We are thrilled to announce that Cognition Episode 1 is now available for purchase in the App Store for the iPad! Experience the gorgeous backgrounds, award-winning soundtrack, and critically-acclaimed indie thriller anywhere you go! On sale for just $3.99, now is the perfect time to jump into Cognition to find out who knows Erica’s secret and what they want from her in Episode 1: The Hangman! Prefer to try before you buy? Check out the demo version for free!

From Designer Cesar Bittar, a little insight into the creation and development of Erica Reed:

I get the question a lot of who inspired me for Erica Reed. Erica ended up being a little bit more foul-mouthed than my original source of inspiration for her, but to this day, every time I see Olivia Dunham in Fringe, I tend to smile. She’s gorgeous and Anna Torv is a really gifted actress, and she makes Fringe one of my favorite shows in our current TV spectrum.

TOTAL coincidence!

Jane once told me that Erica didn’t seem much like an FBI Agent. The Erica she was seeing is the Erica that opens up the game in the cemetery. The thought stuck in my mind, and I wanted to have Erica seem more like an FBI Agent. Dana Scully from the X-Files came to mind, but she was too “formal” for our likings. Debra Morgan, from Dexter,  also didn’t do it for me and she really wasn’t FBI — although Erica’s bad language certainly comes from Deb!

And then there was Olivia Dunham. I started googling for pictures of her and I came across a few. There was a particular one that really set it for me. If you spot any similarities, it’s a complete coincidence. Really. Walter Bishop is my alibi!

Soon you’ll be able to play Cognition anywhere, because on February 28th, Cognition Episode 1 is coming to the iPad!

We’re very excited about this announcement–releasing on the iPad has been one of our goals since we began development. Tablets have proven themselves to be an excellent format for adventure games, and one of the many pluses of the Unity engine is how easy it is to port to iOS. And next Thursday is the big day!

What’s more, we’ve got some promo codes of the demo version available right now! Catch a sneak peek of the beautiful scenes of Cognition before it’s out for public release by heading over to YayCodes and grabbing one now! The codes are first come, first serve and there are a limited number available, so get one while they last!

Cognition Episode 1: The Hangman has been nominated for THREE 2012 Aggie Awards at Adventure Gamers–Best Music, Best Voice Acting, and Best Indie Adventure! The competition is certainly stiff, but we’re honored to be among the nominees, and we can’t wait to see who the winners will be.

Adventure Gamers has also opened up their Aggie Awards Readers’ Choice Poll for adventure game fans to vote for their favorites!

Winners are going to be announced from February 20-22, so keep checking both here and Adventure Gamers to find out who wins. Good luck to all nominees, thank you to Adventure Gamers, and to our amazing team for putting together such a great game!

Phoenix Online is proud and excited to present Cognition Episode 2: The Wise Monkey, now available from the new and improved Phoenix Online store! New twists, new characters, a new killer, and another life on the line. And if you thought Episode 1 got intense…

When someone close to Erica is kidnapped by the Wise Monkey, a serial killer fixated on the gruesome mutilation of their victims, 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.

Episode 2 is available now for $9.99 in our store as a standalone purchase. Or you can order the Season Pass bundle for $29.99 and also get the prequel e-comic, “Provenance”! 

Or maybe you already bought Episode 1 as a standalone? Then you’ll want to check our new Season Upgrade bundle of Episodes 2-4 for just $19.99, a savings of $10. Order the upgrade between now and Valentine’s Day, February 14th, and you’ll also receive Volume 1 of the Cognition Soundtrack!

The Live Launch Party was a great time, thanks to everyone who made it! If you missed, have no fear, you can catch the hangout on youtube (or in the video below) and tune into the juicy Q&A with the directors and Jane Jensen!

For the next four days (January 28th to February 2nd), you can get Cognition Episode 1 for the attractive price of “pay-what-you-want” at IndieGameStand!

With Episode 2 just days away, what better time to grab Episode 1 at a great price? Plus, 10% of the proceeds will go to Child’s Play, “a game industry charity dedicated to improving the lives of children with toys and games in our network of over 70 hospitals worldwide.”

And if beat the average price, you’ll also receive the gorgeous soundtrack and the prequel e-comic!

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!