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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.

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Cogmind Beta 13 "Zoom All The Things"

Cogmind Beta 13 "Zoom All The Things"

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Now with map zooming and multiple UI layout options for larger text/tiles! (Also a new map, new items, and new robots, but BIG TEXT!)

Full UI Upscaling, Part 5: Completion and Demos

Full UI Upscaling, Part 5: Completion and Demos

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Sharing the results of Cogmind's new semimodal and modal UI layouts, with demos covering new QoL features, inventory interaction, and more.

Adventures in Map Zooming, Part 5: QoL

Adventures in Map Zooming, Part 5: QoL

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Dynamic centering, offscreen object markers, view autoshifting... a whole range of new features to improve playing even with the map zoomed.

Full UI Upscaling, Part 4: Simpler Lightweight Fonts

Full UI Upscaling, Part 4: Simpler Lightweight Fonts

News

More engine features! Implementing automated upscaling to simplify the ability to support map zooming and larger UI options, plus other QoL.

Full UI Upscaling, Part 3: Dynamic Terminal Swapping

Full UI Upscaling, Part 3: Dynamic Terminal Swapping

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Figuring out how to get Cogmind's many 60-row ending animations to play nice with a 45-row terminal layout.

Full UI Upscaling, Part 2: Holy Mockups!

Full UI Upscaling, Part 2: Holy Mockups!

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Revisiting many of Cogmind's windows to make adjustments enabling everything to fit into fewer rows for the semi-modal UI layout.

Full UI Upscaling, Part 1: History and Theory

Full UI Upscaling, Part 1: History and Theory

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Background and summary of the intent and plans behind building Cogmind's fully upscaled semi-modal interface layout.

Adventures in Map Zooming, Part 4: Polishing

Adventures in Map Zooming, Part 4: Polishing

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Finishing up the zooming feature with supplementary window adjustments, keys and buttons for player control, and a bit of fluff.

Adventures in Map Zooming, Part 3: Implementation

Adventures in Map Zooming, Part 3: Implementation

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Escalating the zoomable map architecture throughout the interface and adding support for dynamic toggling, plus larger on-map text.

Adventures in Map Zooming, Part 2: Engine-level Architecture

Adventures in Map Zooming, Part 2: Engine-level Architecture

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Engine-level support for a higher zoom level of a terminal subconsole, using a new glyph size to upscale Cogmind's map view.

Adventures in Map Zooming, Part 1: Realtime Image Scaling

Adventures in Map Zooming, Part 1: Realtime Image Scaling

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Testing a quick and dirty realtime software-scaling approach to increasing the size of the map view.

Projectile Deflection

Projectile Deflection

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Exploring the concept of deflecting projectiles, and different variations thereof.

A Simple Approach to Player-Designed Robots

A Simple Approach to Player-Designed Robots

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The Botcube. Cogmind's magic answer to building robots other than yourself.

Special Events Give Back, and Perfect Stealth

Special Events Give Back, and Perfect Stealth

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On a primary design benefit of Cogmind's special modes, and a new example in the form of ID Mask mechanics.

Teleportation Mechanics

Teleportation Mechanics

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Exploring forms of teleportation in Cogmind--uncontrolled, controlled, chaotic and more.

"Post-Balance" Cogmind Item Expansion

"Post-Balance" Cogmind Item Expansion

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Where Cogmind item development goes from here, a review of balancing levers, and a new lever in the form of "chargeables." Big things ahead!

SITREP Saturday #51: "Another Big Bang"

SITREP Saturday #51: "Another Big Bang"

News

The world is expanding, again! Beta 13 is adding more maps, meaning more lore, NPCS, and lots (LOTS) more tech. Nearly 100 new items, new bots, AI behaviors...

Roguelike-Discord Integration Using Webhooks

Roguelike-Discord Integration Using Webhooks

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A brief history of Cogmind on Discord, and a new feature to facilitate sharing and discussing runs in progress.

Cogmind Beta 11 Player Stats

Cogmind Beta 11 Player Stats

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Analyzing Beta 11 run data looking for the impacts of rebalancing, and new content and mechanics like DSFs, Authchips, and more.

Special Mode Design, Polymind Part 2: Players, Stats, and the Future

Special Mode Design, Polymind Part 2: Players, Stats, and the Future

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More topics related to Cogmind's "Polymind" mode for the Winter 2022 event. Player stats, strategy, merging code, and more.

Cogmind Beta 12 "Encrypted Comms"

Cogmind Beta 12 "Encrypted Comms"

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Introducing the new Scrap Engine which creates unique parts by combining other items, and significantly expanded Garrisons with major new rewards.

Special Mode Design, Polymind Part 1: Architecture, Features, and Balance

Special Mode Design, Polymind Part 1: Architecture, Features, and Balance

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Design topics related to Cogmind's "Polymind" mode for the Winter 2022 event. UX, architecture, balance, multitile robots, and more.

On Backtracking in Roguelikes

On Backtracking in Roguelikes

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A survey of roguelikes and considerations when deciding whether to allow players to revisit earlier maps. Also a look at intramap backtracking.

Polymind: This holiday season you are NOT the Cogmind

Polymind: This holiday season you are NOT the Cogmind

News

It's the end of another year, Cogmind's 10th, and to celebrate we have another special event that turns the world on its head for an extremely different...

Year 9 of the Cogmind

Year 9 of the Cogmind

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Cogmind's 10th anniversary, celebrated by its largest-ever release, and Beta 12 is still in development but getting quite large itself...

The Scrap Engine

The Scrap Engine

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An experimental mechanic enabling the creation of randomized items by combining other items. Rules, strategy, QoL, and related design topics.

Item Variants and Randomization in Roguelikes

Item Variants and Randomization in Roguelikes

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A history of randomized items in roguelikes, in contrast to Cogmind's purely static items, and exploring a potential random item architecture.

Garrisons 2.0

Garrisons 2.0

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Expanding Garrisons with encounters and events to increase variety, as well as advantages for non-bothacker builds.

Cogmind Beta 11 "Mechanical Renaissance"

Cogmind Beta 11 "Mechanical Renaissance"

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Over a year in the making, for Cogmind's 10th anniversary we have a massive set of new toys, challenges, revamped mechanics, and more.

Rebalancing Cogmind

Rebalancing Cogmind

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An overview of the process behind a comprehensive review and update of Cogmind's mechanics and items after years of expansion.