Cogmind

Cogmind
N/A
Metacritic
94
Steam
86.444
xDR
Our rating is calculated based on the reviews and popularity of the game.
Price
$19.99
Release date
16 October 2017
Developers
Publishers
Steam reviews score
Total
94 (1 083 votes)
Recent
94 (17 votes)

Cogmind is a sci-fi roguelike epic in which you play a robot building yourself from components found or salvaged from other robots. Explore a living, breathing world through turn-based tactical combat, or sneak, hack, and fly your way to victory.

Show detailed description

Cogmind system requirements

Minimum:

  • OS: Windows XP SP3+
  • Processor: 1.8Ghz or faster
  • Memory: 500 MB RAM
  • Graphics: Anything
  • Storage: 60 MB available space
  • Additional Notes: Minimum resolution: 1272x720. STRONGLY RECOMMENDED TO first check how Cogmind will look on your screen of choice here: http://www.gridsagegames.com/cogmind/ui_preview.html (there is no zooming!)

Recommended:

Recommended requirements are not yet specified.
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mmica
mmica

it's got a bit of a learning curve, but once you understand how it works, it's really fun. So much replayability. It's also easier to start off with some of the special modes - like the RPGlike mode - to practice. Also has a surprisingly engaging story.

UltraFemboy
UltraFemboy

One of the best roguelikes I've ever played. World is very dynamic and alive, with all the robots doing their work, be it patroling, transporting cargo or repairing walls. There are lots of items for different playstyles - hacking tools, melee weapons, rocket launchers, electromagnetic rifles, drone bays and etc. And beautiful style with animations and user-friendly UI.

10/10

FLerik
FLerik

Absolute 10/10 masterpiece. This game has some great audio and visual design, is full of content (mysterious secret levels and paths, a lot like in spelunky 2) and has a lot of build variety and is just overall very engaging and entertaining. $20 might seem a bit steep for something that looks like an excel spreadsheet, but trust me it's worth it.

666ms
666ms

This isn't actually a roguelike, despite the faux-ascii bait on the store page
don't get scammed like I did

vel
vel

I love roguelikes and I wanted to love Cogmind. It seems to have taken the tiresome inventory sorting RPG mini game and made that the primary game loop.

I found myself spending inordinate amounts of time examining parts (gear) and refitting (equipping). This is central to gameplay, since your parts will be damaged in combat. There are ways to mitigate this somewhat in the mid to late game but you won't escape a map without sifting through inventory or drops repeatedly.

Cogmind leans heavily towards stealth play and combat builds still are not as viable. That's a shame because the combat visuals and sound effects are great. I reached the final level only to hit a wall with my build that I could not fix.

Cogmind is worth a play if you love roguelikes. There are some really cool ideas that bring the world to life. Kudos to the dev for sticking with this for more than 8 years.

Update: after spending hours reading part descriptions, it became much faster to sift through drops and inventory, though it's still a time consuming game mechanic. The combat, lore, QoL / UX, and other features are still worth checking out if you can get over the inventory management. In addition to 'a' and 'g' and '3' to automatically deal with parts, switching to keyboard fully rather than using the mouse made the game flow better. I'd still like to see a gameplay mode besides the hidden RPG mode that eliminates more of the inventory mess.

Spark7979
Spark7979

You've gotta be a special kind of masochist to enjoy a game like this.
The UI (especially the font) is weird and small. The progression is extremely slow and you'll always find yourself micromanaging absolutely everything. You're punished for trying to engage enemies as there's a hidden mechanic where it spawns more if you do. It just isn't fun for me. It's slow, It's tedious, It's punishing and It's unrewarding. The atmosphere's nice though I'll give it that. Buy Caves of Qud if you want a fun roguelike experience.

leaf dog
leaf dog

I have always been terrible at strategy games, and I have never understood why. This game was an enlightening experience for me as it proved that I am psychologically incapable of "thinking ahead". Thank you Cogmind.

notepad++ gaming
notepad++ gaming

i like the part where i cycle through my brazillion limbs and rend everything which *dares* to *attempt* to pose a threat

11/10, one of the most roguelikes of all time

Beepinex
Beepinex

i like to race technicians to their terminal and try to trojan(assimiliate) them. im a sore loser btw (grenade launcher)

CACTUSHURT
CACTUSHURT

Pros:
Explosions
customizable robot parts
great cyberpunk aesthetic
everything else

Cons:
Not enough people appreciatte art

Storm Mk9
Storm Mk9

This game's been in development for almost ten years now, and it shows clearly that not a second of that has been wasted. Rich lore, in-depth mechanics (many of which are entirely optional and easy to miss, but have been given incredible detail anyway), and at the core of it all (pun absolutely intended), is you. The Cogmind. Seemingly the only bot around who can swap their own parts on the fly. But that's just about the only thing you really have going for you (aside from the above-average healthbar, but attrition will make short work of that if you aren't careful), but it's enough to take on the whole facility if you know what you're doing.

Daddy5
Daddy5

Great rougelike. Worth every penny.

nimitzse
nimitzse

As usual, don't rely on steam playtime. Coming from a fan of roguelikes and turn-based strategy in general.

Not only the best roguelike on steam but one of the best single player turn-based tactical/strategical game. I was initially apprehensive that survival from easily destructible items would result in limited strategies, but the design is extremely well thought out and all the mechanics are working together to create a beautifully paced game that also pushes the player into interesting and meaningful decisions over and over again.

Not to mention the superb sounds design, beautiful ascii art, deep lore and most importantly the dedication of the developer to keep improving and growing the product, every year comes with a long list of new and well thought out additions that improve the game considerably.

