Cobalt Core
I’ve found a new favourite deckbuilder in COBALT CORE
Well, I’m doomed. I’m down to one health and there’s an incoming attack aimed directly at my ship. Shields? Ha! Buddy, I haven’t drawn a shield card in years. I have no movement left, and only one card in my hand will give me more. 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 first. Eureka!
Cobalt Core is full of these triumphant moments. 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, and more, plus a limited pool of energy that refreshes every turn. This will 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.
You start with acrew of three, each with unique cards
Each turn you’ll see the enemy ship’s intentions, which are usually ‘shoot you’. You could build up your shields, but wouldn’t it be more satisfying to strike and then dodge before they even know what hit them? One ship can shift to the left or right if you use the leftmost or rightmost card in your hand respectively. Another has large gaps in the hull that you can line up with your opponents attacks so they fire through them harmlessly. It captures the thrill of a dogfight where you’re constantly barrelrolling in and out of cover brilliantly, despite being entirely turn-based.
You start with a crew of three, each with unique cards and approaches. Finding a trio that works is nearly as fun as hitting ‘randomise’ and finding success with a group that on paper shouldn’t work at all. After each successful battle you get to choose between three new cards. The basic core of shield, dodge and attack is built upon with fireable drones, missiles, debuffs and much more.
