Cognition review

In a lot of ways Cognition feels like a throwback mobile game. It takes a single, novel concept, and iterates on level designs around it, much like Angry Birds did with sling shooting. Cognition's particular concept is controlling a set of conjoined gears as they revolve around each other, and the result is a solid, though somewhat predictable, puzzle game.

In Cognition, you take control of a pair of gears that can only get around by rotating around one another. In the game, you simply tap once and whichever gear was moving stops and the other one starts orbiting. Using this system, you one-tap your way around school-themed environments full of rulers, scissors, thumbtacks and more as you try to reach the exit.

Aside from just escaping each environment, there are collectibles strewn about each level and time challenges for each one as well.

As you make your way through Cognition, you'll have to get a lot more precise with your tapping, as tight spaces and harmful obstacles start showing up to increase the difficulty.

If you happen to hit one of these obstacles, Cognition doesn't end your run right then and there. Instead, like a Prince of Persia game or even Braid, time just rewinds to a little earlier in the level for you to try again and make things go a little differently.

Cognition is a relatively simple game, but its main strength is in the details around this simple concept. Virtually everything, from the hand-drawn art style to the clever way your path gets illustrated whenever you finish a level, makes Cognition feel hand-crafted.

Cognition may not excite when it comes to its gameplay concepts, but it still manages to feel special because of its construction.

Puzzle games of Cognition's ilk are practically a dime a dozen on mobile. That said, Cognition is a very well made one of those games. It takes its single concept and takes it to some really interesting places, all while looking and feeling pretty great.