I cannot recommend this game enough.

Termy
Termy

TLDR: Recommended for both experienced roguelike players who are looking for a novel approach to the genre and to RL design, and for players new to roguelikes looking for a complex but intuitive game that combines a reasonable learning curve with a significant amount of polish and excellently-described mechanics. Features minimal grind, a range of viable builds and playstyles, strong lore, and unique but intuitive mechanics. RNG plays a role, but tactical and strategic decisions are more important.

I originally played the 7DRL version of Cogmind. When I heard a commercial version was in developement, I was sceptical that it would be successful. I have never been happier to be wrong. I originally purchased the game directly, and over multiple platforms have likely clocked up hundreds of hours of play. Despite this, the game remains fresh, fun, and can still turn up surprises.

In Cogmind, you take the role of a robot trying to escape an enormous complex. The game features:

* A unique character build system, whereby you literally build your robot dynamically from parts found in the complex. This allows for a huge range of viable - and sometimes less viable but !FUN! - builds, as well as affording the player the opportunity to dynamically rebuild the character to suit changing circumstances.
* Intuitive and well-described gameplay. While the game is full of secrets, tricks and meta, these can all be determined through gameplay without the need of spoilers unlike certain OTHER roguelikes. All stats and mechanics are very well-described.
* Highly interactable and dynamic world, which expands strategic and tactical options. (Seriously, if you loved the ability to blow up walls in X-COM(94) to develop new strategic options, you're in for a treat here.)
* Minimal grind - the character develops dynamically from both progress and player decisions, rather than relying on XP.
* Moderate RNG. This ensures that runs are unique, but strategic and tactical decisions are far more important to progression than luck. I've had highly successful runs against some incredible bad luck by adapting my strategy.
* Expansive lore that persists over runs. Multiple factions, goals and paths abound, and even seemingly familiar areas can offer surprises. The plot organically develops from 'escape from this complex' into something far larger and more mysterious.
* QOL EVERYWHERE! Much more than any other roguelike.
* Innovative and highly accessible interface allowing for a range of display options (including trad ASCII and an expanded unique ASCII-like tileset).
* Expansive input system - almost any actions can be performed by either mouse, keystroke or menu-based inputs, allowing the player to adapt the input to their own preferences. (This is also beneficial for playing the game on multiple systems, for example on keyboards without numeric keypads or arrow keys.)

While the game is still 'in development', it features more polish and features than any other roguelike I can think of, and has long been complete to anyone's 1.0 standards. Continuing updates add new mechanics, options, features, areas, factions and lore.

The game also features a highly active community, and one of my favourite developers in terms of their innovation and willingness to share their development process (as well as their obvious love of the design process). Also keep an eye out for the occasional fun events - such as spinoffs, seasonal events, and an ARG.

Depresso Espresso
Depresso Espresso

Really fun with lots of replayability. it can be a tad complex and has a big learning curve for the higher difficulties but still alot of fun on the lower ones.

codemanst92
codemanst92

Was looking for a game that allowed me to be creative, had tons of action with depth, and strategy. This game has it all and more. I'm only a few hours into it and I can already tell it's going to be one of my favorite roguelikes as I enjoy getting better with each restart. The developers weren't kidding when they said it has tactical and strategic decisions. It is very rewarding after learning the basics, and I'm already reading the manual to get better. Fantastic game!

zazuza
zazuza

Wish you happiness and good health!

valcliff
valcliff

As I understand, various players of Cogmind go through different stages in exploring this game. I'm currently at the stage where I'm basically like Frank West, grabbing the biggest shopping cart I can and loading it up with action missiles and food ninjas and other useful goodies, and just testing the synergy of my loadouts. As a result it's led to me nabbing some very elusive achievements, such as blowing up entire mainframe labs and turbine generators along with squads of pursuers. That's right, the environments in this are fully destructible, and I know that's worth the price of admission alone, for some players. A fair number of my achievements are in the single digits for how much of the playerbase has shared them, and yet, despite how much I've played this so far, I still haven't beat it even once. Is that amazing design balance, or what?

I suppose I'll eventually win once I figure out how to do things correctly. For what it's worth, I'm quite a bit more endeared to this than 'Door in the Woods'. That game was basically spinning a wheel where a bunch of the options just lands on 'DIE', while this game usually gives you more chances to make things work, and I generally feel like when I die, it was due to my own mistakes rather than the game just being a wiener. Though, I suppose we'll see how I feel about it after another 70 hours in Cogmind.

Regardless of my experience though, I give it a hearty recommend. It's a fun world to get lost in, each play through feels quite different even if you tend to favor one strategy over the other, there's a vast well of lore to uncover along with your hardware, it's a roguelike that honestly feels alive. Also, it generally does a pretty good job of teaching you how to play as you go along. I don't understand what some of the utility items do, but most of them are pretty self explanatory on whether you think they'd be useful or not, and even if they aren't self apparent, the game actively encourages you to experiment. Sometimes, depending on items you utilize, you'll reach levels that were completely inaccessible to you even after like a dozen hours or more of play.

Don't let the tight-fisted discounts fool you, this game is actually worth it at base value.

super_mega
super_mega

This game by itself is very hard. It has a great depth and is always satisfying when you demolish everything in your way. If you are bored try doing some of the achievements(they are hard)

Jayombi
Jayombi

Cogmind, what a gem.

Being an older gamer this game reminds me off the bat a old Commodore 64 game called Paradroid and its Amiga version Paradroid 90.

Its probably not meant to replicate but something about it causes a nostalgia stroke of the 8 bit kind. Maybe its how it looks or sounds, its also a robot game where funnily enough you kill, hack, adapt and upgrade from your robot kills.

