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About Cogs
Cogs is a casual indie puzzle title where players assemble machines from sliding tiles. The game introduces a variety of widgets—gears, pipes, balloons, chimes, hammers, wheels, props, and more—to build functional contraptions.
Progress is measured by speed and efficiency, and new puzzles become available as players solve earlier ones. Three distinct modes provide separate challenges that test learning, quick thinking, and careful planning.
01 / THE GUIDE
Inventor Mode
Inventor Mode serves as the introductory experience, presenting simple puzzles and gradually adding widgets for players to experiment with. Each puzzle teaches the behavior of a specific component, allowing players to observe how gears rotate or how balloons lift.
Finishing a puzzle in Inventor Mode unlocks a related challenge in other modes, linking basic mastery to later constraints. The unlock does not guarantee that every level appears in each mode, only that a corresponding challenge becomes accessible.
- Watch the visual cues on each widget before placing it; they often hint at its function.
- Try a quick test placement in an empty area to see a widget’s effect without affecting the main puzzle.
02 / THE GUIDE
Time Challenge Mode
Time Challenge Mode unlocks after a puzzle is completed in Inventor Mode. The same solution must be reached with fewer moves, and the player has only thirty seconds to locate it, adding a speed pressure.
Because the move limit is tighter, players must recognize efficient layouts quickly. The mode does not alter the underlying widgets, only the time and move constraints.
- Recall the core path from Inventor Mode; the optimal route often remains the same.
- Practice the puzzle without the timer first to internalize the sequence before adding the 30‑second limit.
03 / THE GUIDE
Move Challenge Mode
Move Challenge Mode challenges players to plan ahead, since every click counts when only ten moves are available. Players receive ten moves to complete the level, removing the time pressure but making each click critical.
The ten‑move limit encourages deliberate planning; every placement must contribute directly to the final machine. No additional time constraint is applied.
- Sketch a quick outline of the desired machine before clicking to keep the move count low.
- Prioritize widgets that have the greatest impact on the overall mechanism.
04 / THE GUIDE
Levels and Unlocks
Cogs offers fifty puzzle levels that can be approached in any of the three modes, with Time Challenge Mode unlocking each puzzle after it is finished in Inventor Mode, adding its own constraints to the same layouts.
Performance—building contraptions quickly and efficiently—determines when new puzzles appear, linking skill improvement to content expansion.
- Aim for lower move counts in Inventor Mode; this often speeds up unlocks for the other modes.
- Re‑visit earlier levels after mastering later ones to discover faster routes you may have missed.
05 / THE GUIDE
Platform Availability and Features
Cogs runs on Windows, macOS, and Linux and is a single‑player title. The game integrates with Steam, offering achievements and supporting Family Sharing, which lets multiple accounts access the same purchase.
These platform features do not affect puzzle mechanics but provide standard Steam ecosystem benefits such as progress tracking and shared access.
- Check the Steam Achievements page to monitor progress across modes.
- Enable Family Sharing if you want friends or family members to try the game without buying a separate copy.
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