Cocoon (video game)

The player can pull specific objects found throughout the world.

Cocoon is a third-person puzzle video game. The player controls a small insectoid creature navigating multiple desolate worlds.

The player wakes up in a barren wasteland, soon after discovering a mysterious orb. Each orb contains one of the game's worlds, allowing the player to hop between them, while also doubling as a unique ability in itself. The orb can also be used to power the various machinery found in these desolate worlds, such as lifts and platforms. As the player reaches the end of each orb, they are confronted by a boss fight they must complete by using a mechanic to impede the creature.[2]

Cocoon was directed by Jeppe Carlsen, who previously designed Limbo and Inside. According to Carlsen, the game started development shortly after he left Playdead in 2016, and was centered around how "spatial relationships between interconnected realms could be used in puzzles". Composer Jakob Schmid and art director Erwin Kho joined Carlsen to form Geometric Interactive.[3]

The game was initially conceived as a sidescroller, but they found that it lessened the impact of traveling between worlds and switched the perspective to top-down. Cocoon's sound design is entirely made up of synthetic noises rather than recordings. Certain orb designs did not make the final cut: a rhythm orb that worked in tandem with the game's music, for instance, proved too distracting to players.[4]

Cocoon received "generally favorable" reviews, according to review aggregator Metacritic.[5][6][7]

IGN praised the design of the puzzles, writing, "seeing how each piece of the puzzle interacts with others and figuring out the layers between them is some of the most mesmerizing and engaging stuff I've seen in a while".[2] Eurogamer enjoyed the art direction of Cocoon, feeling that it captured the alien nature of the setting, "you're exploring worlds that are both gloopy and organic, filled with heavily vesseled tumours and sacs and twitching mandibles".[10] GamesRadar+ liked how the game placed the player into a "flowstate" with its puzzles, "Sure, you may need to get those neurons firing for one of two puzzles, but solving the majority is a more meditative experience".[12]

Game Informer felt that some of the puzzles could be a bit drawn out, saying, "there are a few instances where I felt I was going through a motion to finish a puzzle as opposed to arriving at a moment of brilliant catharsis".[11] Polygon loved the soundtrack, feeling it complemented the atmosphere perfectly, "A gorgeous synth soundtrack accompanies your journey, occasionally threaded with a dampened piano glissando that never fails to inspire dread".[17] Rock Paper Shotgun praised the game for not being overly obtuse, writing that "solutions are often intuitive twists on a blueprint", rather than "brain-busting world swappery".[18]

• Official website