Cortex Command

Cortex Command

Data Realms · 2012 · Strategy, Indie, Action, Physics, 2D

PC
Very Positive83% · 2,004 📉 Recent reviews down 67%44Metacritic4playing now
Best price 85 Great time to buy
$0.92-95%
lowest tracked $0.84
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Standard Edition · Steam
-10%
$17.99
$19.99
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Steam
Steam
Standard Edition · Steam
$19.99
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Eneba
Standard Edition · Steam
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Trailers & screenshots

About Cortex Command

✦ AI summary

Protect your brain and pillage the gold in this 11-year labor of love featuring spectacular 2D destruction physics where every crater, corpse, and bunker ruin persists across an entire campaign. Command expendable troops through real-time tactical battles and turn-based strategy with fully destructible terrain, customizable bunker building, and chaotic up-to-4-player multiplayer that lets you dig, fight, and scheme your way to victory.

A project over eleven years in the making, Cortex Command has rich 2D pixel graphics coupled with an extremely detailed physics engine, which allows for highly replayable and emergent real-time action. There is also a turn-based strategic campaign mode which ties the tactical fights together, featuring persistent terrains that will accumulate the battle scars, debris, and bunker ruins through your entire campaign.

Choose from several unique technology factions, each featuring their own sets of expendable soldier bodies, mechas, weapons, tools, and landing craft. Protect your brain, mine the gold, and destroy the enemy cortex in his bunker complex!

Key Features:

  • Fully destructible environments - The gold you need to excavate is sprinkled throughout the terrain of each scene. Use special digging tools to blast your way into the dirt and debris. All the pieces of bodies and ships from your struggles will fall to the ground and permanently add to the battlefield. Get more powerful (and expensive) diggers and you can even tunnel into your enemies' bunkers from below!
  • Strategic metagame campaign – The intense, real-time tactical battles are put in a greater strategic context in the Campaign mode, thus giving each battle meaning and consequence. The gold-rich terrains on the planet and the defensive bunkers you build to defend them are persistent from fight to fight. This means there will be layers of debris, bunker ruins, tunnels, and corpses piled up in layers, telling the history of each place throughout each campaign played.
  • In-game buying menu - At any time and place during the game, bring up a powerful menu to order new bodies and equipment, all delivered at the location and by the transport ship of your choosing. Rockets are cheaper but unreliable and harder to land. Drop ships are far more expensive but can quickly deploy entire groups of puppets onto difficult terrain. Ships and equipment returned to the TradeStar are refunded to your account.
  • Build your own bunker - At the start of most missions, you are able to take your time and build your own command bunker from scratch. Easily design twisting tunnels and place doors, traps, and turrets to thwart your enemies' intrusions! Pre-deploy and equip bodies in and around your installation to prepare yourself for your objectives. Don't spend too much though, or you won't have enough funds left when the mission starts!
  • Four-player cooperative and/or versus multiplayer - Gather your friends and plug in those game controllers! Play skirmish or campaign missions with or against up to three of your buddies. 2 vs 2, 1 vs. 3, 4 vs. the CPU - it's up to you! (rhyme intended). Flexible control settings allow you to use the keyboard, keyboard + mouse, or any generic game controller you can find and plug in.
  • Built-in editors and modding - Several in-game editors allow you to easily create your own stuff. The game's engine is built to make it very simple to modify and add your own content. Design your own missions, guys, ships, weapons, tools, bombs, and shields - and easily share them with your friends. Join and download some fantastic mods from the community at the Data Realms Fan Forums.

What Steam players say

Recent verbatim reviews from Steam — separate from playze.io community reviews below.

Not recommended Jun 17, 2026
[h1] This game is like dumping ENORMOUS HOT DOG'S DONGOS IN YOUR MOUTH and sprinkle it with a bit of glitter, smacking it with hammer afterwards. Ideal for gamers who like to play junk. [/h1]
5 found this helpful
Recommended Jun 17, 2026
Childhood game frozen in time unparalleled permanently replayable amazing and unique experience to date
2 found this helpful
Recommended Jun 18, 2026
Cortex Command is one of those rare independent games that refuses to fit neatly into a single genre. Developed and published by Data Realms, it combines side-scrolling action, real-time strategy, resource management, and sandbox experimentation into a uniquely chaotic experience. Originally developed over many years before reaching its full release, the game demonstrates an impressive level of ambition, offering players a battlefield where almost every piece of terrain, weapon, and character interacts through a sophisticated physics system. Rather than focusing solely on fast-paced shooting or strategic planning, Cortex Command encourages players to balance both, creating an experience that remains distinctive even years after its launch. At the heart of the game is the concept of protecting and expanding your operation while attempting to eliminate the enemy’s brain unit. Players begin by gathering resources from the terrain, establishing defensive positions, purchasing troops, and deploying specialized equipment. What makes this process especially engaging is the freedom to switch between commanding an entire army and directly controlling individual units. One moment you may be…
1 found this helpful
Recommended Jul 4, 2026
I ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ LOVE THIS GAME THIS GAME IS SO PEAK YOU SHOULD PLAY IT RN
Recommended Jun 10, 2026
FUN YES
Recommended May 22, 2026
Was a pretty cool game.

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