Line #16 VideoGame/Cogmind


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/cogmind.png]]
2	''Cogmind'' is a {{roguelike}} sci-fi game with Matrix-esque terminal-style graphics. In it, you control Cogmind, a mysterious robot that can repair and reconfigure itself by picking up pieces of fallen enemies. Your goal is to escape from the vast Complex to the surface, a task made difficult thanks to the Complex's innumerable guardbots and an AI that allocates more aggressive guards when you're perceived to be a threat.
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4	The game was released on UsefulNotes/{{Steam}} Early Access on October 17th, 2017. It remains there today, but already features dozens of robot classes, each with unique behavior within the ecosystem, as well as multiple factions, some of which offer to help you and some of which are automatically hostile to everyone who approaches.
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6	!! Cogmind contains examples of:
7	* AIIsACrapshoot: Your main adversary. Also ''you'' and the Derelict bots, from the point of view of the Complex.
8	* AntiFrustrationFeatures:
9	** If you run out of matter and need more to equip (or fire) a weapon, you can ram into other robots to have small amount of matter drop. This risks damaging yourself though.
10	** Enemies with weapons don't start out near where you enter a map. In easier difficulty modes, watchers that request reinforcements when they see you don't appear nearby either.
11	** If you go through a brutal fight that destroys most of your parts, you can often scavenge the remains of your opponents and/or find new parts nearby in order to keep going (even if your build might be totally different now).
12	* AntiGrinding: You don't gain experience from killing enemy robots. If you linger on the later levels for too long, your alert level will rise, leading to increasingly aggressive assault squads.
13	* BagOfHolding: How your inventory works. At all times, you have a limited number of items that you can carry, but only parts currently attached to your core (ie not being carried in your inventory) count against your weight.
14	* BreakableWeapons: All weapons have a durability stat and break when it falls to zero.
15	* BrutalBonusLevel: The branches off of the final level.
16	* DeathOfAThousandCuts: ''Cogmind'' could also be called ''Death Of A Thousand Cuts: The Game''. Your core has a much higher strength than any of the enemies, to the point where it is literally impossible for anything to one-shot you or even kill you quickly (at least by roguelike standards). In practice, you'll usually die after attacks have destroyed all your parts, leaving you near-helpless enough for your enemies to finish wrecking your core.
17	* DungeonMaintenance: If a battle causes collateral damage, robots will arrive to repair walls and clean up wreckage.
18	* EasilyDetachableRobotParts: A core feature is building and modifying yourself from the parts found, or remains of the defeated enemies.
19	* EverythingBreaks: Every part of every robot (including yourself) can be destroyed, and the environment is fully destructible, too.
20	* FragileSpeedster: Swarmer bots, who are fast and difficult to hit, but very fragile.
21	* GiantMook: Behemoth bots, which take up four tiles instead of one. Given that they use treads (the slowest propulsion system) and sport heavy weaponry, each of them is a MightyGlacier, too.
22	* HeartDrive: Your core, which comes with a weak engine and weak hover propulsion. You'll still want to have parts equipped at all times, but even without them, you're not ''completely'' helpless.
23	* MadeOfExplodium: Reactors are a common sight in most levels of the Complex, and they will explode massively if sufficiently damaged. This is not terribly hard to accomplish with a stray shot or two, and - depending on your position and your enemies' position - that can end up being either useful or very, very bad.
24	* MechanicalEcosystem: The Complex itself, and a major feature of the game. Each of the dozens of robot types has ''some'' purpose and agenda in this world, be it patrolling for intruders, guarding a location, scavenging debris, repairing damaged areas, hunting down known threats, or just surviving for its own sake.
25	* MechanicalLifeforms: Basically everyone you meet.
26	* TheMinionMaster: Carrier bots have no weapons of their own, but deploy a squad of assault bots if they can close on your position.
27	* MooksAteMyEquipment: Recyclers take equipment that you or destroyed robots drop, and put it in the recycling machines. More generally, ''any'' attack might destroy one of your parts if the part's durability is reduced to zero.
28	* MultipleEndings: There are seven different animated endings to uncover.
29	* SpreadShot: Flak cannons and multirails.
30	* UnknownItemIdentification: Mostly done by wearing the item, though using faulty unknown items can damage your other equipment
31	* [[{{Upgrade Artifact}} Upgrade Artifacts]]: Certain items found in side branches.
32	* VideoGameCrueltyPunishment: Not all of the Complex's robot minions are a threat to you. You can kill them to scavenge for parts or [[ForTheEvulz just for laughs]], but your alert level will rise.
33	* WantedMeter: The current alert level isn't visible by default, but doing things like killing robots, destroying infrastructure, or [[StalkedByTheBell simply lingering on a level for too long]] will cause the alert level to rise, resulting in squads of increasingly-dangerous security robots being dispatched to hunt for you.
34	* ZergRush: The tactic of Swarmer bots. Individually, they are fragile and have weaker weapons than other security bots, but make up for this with speed and numbers.

Context VideoGame / Cogmind