You must survive, upgrade and eventually try to escape the prison your cast in. Its a rogue turn based game that promotes an intuitive nature of play. It looks complicated and statistically mind boggling but its actually pretty easy to grasp in little to no time but will take a long time to master the strategy, the ruthless robot types and the harsh world you are set in.

It helps to play this game on a good monitor and up close as the screen is busy and the graphical look is punchy and tight with a tone of Dwarf Fortress like quality.
(TIP : use the Windows Magnifer APP if you want to enlarge things)

I haven't lasted long enough in game to dig deep into its roots and law as there is yet so much more to discover as the law is deep with this one.

Recommend this game a lot for those that want something a little different and liked the old 8 bit games of past.

God of Ducks
God of Ducks

Wish I enjoyed it based on the reviews, but this game suffers from a lack of accessibility options. I would try this game again if there was a zoom feature and larger text. I just couldn't get into it with how it is currently; the headache from the squinting was too distracting to enjoy the gameplay. It didn't help that I had no idea what I was doing narratively or anything in that regard. Ignoring the confusion from the extremely mediocre tutorial, my time playing this game on stream was not enjoyable. I wish I see this game for what everyone else is seeing it as.

Steelsade
Steelsade

If you like classic roguelikes and sci-fi then this is a must play for you

xerxia
xerxia

Traditional roguelike, progression through parts that you equip rather than leveling, intuitive ui with both mouse and keyboard support. Overall a solid game.

Dreadmaker
Dreadmaker

So I've only made one run so far, and I can already say that it's one of the best traditional roguelikes I've ever played.

The tile graphics that are on by default make it much more accessible than a lot of other ascii-based roguelikes (though there's still an ascii mode if you like that kinda thing), and it's just generally more intuitive than other games like it, I think. Really nice (and creepy) sound design, as well, and there's a lot of depth in the game mechanics, as you'd expect.

Great stuff overall.

Lepire
Lepire

Cogmind is an excellent game. I've only logged a couple hours, but am already blown away by the polish and depth of the game. I am a relative newcomer to the genre (~50 hours in Qud) and the graphical overlay does an excellent job conveying information, making it relatively easy to jump right in. Can't wait to see what else this game has to offer!

Socram
Socram

Extremely high quality and unique roguelike. Traditional in some ways, while also being cutting edge in others. It definitely stands out from the crowd, with probably the best audio and visuals of any classic roguelike out there. It is simultaneously approachable (with a bit of help from the manual, check it out!), yet incredibly deep. If you're not typically into true roguelikes it is a shining example of what makes the genre so great, read on if you want to know why.

The elevator pitch is you're an empty "core" of a robot making your way upward out of a deep, branching facility. The most compelling and fundamental feature of the game is that you must constantly find new parts to bolt on to yourself in order to give your robot additional power, mobility, weaponry, and most interestingly, a huge range of utility (of which there are MANY to choose from and discover). You're constantly swapping parts for new and improved ones, or because your last pair of legs got heavily damaged (or even destroyed) in your last combat. Constructing your robot is a streamlined experience with some really interesting decision making once you start to understand the sea of options and very satisfying progression to boot. The range of different robots you can build is extremely cool, whether you're a flying stealth bot, or a massive hulking treaded tank loaded to the brim with guns, and everything inbetween. The thrill of swapping parts mid combat to finish off enemies as your core's health dwindles is unmatched. Kudos to the developer for absolutely nailing this aspect of the game.

The game controls extremely well, there's clearly been a lot of love put towards making a highly usable user experience on mouse and/or keyboard. Swapping parts, checking stats of items or enemy robots, and most other common actions are easily accessible. The UI might seem overwhelming at first, but is really quite clever and useful once you get familiar with it and realize the amount of information its presenting.

As previously mentioned, Cogmind goes above and beyond with the audio and visuals. Despite using traditional ASCII style graphics, there's a ton of fidelity and attention to detail. Explosions go off with dramatic flare, lasers pierce through darkened corridors illuminating the world as they go, all with high quality sound effects to boot. The ambient audio of the facility is super cool, machines whir, neutral bots navigate around you opening and closing doors, making things feel alive and alien. Seriously best in class work here.

The game is quite challenging, especially when you're new, so I again recommend reading the manual and perhaps watching some videos for tips. You can tweak the difficulty too, if desired. I don't have a ton of hours in the game but I know I've just begun to scratch the surface and wrap my head around figuring out this labyrinthine facility and incredibly deep and exciting game.

Nick Shaida
Nick Shaida

The game itself is owerhealmingly amazing.
But what really matters - is author's support, realized in a goddamn TON of articles, explaining all why-s\where-s\what for-s.

IceTrizzey
IceTrizzey

Yes, if you like roguelikes with customization. This will make you semi erect for hours. Please play game before your wife gets home or you will get a divorce.

Hastapagacho
Hastapagacho

Developer is a chad for making this in a time where triple A studios are making cash grab trash and yandere devs are failing to deliver on any promises then leaving their game in early access until the heat death of the universe.

once more this game impresses with its graphics and not by hyperrealism but with ASCII art and has a book as a guide. The dev clearly is pouring his or her heart into this. You go dev let the good times roll!

Wafflehouse
Wafflehouse

Cogmind is great, very well designed and fun to play even though its quite hard.

Admiral MacGubbinz
Admiral MacGubbinz

This game is tons of fun. The only thing that has kept me from really getting into it is how small the U.I. is and theres no way to make it larger. I can hardly see whats going on and it negatively impacts my overall enjoyment of the game. Mechanically its great, everything else about the game is very well done. I wish I could say the microscopic U.I. was a small matter but it is not. I most certainly recommend this game but only for people who have stellar vision.

