Cognito (NOW ON BACKERKIT)

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WELCOME TO THE CUTTING EDGE OF HUMAN CONSCIOUSNESS. IT'S SHARPER THAN YOU THINK.

A revolutionary clinical trial. A dream of curing death itself. And a lead scientist found dead within 24 hours of the experiment beginning.

Five people are trapped inside Cognito, a bleeding-edge research facility where soul-swapping technology promised to revolutionise empathy, eliminate illness, and cheat mortality. 

But the dream has curdled, the experiment has gone catastrophically wrong, and someone in this room is a killer.

You know who you are. You think you know why you're here. But in a place where identities can be transferred, bodies can be borrowed, and nothing is quite what it seems... can you really be sure?

Welcome to Cognito. Because the most dangerous place to hide is inside someone else's mind

What is COGNITO?

Cognito is our third original English-language jubensha, a GM-less, story-driven mystery experience for five players, designed to be played at home in a single evening.

It combines:

• The clinical dread of near-future science fiction
• The moral complexity of hidden-role social deduction
• The emotional depth of immersive interactive theatre
• The intricate character work that jubensha does best
• And a murder mystery that refuses to let anyone off the hook

Open the box. Step into someone else's shoes. Find the killer before they walk free.

THE PREMISE

The Cognito trial was supposed to change everything.

A world-leading scientist. A radical new technology. The promise of soul-transference, a procedure that could allow one consciousness to inhabit another body, offering breakthroughs in empathy research, neurological illness, and perhaps even death itself.

Five participants arrived at the facility. Each had their own reason for being here. Each signed the consent forms. Each believed they understood what they were getting into.

They were wrong.

Within 24 hours, the lead scientist was dead. The experiment is compromised. And the technology, powerful, unstable, and very much still active, is sitting in the middle of the room.

Around the table sit five individuals, each with secrets, each with stakes, and each with something to hide:

• A true believer in the science, or perhaps in what the science could do for them personally
• A sceptic who never should have agreed to participate
• Someone whose reasons for being here have nothing to do with medicine
• A person carrying a grief so heavy they'd do almost anything to put it down
• And someone who knows far more about what happened than they're letting on

The truth is in the room. So is the killer. So is a technology that could rewrite what it means to be human.

What you do with all three is entirely up to you.

HOW YOU PLAY

Five Players Each participant receives a detailed character pack full of backstory, personal objectives, secrets, and emotional depth.

Investigate the Murder Sift through conflicting accounts, scientific documentation, and personal testimony to piece together what really happened in the hours before the scientist died.

Hide Your Truth Every character carries secrets. Some are personal. Some are dangerous. You decide what to reveal, what to weaponise, and what to take to your grave.

Wrestle With the Technology Cognito isn't just a murder mystery, it's a reckoning. What should happen to soul-swapping technology that actually works? Who gets to decide? The answers are as contested as the crime itself.

Decide the Outcome By the end of the evening, the group must vote on who is responsible, and what your characters want to do next. The story branches based on what you uncovered, who you trusted, and what you chose to believe.

No GM. No facilitator. No single correct answer. Just five people, one dead scientist, and a piece of technology that probably shouldn't exist.

WHO IS THIS FOR?

• Fans of murder mysteries and ethical conundrums
• Players of TTRPGs, social deduction games, and GM-less narratives
• Lovers of interactive theatre and immersive experiences
• Newcomers curious about jubensha
• Backers who enjoyed All Falls Down: Sorroborough and Seven Strikes
• Anyone who likes their stories a little political, a little messy, and very human

THE TRIAL IS OPEN. THE BODY IS COLD. THE FUTURE IS UNCERTAIN.

This is a story about what science should never do. About identity, grief, and the things we carry into other people's bodies. About who gets believed when everyone is wearing someone else's face.

The soul-swap is ready. The killer is in the room. The clock is running.

Experience Cognito today.

Step inside. Find the truth. Decide what happens next.