''Cogmind'' is a tactical

science fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imagination, imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, Paral ...

roguelike Roguelike (or rogue-like) is a subgenre of role-playing game, role-playing computer games traditionally characterized by a dungeon crawl through procedural generation, procedurally generated level (video gaming), levels, Turns, rounds and time- ...

available for

Windows Windows is a group of several proprietary graphical operating system families developed and marketed by Microsoft. Each family caters to a certain sector of the computing industry. For example, Windows NT for consumers, Windows Server for ...

developed by Grid Sage Games, a company founded by Josh Ge. Before its

Steam Steam is a substance containing water in the gas phase, and sometimes also an aerosol of liquid water droplets, or air. This may occur due to evaporation or due to boiling, where heat is applied until water reaches the enthalpy of vaporizat ...

early access release on 16 October 2017, it underwent public testing through alpha and

beta Beta (, ; uppercase , lowercase , or cursive ; grc, βῆτα, bē̂ta or ell, βήτα, víta) is the second letter of the Greek alphabet. In the system of Greek numerals, it has a value of 2. In Modern Greek, it represents the voiced labi ...

stages.

Gameplay

The player character is a robot which is able to salvage parts from the remains of other robots; the game includes over 1000 of these parts. Character development is primarily focused around equipment: parts can be gained and used to level up, but also lost. Another distinguishing feature is the in-game interface, which is considered to be

user-friendly Usability can be described as the capacity of a system to provide a condition for its users to perform the tasks safely, effectively, and efficiently while enjoying the experience. In software engineering, usability is the degree to which a soft ...

compared to other roguelikes. The game also features a

destructible environment In video games, the term destructible environment, or deformable terrain, refers to an environment within a game which can be wholly or partially destroyed by the player. It may refer to any part of the environment, including terrain, buildings an ...

, "a living ecosystem" of robot types, and a detailed stealth system that minimises dependence on combat.

Development

''Cogmind'' originated as an entry for the 2012 7 Day Roguelike Challenge, and was based on Ge's previous roguelike X@COM. After the challenge, Ge decided to develop the concept further, releasing the first public alpha in 24 May 2015; though Ge considered the alpha to be on the level of many games' release candidates. In the beginning of 2016, it was selected as one of ''

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s top indie games to look for in 2016. Grid Sage Games released a public beta on 6 May 2017. This was followed by an

early access Early access, also known as alpha access, alpha founding, paid alpha, or game preview, is a funding model in the video game industry by which consumers can purchase and play a game in the various pre-release development cycles, such as pre-alph ...

release on

on 16 October. Despite this appellation, Ge stated that it was "a very complete experience", and that he only planned to withhold it from full release for around 6 months.

References

External links

* {{Official website, http://www.gridsagegames.com/cogmind/ Roguelike video games Video games developed in Taiwan Windows games Windows-only games 2015 video games Science fiction video games Video games about robots Hacking video games