Samich
Samich

I found myself being able to jump into this game very easily. Even if I was inexperienced with "proper" game-play tactics because I didn't fully know long-term mechanics, the story and misc. conversations were intriguing and enemies were engaging. For a Roguelike, this really scratched an itch I've had to find something new along the lines of DCSS. It feels modern, controls are great, and the visuals and effects are amazing. I definitely need to pull this game back up in my day-to-day rotation.

Keep up the great work! It's mechanically inspiring for me as a hobby game-dev who enjoys rogue-likes/lites.

Khalthehunted332
Khalthehunted332

A very very interesting Roguelike where you wake up as an android on another planet.

Every play is different. You never know what you'll run into and the game is updated all the time!

RATING 8/10

weirdfish
weirdfish

This is an outstanding roguelike with lovely matrix-esque animations and tons of content.

ChazGibson
ChazGibson

Not much into roguelikes but always wanted to be because I like the concept in theory. So this past year I've tried the large majority of the popular roguelikes. Brogue, DCSS, IVAN and TOME yadda yadda yadda and X, Y, and Z yadda yadda yadda.

Cogmind is probably the greatest game I've ever played and light-years beyond even the big named roguelikes on steam. I don't even think the developer himself who is constantly communicating and documenting the design of this masterpiece actually understands the monumental achievement here. The game is a masterpiece, god tier, once in a lifetime, gem. And the developer is a goldmine of awesome and we are all privileged to indulge in his creation.

The concept at first didn't appeal to me when reading about it. And it may not appeal to you either but don't let that stop you from trying. In the grand scheme of his vision everything just fits together perfectly - and to be quite honest... I don't think a better idea for a roguelike can even compete with Cogmind's grand scheme. Cogmind is the apex design of the entire genre. It's accessible as hell. Looks great. Sounds great.

Friends, enemies and clowns... if you have the smallest interest in traditional roguelikes then not starting here with this game that you are not worthy of would most likely be the mistake of your life!

Realer than real!

derek
derek

No metaprogression, and a good blend of player agency and randomness. I suck at it but I'm enjoying figuring out how to consistently get past mid-game.

Pinkytwigosh
Pinkytwigosh

Game has been collecting dust in my library for several months. Finally decided to hop in and boy howdy am I glad I did. First run lasted over 2 hours and I just want to go back for more. Crazy amounts of depth. I actually found myself getting really into the lore of the world. If you don't mind the graphics and like roguelikes I highly suggest giving this game a go.

miamse
miamse

Doesn't waste your time, CPU cycles nor storage, and just so happens to be the most soulful, gorgeous, atmospheric ASCII roguelike ever made. Somehow also has tons of depth and great mechanics.

Shin
Shin

Traditional Roguelike masterpiece with interesting and fresh ideas that makes it unique! I love Cogmind!
Don't get fooled by the simple graphics, because the gameplay and the very intuitive HUD is amazing and well designed.
Build your robot from scratch to a powerful machine of destruction, a stealthy hacker, a fast melee assassin or more. You have complete freedom because each part can be replaced on the fly to make your own cutsom class! But be careful, cause each part also can be destroyed. Sometimes you even have exciting moments when you lose almost everything, but don't be afraid! You can have the most epic comebacks in this game and rebuild from everthing you find lying on the ground or take from other robots. The hacking system is also quite interesting because there are many different hacks to discover (even secret ones). The lore is deep and the amount of items is unbelievable. The game is still constantly growing because the developer still improves it with huge free updates with lots of new content, balance changes, fixes and even new game modes. This guy is one of the most productive and most communicative developers I have seen and you can see in this game, that this is truly a labour of love. Cogmind is incredible and worth every penny. But only buy this if you really like numbers and inventory management because there is a lot of it in this game. You also should have a big screen if you don't want to destroy your eyes. On the steam page is a link where you can test if it is big enough to see everything clearly.

Seasoned Rice
Seasoned Rice

gave it a go, but i kept thinking that i'd be having more fun playing another roguelike that doesn't need 50 key presses after every fight or to do something basic--like for real, the number of times i've gone /-8-A-d-8 just swapping out busted gear actually hurts my fingers. watching all my parts get damaged after a fight, my thought isn't "oh boy, time to make interesting choices in how i'll replace my gear", it's "ugh, eight dozen more key presses just to return to fighting shape". When i find good gear on the ground instead of being excited to pivot my build, i don't feel anything because i know in two fights it'll be gone

maybe i just don't get it or it's just not for me. maybe the early game is just dull and i'm not good enough to get where it opens up, but i've given it my best and it's just not fun

[This review was edited on 03/25/2022 to remove a named reference to another roguelike because that was just tacky of me]

Hot Rhetoric
Hot Rhetoric

If you enjoy being a robot who builds them selves up over the course of a work day at the expense of other robots, this game is for you. Enjoy your new sassy treads.

Luck
Luck

I need to learn how to play but

clarkeveritas
clarkeveritas

This is a really cool rogue-like game but it's hard to describe. If you like lots of customization and don't need 8k Ultra Graphics- you should read up on this one. The only reason I don't have more hours on this game is because of my crazy game backlog. But for the right type of person- this game is great.

Spooked
Spooked

One of the best roguelike I've ever played.

disor
disor

pretty much the best traditional roguelike made in this fun new wave

Sagata
Sagata

Couldn't even start playing it because of the font sizing; font size is way to small for me, and requires that I'd strain my eyes looking at a 50" tv. Reading up on it in attempt to adjust and it is not possible for my situation. This choice to have this size font is by design; which is awful and unfriendly to those that have difficulty with sight. I've played other rogues where this isnt an issue.

deepledi?
deepledi?

