Adventure Spiele, one of Germany’s top adventure gaming websites, has given Cognition Epsiode 1 a score of 95%, and awarded us an AVSN award!

Read the full review and score breakdown here.

Alternative Magazine Online (AMO) has posted their Best of 2012 Awards, and Cognition got an honorable mention in the Best Indie Game category!

Cognition: An Erica Reed Thriller – Episode 1: The Hangman – “Jane Jensen’s Gray Matter was an incredibly underrated game and in many ways this feels like its spiritual successor. This is a good old-fashioned adventure game like they used to make, offering a fresh twist on the cop drama, with production values that rival the big names in adventure gaming at the moment such as Telltale Games. It isn’t perfect, but in terms of enjoyment it comes damn close for a first episode. Erica Reed desperately needs your help – take her hand and see what happens.

What an honor! Cognition has earned the #4 spot on IndieGames.com’s Top 10 Adventure Games of 2012 list–here’s what they have to say about Episode 1: The Hangman!

Employing the talents of the team responsible for re-imagining King’s Quest in 3D and the help of legendary Gabriel Knight designer Jane Jensen, Cognition: An Erica Reed Thriller, Ep.1: The Hangman is a dark thriller with supernatural touches that all genre fans have to experience. The writing is top-notch, the production values impressive, most of the puzzles inspired and, most importantly, the plot is simply gripping. Helping Erica Reed, one of those rare strong female leads, use her subtle powers of post-cognition and detective skills to bring down a serial killer is properly exciting and will even give that old brain a work-out.

We’re thrilled at this, and what great company to be in, too! Check out the article to see the other Top 9, great games all of them!

Bilder & Worte recently interviewed Romano Molenaar, the art director of Cognition, about the game, his comics, and what it’s like doing art for a video game!

bilderundworte: Cognition has a very dark atmosphere which hits the „zeitgeist“ quite well. I personally like it very much. What inspired your artwork and creating the character of Erica Reed and how easy was it for you to put your ideas into effect when working with the rest of the developers? 

Romano: A good idea inspires the mind visually. So when you read the storyline and the timeframe etc., your build a visual setting instantly which—in my case—I can visualize. I’m the *tool* to catch the atmosphere and mood for any kind of project or idea—but for that to happen the idea must be good to sparkle the mind.

Start the countdown, Episode 2: The Wise Monkey is coming on January 30th!

When someone close to Erica is kidnapped by the Wise Monkey, a serial killer fixated on the gruesome mutilation of their victims, and Erica is in a race against time to save his life. With the Wise Monkey case in her hands and the FBI’s resources already stretched thin, she’s on her own to find the killer before it’s too late — again.

We’re also excited to announce that Episode 1 will be coming out on the iPad in January!

Enjoy the Greenlight video below of the team making fools of themselves, and feast your eyes on the shiny new screenshots!

Boston FBI Director Gone Missing

Boston authorities offer no comment on what may be a major agency nightmare

By Rosie Williams – October 27, 2011

BOSTON. Mass. – This morning The Boston Oracle received reports that local FBI director Madison Davies has gone missing. No official reports have come from either the Boston police or the FBI as no one would go on record to confirm Director Davies’ disappearance.  Leaked internal documents show that agents in and out of the FBI have neither seen nor heard from Davies in several hours and has become unreachable by phone.

Davies, known for her strict work ethic and high expectations of her agents, is not the sort of person one would expect to go missing. Broad speculation ranges from the laughable to the sinister, including a dramatic affair in the Bahamas with an unnamed lover to the return of the Cain Killer, a serial murderer who terrorized Boston for years but whose case has been inactive since the death of Scott Reed three years ago. Director Davies, then a Senior Agent, was a part of the case, leading many to speculate that this disappearance could be much more than a missing FBI director. This would be the latest in a string of crimes across the city, sending the citizens of Boston into a frenzy of fear, wondering “what’s next?”

