Just Like Darwinia I picked this up when it was on sale as a potential time waster. I figured that at $13 TT cogs was a safe investment.

Gameplay: Remember those sliding tile puzzles you played with as a child?

 

Right. That's what this game is. At first I figured it wouldn't like it, because to be totally honest, those blasted puzzles used to suck. Most of the time my solution was:

Try to solve puzzle.
Get frustrated.
Get screwdriver.
Put pieces back together.

Sadly Cogs doesnt come with an electronic version of a screwdriver. But maybe I've learned a little more patience as I aged because I found myself enjoying some of the puzzles quite a bit. Others... not so much.

Visuals: Steampunkish, lots of wheels turning, or pipes with steam coming out of them. A lot of the puzzles have multiple dimensions requiring that you rotate to view/complete all angles. The whole interactive tiles aspect with things interlocking and turning when put in place does make for a much more entertaining time than the old sliding tiles that just sat there, mocking you for being too stupid to figure out a child's puzzle.

Sound: The simple music fits the theme well with the other sound effects matching in nicely. The whole effect is calming and mildly upbeat, probably to keep players from bashing the bloody screen when they can't figure out how to get that last wheel into place without disrupting the whole rest of the pattern.

Story: Uh.. no story. Just wheels and pipes. Most of the levels have a particular shape or design that gives a little animation as a reward when you get the solution. Like balloons filling with gas and lifting the thing into the air. Or a crank turning to pop out a mildly disturbing jack-in-the-box.

There are different modes for you to play: Inventor; timed and move limited. Inventor mode starts you with simple puzzles and works it's way up to what I can only imagine are entrance tests for Mensa. The other two don't need any explanation.

Overall: Cool game. I understand that it's also an app for the iPhone which might be even cooler, but I dont have an iPhone and that's probably a good thing because I might end up pelting the blasted thing into a wall or something. It was more than worth the money I spent on it.

 

 

Here's the trailer, which will probably give the best possible idea of if you might enjoy it.


Oh, and steam has a free demo.