according to the rules, creating foreign colonies for those allies as well.
Defensive allies receive defensive rewards
If the defense wins, defensive allies do not normally establish a colony on the defending planet. Instead they receive the standard defensive rewards for their surviving allied ships.
Multiple players can reach five together
If a successful offensive encounter gives the offense and one or more offensive allies their fifth foreign colonies simultaneously, those qualifying players share the win unless an alien power or card changes the result.
Negotiate deals can also create colonies
When both main players reveal Negotiate cards and successfully make a legal deal, colonies may be part of that deal. A legally established fifth foreign colony through a deal can therefore trigger victory.
Alien powers can override normal expectations
Cosmic Encounter explicitly contains rule-breaking powers. When a power conflicts with a general rule, follow the power’s timing/text and the official rule hierarchy.