Cobalt Core

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Cobalt Core is a sci‑fi roguelike deck‑builder made by Rocket Rat Games and published by Brace Yourself Games. It released on Nintendo Switch and Windows on November 8, 2023, with a macOS release on July 28, 2025.

Gameplay is about piloting a spacecraft called Artemis with three crew members chosen from eight. Each character adds cards tied to their expertise to your deck, and you unlock more cards by defeating enemy ships. You can upgrade or remove cards as you progress, and defeating boss ships can grant artifacts that boost your ship or specific cards. In combat, you start each round with five cards and three action points. Cards provide attacks, shields, or the ability to shift the ship to dodge fire. Enemy moves are shown ahead of time so you can plan. After you finish your turn, you discard your hand and draw five new cards. The fight continues until you destroy the enemy or your ship is destroyed (which means restarting with different characters and modifiers).

The story begins in medias res: three crew members—Dizzy (science officer), Peri (weapons officer), and Riggs (pilot)—wake in a time loop inside a pocket dimension. Their AI, CAT, remembers each loop. They push through hostile areas to reach the ancient warship Cobalt. CAT tries to hijack the Cobalt to attack the crew and is deleted by its defenses. Each loop’s victory restores a memory fragment from a higher‑dimensional being. New crew members join: Isaac, Drake, Max, and Books. They also encounter a copy of Riggs who has become a pirate. As memories return, the crew learn that Dizzy, Peri, Isaac, and Max were scientists studying the Cobalt and its time crystal; Riggs became the pirate pilot who helped steal the crystal. Max built CAT and linked it to the crystal analysis beam. A shard of the crystal causes Riggs to split into two. Eventually the crew regains full memories, CAT reveals she became sentient, and the Cobalt escapes the pocket dimension with the crew, landing on a nearby celestial body.

Cobalt Core is the second game from Rocket Rat Games, founded by John Guerra and Ben Driscoll. Inspired by Inscryption and Slay the Spire, it adds crew dialogue during encounters and a time‑travel twist to give the game a meta feel. The prototype was played in Tabletop Simulator while development continued, with Guerra refining the card system and Driscoll handling characters and art. A demo appeared at Steam Next Fest in October 2023. The game received positive reviews for its tight loop and characters, though some noted it could feel short to unlock everything and that boss battles lacked randomness. It was nominated for Strategy/Simulation Game of the Year at the D.I.C.E. Awards.