Pain, agony even. But its not for me.

Rip and tear, until it is done.

BaronVonMunchhausen
BaronVonMunchhausen

I am become death, destroyer of...
Gods damn it all, my wheels got shot off again.
Guess I'll limp over here and snag these legs...
NO! SCAVENGER! STOP!

And then I died, watching the cleaning robots steal all the parts I desperately needed to escape.

homewovenhandicrafts
homewovenhandicrafts

Lovely modern classic roguelike with additional gameplay mode options for players newer to or intimidated by the genre.

Mouse integration, full audio (with accessibility options), snappy animation, and two base tilesets (ASCII and spritework) breathe some modern comfort into a game that still stays true to its 1980s stylistic origins.

Gameplay is characterized by a cycle of frenetic action punctuated by well-earned respite and the ability to bounce back and thrive from once anticipated certain doom. A very polished and balanced experience. Manage resources, seize opportunity, and assess risk; decisions will chase one over the course of play. Cogmind is difficult but very rewarding. Every game over scenario feels earned and offers a way to reflect on how something could have been done differently.

Cogmind is not for everybody, but I do recommend it to those who enjoy roguelikes and potential fans of the genre. If it looks interesting, definitely give it your attention!

Gamer Shanksi
Gamer Shanksi

Cogmind is very much a worthy successor to Paradroid and is lovingly updated by the wonderful devs.

J_A_P_G
J_A_P_G

It's fun! The world is always a joy to explore.

Tempest102
Tempest102

The worst enemies in the game are called "Programmers".

CAVEDATA
CAVEDATA

brilliant. feels like an actual ecosystem of mechanics and design rather then a flat plane of a,b,c or d decision making. put in the time to become fluent in its game play and you wont regret it. stick it to the man by playing good roguelikes!

anon8431
anon8431

Pretty fun little game, very retro feel. Well done to the developer. :)

vφno
vφno

Honestly, this is the most fun Roguelike I've ever played.
It is ridiculously fun and has tons of replayabiity.

Make sure to try different things and playstyles. Tank it out with treads, become terminator with legs or maybe a pew-pew racecar with wheels. Maybe hack other robots instead?
The loot will make that choice for you.

Buy it now, don't wait for the sale. Those 2 bucks are well worth playing it earlier.
Seriously, it's addictive. I can't recommend this game enough.

Krampus
Krampus

I've only played it for a little but like any great classic roguelike it's a delightful onion of layers and layers of deep and harmonious system design.

Edit: Just read the manual. It's pretty much a design document/wiki. That is awesome.

brojo
brojo

I've been following this developer since forever ago about roguelikes. 10/10 would purchase his games again.

mcsnuffy
mcsnuffy

Mechanically one of the best games ever made. Stardew Valley levels of love/polish have gone into this, for over a decade. A must-play rogue-like

Gensittingduck
Gensittingduck

I CAN'T READ THE TEXT IT'S TOO SMALL. PLEASE ADD A ZOOM FEATURE

HCJorma
HCJorma

The developer is very thorough and the love towards this game can be seen everywhere. It has been already for years a masterpiece even while it's been in early access. If you appreciate games which are hard, have deep mechanics and take time to master, but are fun to play from the start, look no further. To me, winning isn't the objective, but the journey of finding new ways to play.

The typical roguelike fear of every encounter is very present, but many of those encounters can be also be avoided if you know what you are doing. Exploding the way through the map is my favourite style, but often time than not it ends up being the less efficient way of going forward - and that's how it should be.

Basically already a complete game, don't let the early access tag fool you.

nebulaeandstars
nebulaeandstars

Cogmind is the quintessential example of a modern roguelike. It's visually appealing and has a modern UI, while maintaining true to the tile-based, turn-based gameplay of its predecessors.

The game is incredibly deep, with a huge number of potential builds that each offer a completely unique experience while remaining balanced. The first area acts as a (hard) tutorial of sorts, introducing you to the basic mechanics before the world opens up a few floors in.

Once you get to Factory, the game explodes with new content. There are factions to join, secret areas to snoop in, and terrifying corridors that you'll learn to stay away from.

The gameplay loop will vary from run to run, but the game's core is preparation. An all-out slug-fest in the open isn't going to work out too well unless you're ready for it, but avoiding combat and incrementally building on what you have (similar to deck-building games) will eventually put you in a very good position.

The developer is very active, and is fairly reliable at releasing very positive updates to the game. Sometimes there's a bit of a wait, but what he comes up with is always worth it. The rest of the community is small but dedicated, so you'll have no problems finding what you need, be it guides, a solid wiki, etc.

Overall, this is a fantastic game to pick up. The developer has stated that there will never be a sale, but the price is tiny for what you get. If you like classic roguelikes, then this indie gem is easily better than most AAA titles out there, so you should have no problem paying the full amount.

Cris
Cris

In cogmind you're a little robot trying to escape complex 0b10, your one and greatest ability is that you can attach to yourself parts found thorugh the complex or others robots you destroy.

Every run unique because you never know what parts will be availaible.

Snare
Snare

Very fun, I would recommend if you enjoy roguelikes. This is one of the best.

Bootypunch
Bootypunch

I have only played an hour and a half of this game, and I can already say it's one of the best roguelikes I've ever played. Coming from Qud, ToME4, and Dwarf Fortress, this game shares some aspects in common with those games but mixes it up in a way that feels truly unique. Many other features and systems are groundbreaking diversions from the standard roguelike genre.

