If you know your turn-based roguelikes, then Dungeon Crawl Stone Soup and Cogmind will probably be two games that you are familiar with. The former is a classic fantasy roguelike, and the latter is a roguelike where you play a robot who builds itself on-the-run.
Chances are, you’ve played one, or even both. It turns out that the developer of Cogmind has played a lot of DCSS and has already referenced the game several times. In fact, this reverence and the crossover community between the two games are the foundation of a fun new feature, which was added today, June 23rd.
Cogmind has been in development for years now, and I’ve been dipping in and out of its cybernetic world for several of them. Developer Grid Sage Games has been keeping the game fresh with constant updates, and today’s is the 17th (!) version of the beta.
In an extended post over on Steam, the connection between the games is explained, and that post then culminates in the reveal of an exciting new way to play Cogmind. Inspired by DCSS’s god of chaos, Xom, a new character is available early in the sci-fi roguelike.
X0-1V1 is waiting for you in -10/Materials, and once there you’ll have to work out how to access him (we’re assured it’s not too hard, and there are clues). Once you’ve done so, things are going to get weird, by the sounds of it. Here’s how X0-1V1 is described in-game:
Get on their bad side and they’ll come up with creative ways to make your life miserable, but have also been known to offer help at times, which is strange. Don’t count on it, they probably just want to mess with your head before your untimely demise.
Interacting with X0-1V1 is recommended for experienced players only, because it’s essentially an alternative start to what is already a challenging game. Be ready to think on your… wheels.
Anyway, that’s the main highlight of the update, but there are a bunch of fixes, tweaks, and rebalances following the previous beta. Check out the patch notes on the Steam page for the fine print.
