Cobalt Core

Tight, inventive gameplay, cascading card synergies, and gentle, witty character-writing ensure that, while Cobalt Core might not slay Slay the Spire, it does indeed slay.

Delightful deckbuilding that uses starship travel to build upon the Slay the Spire formula instead of merely imitating it. Outstanding.

The next great roguelike deckbuilder has arrived. Cobalt Core takes everything you love about FTL, Into The Breach and Slay The Spire and blends it all into a moreish, tactical puzzle loop that just keeps on giving. It's wonderful.

Cobalt Core has innovative gameplay, diverse mechanics, and high replay value. Learning was straightforward, and the game had a deep learning curve. The characters are hilarious and relatable. Sometimes, I would say something to see one of the characters telling me something. It's a must-play for fans of rogue-like, deckbuilder, and shmup genres, offering a refreshing take on hybrid gaming. I hope the developers would also consider a versus multiplayer mode.

I walked away impressed by the PAX demo of Cobalt Core, and the full game lives up to that hype. It's a wonderful run-based title that I expect to revisit for years to come, just as I've done with other roguelike standouts like Into the Breach. Although it's somehow not yet on Switch, FTL: Faster than Light is another obvious comparable for Cobalt Core, and if you enjoyed the former, you'll almost certainly want to sink your furry paws into the latter. This is one time loop I'm happy to never see the end of.

Cobalt Core provides a memorable story with fun characters, tense gameplay moments, and a payoff that is nearly unmatched. Despite the characters’ best attempts to escape the loop, it’s a game that you should play over and over.