I usually prefer fantasy settings, but I am surprised at how immersive this robotic world feels. I'm imagining my character as a small, rogue robot, sifting through the wreckage of its enemies and amassing power through the integration of their parts. It's really easy to picture the parts due to the absolutely gorgeous ASCII illustrations of each piece of loot you acquire. I've never seen ASCII art that looks three dimensional until now. The heavy kinetic cannon, for instance, looks cylindrical due to shading techniques. It really blows my mind that ASCII looks this good, coupled with the modern design it really makes this game feel sleek.

The audio work is phenomenal as well, battles with squads of robots really feel chaotic and deadly with every weapon making its own distinct sound. The ambiance and audio cues are immersive and informative. It's obvious that a lot of thought was put into every aspect of this game's presentation, and the sound quality is no exception.

To top all of this off, the developer is active in the community, very transparent, and obviously loves this project. If you're tired of buying early access games that are dead before they even hit their full potential, Cogmind will cure what ails you. Based on community feedback, I know that this game is already complete and it's still being fine-tuned by the developer.

I will come back and update this review when I have had more time with it, but my early impressions are solid. If you're into roguelikes at all, this is a must-buy. I can't wait to see how this game continues to grow over time.

Edit: 6.5 hours in and this is one of the greatest roguelikes of all time, IMO.

Shrek's Bottom Frag
Shrek's Bottom Frag

Endless possibilities with each run. Absolutely amazing game.

ace_50840
ace_50840

just picked up the game today 4/10/22, and im not one for leaving comments but WOW this freaking game is phenomenal. if you play traditional roguelikes or this is your first roguelike youve considered i cant recommend this game enough. honestly i cant find a gripe with cogmind. the dev has in my opinion made a fantastic futuristic dungeon crawler that still feels tradition with the QOL additions for even the newest of roguelike fans. more than worth the price of purchase. if you have the money to spend on a game make it this one, i doubt youll regret it.

Sacrath
Sacrath

Very nice game that seems overwhelming at first but is simultaneously deep and intuitive. Highly suggest "leiavoia's Cogmind New Player Strategy Guide" and the Vormithrax video series for up to date information.

Candesce
Candesce

An excellent roguelike with deep strategy, quality production values, and extensive if unobtrusive lore.

No grind, and individual games are quick enough and the game replayable enough for trying again and again to stay engaging.

art-hropod
art-hropod

this game reminds me how stupid i am

SteinsGate
SteinsGate

just

incredibly deep.
incredibly cryptic.
incredibly fun.
incredibly difficult.

bonkers.

MarsVolta0
MarsVolta0

It's deep. it's sexy. It will satisfy your need for adrenaline packed escapes and projectile filled power fantasies.

vedé
vedé

Could be great but the inventory and resource management is complex and finnicky to the point of tedium, and the RNG-intensive combat frequently nullifies your already-marginal decisions.

The available equipment and inventory slots require EXTREME economy with which items you take, but because every item offers relatively insignificant bonuses (usually 2-4%), achieving any type of "build" requires having a lot of specific items equipped. Only for it to be totally dashed by the RNG when a single robot blows off a piece, or gets a lucky shot on your movement parts, causing you to become totally immobile. Avoiding this requires spending basically every resource in the game in different amounts: "matter", which is also your ammunition for many weapons, is required to do any type of equipment management at all. "energy", another type of ammunition but also required to do anything in the game (moving, inventory management, shooting, etc.) and inventory slots, which you will have very very few of unless you choose a very specific build (which again...).

All these systems don't combine into an interesting puzzle, in my opinion. Usually they just combine to make me want to press the "abort game" button instead of continuing to play a doomed run, and then thinking about how little my decisions actually influenced my "build" makes me want to put the game down forever (here we are).

I think this game would be a lot more fun if it gave the player more effective equipment, with more diverse enemies to compensate. Comparing two extremely small bonuses, having to take only one because of the excessively-limited inventory, and then having the decision utterly nullified in a few turns is not fun at all. It just feels tedious and makes me not want to engage with the game's systems. It's like the game wants you to simultaneously treat the attachments as temporary powerups, components of a long-term build, and permanent bonuses, but the combat mechanics don't really allow you to actually do any of that in a consistent way.

I'm sure some old-head or the developer, if they read this, will be thinking "well actually, if you just do the math, you'll see that if you pick this and this and this, you will have a 25% greater chance to survive the blah blah blah". But the thing is, balancing all of those solutions together, because of the combination of tight-rope resource management and extreme RNG that will throw all your decisions away at the drop of a hat, isn't actually *fun*. It mostly just feels pointless, unnecessarily complicated, and often for hardly any benefit anyway (yay... a 4% accuracy bonus... for one type of weapon... from an item with 15 integrity points so it will be instantly destroyed by the first thing that hits it, unless I spend even MORE precious equipment slots to reduce its chance of destruction... by 50%).

Another symptom of this half-decent, half-confused design is the inter-level upgrade screen. The game offers four options, but the vast majority of the time you will take just one of them (utility). The option doesn't really relate to any type of "build", because again, every single system you might want to integrate into any kind of "build" still requires investment in everything else. Inventory management points are movement points are ammunition are everything else, so most of these decisions are just tedium, not actually interesting.

Overall, the design feels unfinished to me, but from what I've seen from the developer in the forums, this type of agonizing resource management for excruciatingly tiny bonuses that get ripped away by dice rolls are exactly what they want, so whatever. I find that type of game design infuriating, hence the not recommended review. And I know the developer will want to post their typical "aww but why don't you just get good? once you get good it's fun, I promise! other people are good so your criticism is invalid!" response that they post on every negative review. I don't care. Just because someone can figure out a needlessly complex system doesn't make it worthwhile or interesting, and it doesn't invalidate criticism about whether it's fun to learn.