“There’s no reason to think the Cain Killer has resurfaced. This hanging has none of his trademarks, it’s not connected in any way to Cain, and neither is Director Davies whereabouts,” says Senior Agent John McCoy, who worked underneath Director Davies and is partner with FBI Agent Erica Reed, whose brother was murdered by the Cain Killer. Agents McCoy and Reed have been working on a recent and brutal hanging that may be linked to other recent hangings in the Boston area.  Neither Davies nor Reed has been working on the Cain case in any official manner, and the official word is that the Cain Kil ler has been deemed a “cold case”. However, those who follow the case on the Cain Killer “fan site” have been declaring the disappearance of Director Davies to be a kidnapping courtesy of that serial murderer, putting local citizens on edge.

The Boston Oracle is awaiting official comment from the FBI and Boston police media bureaus, and will update as more information is revealed. Those with any questions can follow this link for more details in this ongoing threat to the city of Boston itself.

Boston Man Found Tortured to Death in Grisly Death Trap

Early reports state this the work of the Cain Killer

By Rosie Williams – October 29, 2008

BOSTON, Mass. – The latest victim in a string of brutal murders across the Boston area, Needham resident Scott Reed, 26, died as a result of injuries inflicted by the murderer-at-large known as the “Cain Killer.” This serial killer has been terrorizing the Boston area for the past three years, targeting male-female sibling pairs and using numerous torture devices that have left all victims dead. The Cain Killer kills his victims in traps involving large spikes and spears, and once left a man to suffocate in a sealed stone coffin. Disturbingly, the Cain Killer has an active following on social media that has caught police attention, although it seems this is unrelated to the murderer and the case.

Scott Reed was the son of well-known retired Boston Police Captain Brian Reed and brother of local FBI Agent Erica Reed. Boston FBI Director Samuel McAdams has confirmed that Agent Reed is being treated at Mass General Hospital for severe injuries received in the attempt to recover her brother, but is expected to make a full recovery. This makes Agent Reed the first potential victim to escape the Cain Killer. It is confirmed that Agent Reed was working on the Cain Killer case prior to her brother’s abduction and there is speculation that Scott Reed may have been targeted because of this.

Agent Reed has not made any official comments regarding her brother’s murder. Reporters and citizens have been following her still-public Facebook profile for potential information regarding the case. Police and FBI officials have requested that all citizens who have or are looking for more information regarding Reed or the Cain murders should contact the FBI media representative, or browse the public case simulation.

We are extremely excited to finally announce that Phoenix Online Studios is working with Jane Jensen and Pinkerton Road on her upcoming adventure game, Moebius!

After working with Jane on Cognition, we’re just ecstatic (and pinching ourselves!) to be continuing that relationship with Moebius. With mystery, intrigue, and a touch of the supernatural, in Moebius the player takes on the role of Malachi Rector as he investigates a series of events around the globe, uncovering startling truths about the nature of time and life itself in the process. With Jane at the helm and Andy Hoyos, also of Sierra fame, leading the Art Direction, you know it’ll be a fantastic, high-quality adventure game, and Phoenix is working hard to make Moebius a game you’ll enjoy and remember.

Sierra legends Lori and Corey Cole, designers of the Quest for Glory series, are running a Kickstarter for their new game, Hero-U: Rogue to Redemption! There are just 3 days left to help them hit their $400K goal for building a brand new Adventure-RPG hybrid in the same vein as the amazing QfG series of yesteryear. It’s no secret that everyone at Phoenix loves the old Sierra games, and we’re excited to see just what the Coles have in store for the gaming world next, so we encourage our fans to head on over and support them if they can, or just spread the word to fellow adventure fans!

Heck, we’re so excited, we’ve added a  shout-out to Quest for Glory 4 (my personal favorite) into Episode 2 of Cognition! Will Erica be facing…the Void??

We’ve opened the Phoenix Online Store! Available purchase now are “Provenance”, the prequel e-comic to Cognition, and Volume 1 of the Official Soundtrack to Cognition, featuring 27 tracks including “The Taking” by Robert & Raleigh Holmes!  And more items will be coming soon, including t-shirts!