Steam '70s inspired sci-fi roguelite invites you to explore the cosmos with free taster

At this year’s Gamescom I was pleasantly surprised by one of the most weird and wonderful games I’d ever played, and now you can play it too.

This year’s Gamescom came packed with plenty of big games. From Silent Hill: Townfall to Warlock: Dungeons & Dragons.

However, it was a lovely showing for indie games as well. I got to go hands-on with

Bohemia Interactive’s Cosmo Tales, and while it was a simple gameplay experience for reasons I’ll get into shortly, it was also a lot of fun.

Cosmo Tales is a ' 70s-inspired shoot-em-up roguelite that sees players sit behind the wheel of a car/spaceship hybrid.

With the game split into several different adventures, the idea is essentially story time, as the game is primarily targeted at a younger audience.

Because of this, the controls are quite simple too. You zoom around in whatever direction you’re facing but can move from side-to-side or dash for evasive action. You’ve also got a primary blaster weapon which you’ll use to blast incoming robots.

Bohemia Interactive

As you fight your way through the waves, you’ll unlock upgrades that enhance your combat skills or grant you new weapons.

Cosmo Tales’ biggest selling point, though, is a dimensional shift mechanic. The dimension you phase into comes with unique properties for your vehicle, like a shield in one, or more damaging weapons in the other.

Again, it’s very simple, but despite not being the target audience, it was still pretty enjoyable. Some of the combat encounters even proved to be quite challenging due to a lack of permanent upgrades.

Cosmo Tales has a lot of charm to it. Visually speaking, it's absolutely gorgeous. It’s got a very cartoonish vibe to it, and some of these intergalactic settings wouldn’t feel out of place in a Nintendo game.

I even got a Super Mario Galaxy vibe when it came time to jump to the next area, as your car rockets off into the void before pulling up near the next cluster of asteroids.

It’s designed to be played with a controller over anything else, and you could definitely feel that while playing. Controls felt smooth and responsive. I also enquired if it’d run on a Steam Deck, and it apparently will. That might even be the definitive way to play in my opinion.

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How to play Cosmo Tales for yourself

Cosmo Tales is currently in its early-access phase on PC. You can check it out via Steam, where a free demo can also be found.

While PC is the first stepping-stone, it’s also targeting a console release on both the PlayStation 5 and Nintendo Switch 2.

I did also enquire about the lack of Xbox, and was told PlayStation was the initial console of choice until the release of the Nintendo Switch 2, which proved to not only be a great fit for the game in terms of control schemes but also target audience.