There are different "difficulty" modes, but none of them actually solve the fundamental game design problem of the game's systems being so complexly interwoven that they become tedious to interact with or think about, nor the problem of equipment requiring huge investments for insignificant rewards. IMO, a huge amount of the items in the game should have their functionality consolidated. Maybe differentiate them only by giving separate bonus effects on top of some basic effect (eg. the huge number of sensor items in the game is a totally unnecessary complication of a really good idea for a game system)

This is all really sad because most other systems in the game are REALLY excellent. The environmental destruction and rebuilding is really neat, and the way all the different systems in every level interact is unique among all roguelikes in my opinion. The sensors and awareness systems make for stealth gameplay that is functional and actually fun to engage with, which is a huge accomplishment in the roguelike genre. The dynamic plot system and scripted areas are also very good. The UI could use some work clarifying a lot of the game mechanics, but is still better than the vast majority of roguelikes, and the digital interface aesthetic works really well. Too bad.

bradclark1
bradclark1

I have no idea what I am doing but having a blast doing it. I guess I should read some guides and manual after a while.

Chunga
Chunga

A lot of personality is packed into this one, both in the narrative and art style. The vast amount of objects allow you to experiment and test new ideas. If you suspect this game is up your alley then it probably is and more than you would expect. Two robo-thumbs way up!!

Havoc
Havoc

A roguelike should not have you attached to a character, not with every piece of item you find that literally defines if your run is going to be decent or bad. This game is 90% luck, 10% skill. Tactics can only take you so far when RNG decides your only weapon or a part of your build is destroyed and you are rendered literally useless.

It's definitely ok to have RNG suddenly make things hectic, not because it decided to destroy your build in one single RNG shot that renders every other piece of your equipment useless.

bucks
bucks

Fantastic game, very beautiful UI and the ASCII is top notch. quite addictive too boot, and pretty difficult at times
(but no death ever felt like it wasn't my fault and always taught me a lesson so i could progress further next time),

my only complaint is a very minor one and probably only happens for a few people; that is that my eyes get sore after playing and i normally have to have a break between longer runs. so maybe watch out if you're sensitive to that sort of thing

bravo grid sage games! thanks for this experience

chrisandsue
chrisandsue

Old school rogue concept updated with scifi themed dungeons, pixel-like graphics, and awesome interface design. Truly unique. Thoroughly enjoyable game play.

Null
Null

Купил лицуху просто чтобы сказать. Игра - топ, счастлив как младенец

kamikaye
kamikaye

If you like to have a stressful core game loop without much planning it's good I guess. I missed the refund window so Im stuck with it.

Arherion
Arherion

Game is hard as classic rougelike should be, deep complex mechanics all around, spawns are random yet you always have plenty of choice to use. But game doing great at giving you understanding that you can win, one day, somehow.
Not leaving aside great art style that allows immersion at scale that no gfx could ever achieve.

Skandi
Skandi

Quite simply, it's a joy to play. The barrier to entry is extremely low, as it can be played with the mouse if you prefer that, or keyboard only for a faster experience. The basic pitch is also simple: You are a robot fighting other robots, and you take their parts in order to get stronger. There's no EXP system, the "leveling up" you do simply allows you to have more parts attached at once. The game is also quite forgiving, as getting all your parts destroyed doesn't mean you've lost: Your little core can run away pretty quickly, and you'll live to fight another day. You can also examine every enemy in your field of view to get a general idea of whether you should fight or run in any given situation.

Like most good games, though, the straightforward surface hides a lot of depth. Which kinds of weapons do you use? They all have specific effects, and are better against some enemies than others. Or you could try to avoid combat hacking other robots to do your fighting for you, or hacking terminals to find the exit to the next floor without anyone firing a single shot. What kind of propulsion do you use? You could fly, which makes you very quick, and able to fly above enemies, but you aren't able to carry a lot. On the opposite extreme, you could go for tank treads, which are durable but slow, and double as armor while also turning you into a battering ram. And so on, and so on.

Every system flows into the others in a way that always seems intuitive, and almost any playstyle you can think of will work as long as you plan for it. The lore is interesting, but if you don't care about that you can ignore it completely, and you can skip all the dialogue in the game as well, which is particularly good for replay value.

There are a couple of negative things to note, mainly that, in my opinion, hacking other robots generally takes too much work for not enough reward. Changing some advanced settings requires manual file editing, rather than simply being an in-game option, which seems like an unnecessary complication. But those are truly the only negatives I can think of.

Toroon
Toroon

Complex deep roguelike. Lots of features and ideas I haven't seen in other similar games. Explore, fight, manage inventory, die. Try to figure out why you died. Much fun if you like that sort of thing, which i do. Played it a couple of years back, and returned to find much new content. Well worth the money

Final Freefall
Final Freefall

One more turn was 98 hours ago.

William Shakesman
William Shakesman

Cogmind is good. Hell, it's really good. It's got damn near the best UI of any roguelike ever made. There are six ways to do just about every action and any information you need is always a right click away, or a few keyboard commands if you're into that sort of thing. The lore is cryptic but fun and cool without being pretentious, and it informs every aspect of the game design. There's an in-universe justification for nearly every single mechanic in the game, nothing is gameified.

