Factsheet

Developer:
Grid Sage Games
Based in New Taipei, Taiwan

Release date:
May 19, 2015 (Alpha); October 16th, 2017 (Steam EA); 1.0 TBA

Platforms:
DRM-free
Steam

Website:
gridsagegames.com/cogmind

Regular Price:

USD$19.99

Description

Experience sci-fi tactical combat and exploration in a procedural world that combines traditional roguelikes with an immersive modern interface like no other. Build yourself from components found or salvaged from other robots. Attach power sources, propulsion units, utilities, and weapons to become a slow tank bristling with weapons, or a fast-moving flier zipping past enemies before they even have time to react, or a stealthy sword-wielding assassin/hacker, or whatever else you can come up with from the salvage you find. The situation can quickly change as you lose components and rebuild yourself from enemy remains. You are the Cogmind. Discover what that means as you explore a living, breathing world ruled by robots.

History

Cogmind was born during the 2012 7-Day Roguelike Challenge, a game jam. There were some weeks of updates and fixes due to the enthusiastic player base, and we even held a little tournament, but then development ceased because it was meant to be a short side project. Then in mid-2013 Grid Sage Games needed a very promising concept for its first commercial game. The popularity of Cogmind 7DRL lingered on, a sign that it could potentially serve as a prototype for a successful larger game. After two years of pre-alpha development, Cogmind's first alpha version was launched on May 19, 2015. The plan was to release the final version on Steam within a year, but backers provided enough support to fully fund further development, leading to another two years of adding features and content. Although as of May 2017 Cogmind was already a very complete experience--fully playable, balanced, and generally free of bugs, rather than a full release it was decided to join Steam in October 2017 as Early Access to indicate yet more extras to come. Cogmind has now been in full-time development for over ten years, and continues to push the genre forward in many ways never seen before in a traditional roguelike: see how at www.gridsagegames.com/cogmind/innovation.html

Features

  • Build and modify a unique robot from parts found, or enemies defeated
  • Dynamic character development without XP/grinding
  • Dozens of robot classes, each with unique behavior within the ecosystem
  • Procedurally generated world, including dozens of map types and hundreds of embedded hand-made areas
  • Hundreds of NPC encounters, thousands of lines of dialogue
  • Nine different animated endings to discover
  • ASCII evolved: Most advanced terminal interface ever
  • Thousands of particle effects and SFX (more SFX than any roguelike, ever)
  • Fully destructible environment

Videos

Early Access Launch Trailer YouTube, .mp4


Images

download all screenshots & photos as .zip (5MB)
cogmind_LES.png
cogmind_bothacking.png
cogmind_labels_robots.png
cogmind_gallery.png
cogmind_steam_header_final.png
cogmind_labels_items.png
cogmind_terrain_scanner.png
cogmind_robot_info.png
cogmind_world_map.png
cogmind_status.png
cogmind_map_zoom.png
cogmind_commands_advanced_terminus.png
cogmind_hacking.png
cogmind_steam_capsule_main_final.png
cogmind_full_log.png
cogmind_explosion_nuclear_reactor.png
cogmind_factory_battle.png
cogmind_steam_capsule_lg_final.png
cogmind_options_X11.png
cogmind_commands_basic_tamsyn.png
cogmind_item_info.png
cogmind_font_styles.png
cogmind_low_contrast.png
cogmind_map_exploration_export.png

download logo files as .zip (293KB)
logo
logo

Awards & Recognition

  • "Indie of the Year (Top 100)" - IndieDB, December 2023
  • "Indie of the Year (Top 100)" - IndieDB, December 2022
  • "Indie of the Year (Top 100)" - IndieDB, December 2021
  • "Indie of the Year (Top 100)" - IndieDB, December 2020
  • "Indie of the Year (Top 100)" - IndieDB, December 2019
  • "Indie of the Year (Top 100)" - IndieDB, December 2018
  • "Best Early Access Strategy Games" - Strategy Gamer, December 2018
  • "The 100 Greatest Indie Games of All Time" - The Indie Game Website, May 2018
  • "Indie of the Year (Top 100, top 2 among roguelikes)" - IndieDB, December 2017
  • "Indie of the Year (Top 100, top 4 among roguelikes)" - IndieDB, December 2016
  • "Top 33 Indie Games to Look for in 2016" - Destructoid, January 2016
  • "Best Upcoming PC Games of 2016 (Roguelike Category)" - Rock, Paper, Shotgun, January 2016
  • "Indie of the Year (Top 100, top 4 among roguelikes)" - IndieDB, December 2015
  • "Best Upcoming PC Games of 2015 (Roguelike Category)" - Rock, Paper, Shotgun, January 2015
  • "Indie of the Year (Top 100)" - IndieDB, December 2014


Selected Articles

  • "Cogmind is an impressive merging of old and new school game design."
    - RPS, Rock, Paper, Shotgun
  • "Cogmind is a wonderful thing, carefully and intelligently constructed, and with a gorgeous ASCII aesthetic."
    - Adam Smith, Rock, Paper, Shotgun
  • "Cogmind swaps the traditional fantasy setting of most turn-based adventurers in favour of science-fiction, and finds plenty of interesting features in the mix."
    - Graham Smith, Rock, Paper, Shotgun
  • "[Cogmind is] backed up by surprisingly great audio. Guns crack, energy weapons sizzle, and enemies spark and fizz as they collapse. Considering the nearly pure-ASCII graphics, there’s more atmosphere here than you'd expect."
    - Dominic Tarason, PC Gamer
  • "Developer Grid Sage Games has not only produced a brilliant roguelike that easily sets itself above other offerings of the genre, but also a passionate community, with regular updates based upon player feedback."
    - Staff, The Indie Game Website
  • "This proves graphics do not need to be state-of-the-art to inspire awe."
    - Peter Schmitz, Unity3D Business Analyst

Request Press Copy

We are afraid this developer has not upgraded their presskit() to use distribute(). For security purposes, this form has been disabled.


Original Cogmind 7DRL (2012)
The original prototype developed for the 7-Day Roguelike Challenge is still available from cogmindrl.blogspot.com .

- REQUEST PRESS COPY -
Press can request a copy of Cogmind by emailing gridsagegames@gmail.com from their official email address .


About Grid Sage Games

Boilerplate
Grid Sage Games is a one-man independent game studio based in Taiwan and operated by Josh "Kyzrati" Ge, specializing in traditional roguelikes and tactical games. While Josh has no formal background in Computer Science, he's spent the past 30 years tinkering with computers, games, and programming as a hobby.

More information
More information on Grid Sage Games, our logo & relevant media are available here.


Cogmind Credits

Josh Ge
Programming, Design, ASCII Art, Sound Design

Kacper Woźniak
Tileset, Freelancer

Alex Yoder
Trailer Score, Freelancer