Recent reviews by b_sen

Wow! Cogmind isn't for everyone - read the full description, including the warnings and system requirements, and maybe watch some Let's Plays depending on your spoiler tolerance - but if it's for you it's amazing and well worth the purchase price.


... to immerse yourself in the experience of being an AI with the ability to build and rebuild its robot body? Cogmind is deliberately crafted for immersion, from the audio feedback on every action and log message to the fully animated and highly customizable GUI. In my experience, the interface polish doesn't get in my way; it unobtrusively wires the AI's low-level programming up to my intuitions for seamless use. And it's very solid low-level programming too, automating calculations like "fastest path to this point while avoiding known traps" and "current chance of this enemy hitting me" while providing full and ready access to the absolute precision befitting a machine. I quickly found myself comfortable inhabiting the little processing core that could, even when using parts that add on new senses entirely. The atmosphere and immersion is just that good.

... a heavily adjustable challenge in exploring a deep, living world? Roguelikes are hard by default, and Cogmind is no exception; indeed, the default difficulty is the hardest. At its simplest, turn down the difficulty, attach the highest-rated parts (each part has an overall rating visible as soon as you find it), and shoot up some robots - or just watch them go about their work, which usually isn't about you. If you want a challenge beyond the default, multiple endings, an extended endgame, and conducts galore are available. You can also go spoiler-free without having to write things down yourself; in-game galleries are provided for both found parts and found lore (the lore is entirely optional) and are available at any time. The parts gallery is especially valuable for considering specialized build options - overall part rating is only a starting point, as there are several factors to balance and many possible synergies for the various strategies available.

... an active community and extremely responsive developer? When I was reading about Cogmind, I saw an old comment made by a single person suggesting that the arrow keys movement scheme could handle diagonal movement by using the modifiers Shift for "up and" and Ctrl for "down and" on an arrow direction. That's in the game now - the sole developer put it in in response to that one comment. Indeed, the developer is frequently on the game's forums, subreddit, and Discord server, all of which have systems for spoiler avoidance should you so desire it. (There are also regular gameplay streams by players of varying experience levels, but it's much harder to avoid spoilers in those.) Personally I mostly use the Discord, which has conversations several times a day and readily welcomes new players.

If these appeal to you and the warnings don't put you off, you will probably enjoy being a Cogmind.