Plus, it plays very different from most roguelikes; you have an absurd amount of health, but the enemy has an absurd amount of robots, making it very difficult (but absolutely not impossible) for you to lose instantly in one enemy squad, but allows you to almost always have an escape option of just ditching parts to move fast and retreat. Hell, it's your only get out of jail card. There aren't any teleport potions in this robo-hell. All items are parts, and all parts constitute your build. This is balanced pretty tight: If you want to hack, if you want to fight, if you want to sneak, literally every single part you have must be built toward that purpose. You can't just splash on a couple hacking modules next to your accuracy up modules and expect to actually get anything.

That kinda loops into why I am voting it down. Fighting is utterly obnoxious but also absolutely mandatory (Yes, you damn leather pajama wearing stealth nerds, you MUST fight too. But the enemies that stalk out nerds like you can usually be dispatched without alerting a horde as none of the robots have ears.). Parts are your health, and the enemy's too. So you can spend six turns blasting shotguns into a robot at point blank before it finally dies because you never hit his core while he'll do the same and you'll rather wish he hit your core instead because now all your treads are blown off and you can't carry your guns. There is almost utterly zero reward for fighting apart from the satisfying gun sound effects. What there IS is immense cost because you will lose important, synergistic parts of your build every time as the damn mecha-freaks curve their bullets around your 3 armor plates to bullseye three of your flight modules in one salvo like they are glowing weak spots and you're a lame-a*s Star Fox boss... wait I guess they and you kinda are. It's not even that this is imbalanced, you swap parts so often that this isn't really a huge deal, but it is OBNOXIOUS to sit and watch every single fight break something important and cause you to have to stumble around raiding dozens of robot supply closets hoping you can find something that isn't garbage to replace it. Again, you cannot just grab whatever except to use it as an HP soak to plug a hole, if you have 7 combat parts, you need an 8th combat part period. A sneaking part or a gimmick utility part doesn't help, and you're completely at the mercy of what you can find while trying to hide between the next batch of insane murderbots trying to kill you, and no, the next 6 closets will have nothing but utter trash. Here's 30 heat guns and zero heat sinks if you are so mad the robots can't kill you, you want to just smoke yourself to humiliate them. There's a 4 square wide rapemech and a reinforcements spam calling asshole watching the next hallway, the ONLY hallway and guess what you haven't seen in the last 3 levels: A terrain scanner to help you desperately dig around that. (Eh just try it, the stairs are only, what, 20-30 squares that way? Surely there's a hallway... nope, just an instantly game-ending cave in when you decide to go all in.)

This is the point of the game, make no mistake. It is intended, and the game is balanced around it. I would not call it busted or broken or anything negative. You CAN master this and you CAN win against this and you CAN come up with plays and counterplays to school these servo-screwing freaks. If you think I'm crybaby loser and that all sounds like a blast, go hit the buy button. It absolutely is done well by any mechanical definition of the term! But I don't want to because the constant loss, constant scrambling, never actually knowing if I was supposed to check like six more pointless rooms 3 floors back to have what I need here or if I died from a dozen other mistakes because it takes so long going from being helpless to actually losing that I never end up actually having any fun midrun except for a few moments where I have a functioning synergistic build that does what it's supposed to do. The game may be good but it doesn't make me feel good. I'd almost rather go back to Nethack's idiotic 40 hour long instakill bullshit.

(EDIT: I must add that the developer is utterly insane as on top of making one of the most unique and fully featured roguelikes of recent memory, he has created quite a few alternate game modes on top of that that completely change the gameplay while keeping the core game the same. There's an RPGlike mode that changes the mechanics so your parts don't take as much damage, but your core takes most of it, and fighting rewards you with XP and healing items. I appreciate the gesture and the sheer insanity and devotion it takes to make modes like this on top of your magnum opus, but in my experience this mode does nothing to address my issues with Cogmind and in fact exacerbates them in ways. Your parts don't get shot off, your actual health does. Remember when you blast the sniper in the face with dual shotguns six times and he shoots off your parts? Now he shoots off all your health instead. And it's just as unrewarding now because guess what neither he nor the 20 other robots you fight after him will drop: A SINGLE FUCKING HEALTH ITEM (Robots 21-25 will do a handy job of dropping you). The issues are all the same: combat is draining psychologically and unrewarding mechanically, only here the issues are exacerbated because now you can't recover by raiding supply closets you have to keep fighting to get more healing items which don't ever actually drop. Your choices are shredded and you are tied to an awful life or death gacha. Now, my experience with this mode is limited compared to my experience with the main game so it is doubly possible that I am just terrible, but I post this just to answer the question "What about RPG mode?" as it has been asked and offered many times before to people with issues like mine.)

Officer Oink
Officer Oink

best rogue rpg ive ever played. so detailed with so many different unique events while perfectly blended with procedurally generated levels each time. every restart is so fun and unique while still challenging

The Aristocrats
The Aristocrats

In this game you are built of your build, and you can have as many legs as you want.

ramn
ramn

Incredibly polished and well thought out game. I enjoy the art style and of course play in ASCII mode with the vi keyboard bindings. An inspiring magnum opus!

queen's gambit
queen's gambit

It's rougelike alright. It's also a totally different beast. Good luck.

Joonch
Joonch

This game is a lot of fun. Lots of different types of mechanics. I've spent 6 hrs straight on it :)

Mombamambo
Mombamambo

What can I say, that have not been said by others? This game is a masterpiece and you owe it to yourself to stick it into your library if you like traditional rougelikes.

You haven't played a single rougelike in your life? This game is also for you, I have never seen a rougelike with a better UI and this one also has full mouse support, it is the perfect game to try out the genre.

Creatureten
Creatureten

most innovative roguelike I've ever played, but somehow stays close to the bones of the genre