So, I actually have more than the listed hours. I've put more than 500 hours into this in total, going back to beta 7. I want to like Cogmind. I really want to like Cogmind. It's full of interesting-sounding ideas. So what's the problem? Accessibility. The game has been developed around the top tier of players for years, resulting in swathes of content that almost nobody will ever get to see due to the high difficulty. Worse, the difficulty slowly increases as the new content causes trickle effects that make things harder for newbies without helping them out in exchange. About the only thing that ratcheted the difficulty down was Farcom (a free scan system) but that locks out a lot of content, because of course it does.

I could write an entire blogpost about the innumerable problems I have with the design decisions in this game, but you came here for advice on whether you should buy it or not. No. Why? Because statistically, you are going to get nowhere with it and take longer than the two hour refund period to do so. Almost nobody who buys the game successfully interfaces with it. Unless you're confident that you're one of those top few % of players, in which case go for it. Join the discord and add to the problems while you're at it.

One of the many games which tries to cling desperately to the old and outdated design of games from 2000 BC.

Cogmind is a game which focuses less on the player experience and more on trying to cram this old "style" down your throat, to the point where I can't be bothered to learn it. You can see what the game is going for, but it's communicated terribly and seems contingent on RNG rather than being a properly-made game.

If you enjoy TRUE roguelikes then you will like this game. As with all true roguelikes, you go on runs where you almost always will certainly fail and die, then start over having learned something new. So lots of short runs to your doom. Simple graphics that are well thought out and the gameplay is full of interesting quirks and mysteries.