Cobalt Core

Cobalt Core is a turn-based roguelike deckbuilder about a spaceship crew trying to break out of a time loop. You must fight enemy ships in order to cross through space to find and destroy the anomaly causing the time loop. The highly tactical mechanics create puzzle-like battles that will appeal to fans of thinky games.

You play a crew of anthropomorphic animals who awaken with no memories to discover that they are trapped in a loop, replaying the same space voyage over and over. The only hope of breaking the loop is to destroy the anomaly that caused it, but the route is full of pirates, bounty hunters, and other dangers.

Similar to other roguelike deckbuilders, you move across a map with nodes representing fights, repairs, and other encounters. In combat you have three energy to spend per turn and a hand of cards that each have an energy cost. Your ship has three crewmembers, each of which comes with their own deck with a particular focus, such as attacks, shields, or evasion, which allows you to move your ship.

During combat, your ship appears on the bottom of the screen, while the enemy ship appears at the top. Both ships are made up of a number of components in a horizontal line (sometimes including empty spaces). Some components are guns that can fire attacks; others launch missiles or drones, which occupy a third band of space in the center of the screen. In order for an attack to hit, it must be lined up with some component of the enemy ship. Both ships can move left or right a limited number of times, so the goal is to line yourself up so that your own shots hit while the enemy’s shots miss.

An engaging story, memorable characters, and a colorful pastel palette flesh out the experience, but it’s all communicated through barks and short cutscenes that don’t get in the way of the strategy segments. The characters also serve as a hint system, dropping suggestions when you make a suboptimal move.

This description was written by Gwen C. Katz.