Cobalt Core Critic Reviews

Cobalt Core was a wonderful surprise for me, and is absolutely one of my favorite games of the year. It marries two disparate genres effortlessly and has a deep but easy-to-understand combat mechanic, engaging and lovable characters, and a mysterious plot. If you love rogue-like, deckbuilder, or Shmup, you can’t go wrong with this one.

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.

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.

As with any good roguelite, there are new pilots and ships to unlock, as well as card sets and modifiers to change what you’re capable of. It’s also injected with some of that Hades magic, with your pilots dropping new hints to the story with each successful run. The story and characters aren’t quite as in-depth as Hades, but it makes up for that by being funny and charming in a way few games can manage.

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

In such a crowded and accomplished genre, getting within spitting distance of these all-time heavyweights is still mighty impressive in my books, and I will absolutely be playing more of it in the months to come.