Cobalt Core review

What is it? A roguelike deckbuilder set in spaaaace with ace spaceship duels.
Release date November 8, 2023
Expect to pay $20/£16.75
Developer Rocket Rat Games
Publisher Brace Yourself Games
Reviewed on Asus ROG Ally
Steam Deck Verified
Link Official site

Well, I’m doomed. I’m down to my last sliver of health and there’s an incoming attack aimed directly at my ship. Shields? Ha! Buddy, I haven’t drawn a shield card in years. Probably because I foolishly didn’t put any in my deck. I have no movement left, nor any dodge cards in my hand that will give me more. Time for my spaceship and its animal crew to bite the stardust, because there’s nothing I can- 

Hang on. I do have a dodge card. Problem is, it might as well be a cyanide pill. It’ll give me the power to move a couple of spaces to safety, but it’ll also finish overheating my ship, killing me at the end of my turn. Hey, at least I’ll be out of the enemy’s line of fire so I can enjoy overheating to death in peace and-

Hang on. Didn’t I play a buff card several turns ago? One that cost me all my energy and basically got me into this mess? But it makes my main cannon fire every time my ship moves. So if I play this card, set my engines on fire, fly one space to the right, I’ll automatically shoot again and destroy their ship before my self-inflicted inferno cooks me. Will that… will that actually work?

Cobalt Core is a deckbuilder full of these triumphant moments. Sometimes everything lines up perfectly and you pull off the jammiest space battle victory since somebody noticed that the Death Star’s defences could have used a tune-up. It’s a series of wonderfully tense turn-based spaceship standoffs. You’ve got your little ship, a handful of cards that let you move, fire, shield, etc, and a limited pool of energy for playing them that refreshes every turn. This’ll all feel familiar to anyone who’s lost a lifetime or two to Slay the Spire. What sets Cobalt apart is the focus on movement. 

Each turn you’ll see the enemy