- BGG rank
- BGG #579
- BGG rating
- 7.4
Fantastic Factories
- 1–5 players
- 45–60 min
- Complexity 2.2/5
- 2019
- BGG rank
- BGG #8,120
- BGG rating
- 6.0
Cosmic Wimpout
1975
Rules assistance for Cosmic Wimpout
Plain-language explanations of turns, card effects and disputed situations, with official source references and saved question history.
- 2–7 players
- 20 min
- 7+
- Complexity 1.2/5
Rules assistant for Cosmic Wimpout
What would you like to know?
Answers come from the official rulebook, with the page to check.
Cosmic Wimpout is a board game released in 1975 for 2–7 players, 20 minutes per game, and ages 7 and up. It was designed by W. W. Swilling and Boston Logical Society and its main mechanics are Set Collection, Push Your Luck, and Dice Rolling.
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About the game
Cosmic Wimpout is "More than an Experience, It's a game!" In the family of push-your-luck dice games that garners great love, mostly through word-of-mouth marketing. It was a cult-game phenomenon in the Grateful Dead universe. The game flourished with the help of college students and Deadhead fans. You play by rolling the five Cosmic Wimpout cubes and get points for each 5, 10, or Flash (triplet) that you roll. You can accumulate points towards the winning total by ending your turn or risking it all, because if you roll and don't score, you lose all the points for that turn, and the next player goes. Thus like life, "Sometimes you are in the cosmos, and sometimes you wimp out." After certain results, a player may choose to end his turn, scoring the points he has accumulated. The first player to reach an agreed-upon score wins (300-600 for a short game with scores kept on paper, 1000-1500 more typically on the game boards), and the game can fit into a small dice tube. Throughout the years, several variations of dice designs have made early versions of the game collectible. There are several silk-screened fabric boards that vary the game length and require the player to use a personalized or improvised pawn. Numerous variants and house rules exist, and players are encouraged to change the rules (by unanimous agreement), even during the game.
Categories
Designers
Publishers
- (Self-Published)
- Koplow Games
- C3, Inc.
Questions and answers
Cosmic Wimpout supports 2–7 players according to the catalogue. This range comes from the publisher’s listed player count, so the game can be set up for any group size within it. Some setups, rules and scoring details may still vary by player count, so check your edition’s rulebook for the exact configuration.
The listed playing time for Cosmic Wimpout is 20 minutes. This is the publisher’s estimate for a full game. The actual duration depends on the group, the player count and familiarity with the rules: first sessions usually run longer, while experienced groups often finish faster. Setup and teaching time are not included in this estimate.
The catalogue lists Cosmic Wimpout for ages 7 and up. This is the publisher’s recommendation and reflects reading demands, rule complexity and small components rather than theme alone. Younger players can often join with help from an adult, so check the age guidance on your edition and consider your group’s experience with board games.
Cosmic Wimpout has a complexity rating of 1.2 out of 5 from BoardGameGeek players, which makes it a light game. The rating reflects how much rules knowledge, planning and decision-making a typical game demands. Expect a longer first teach for heavier games, and use a preparation guide before game night.
Cosmic Wimpout belongs to these categories: Dice. Its main mechanics are Set Collection, Push Your Luck, and Dice Rolling. Categories describe the theme and setting of a game, while mechanics describe what players actually do on their turns. Each mechanic links to a catalogue hub with similar games, which helps when you want something comparable.
The credited designers of Cosmic Wimpout are: W. W. Swilling and Boston Logical Society. These credits come from the published game data and name the people responsible for the game’s design, not its illustrators or publishers. Designer pages on MeepleRules collect other titles by the same designers, which helps when you enjoy a game and want to find similar ones.
The catalogue lists Cosmic Wimpout as a base game. It can be played on its own with the components in the box and does not require any other title. Expansions, if any exist, add new content or rules on top of it and are listed separately in the catalogue with a link back to this base game.