Cocoon (video game)

Cocoon is a 2023 puzzle adventure game developed by Geometric Interactive and published by Annapurna Interactive. The player controls a beetle that can hop between worlds, solving puzzles to unravel the universe's mysteries. The game was released on September 29, 2023 for Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Windows, Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S.

Cocoon received generally positive reviews from critics.

Gameplay
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.

Development
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.

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.

Reception
Cocoon received "generally favorable" reviews, according to review aggregator Metacritic. 98% of critics recommend the game on OpenCritic.

Kim Hana of 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". Eurogamer's Christian Donlan 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".

Rachel Watts of 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".

In Game Informer's review of the game, Kyle Hilliard 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". Writing for Polygon, Grayson Morley said that he 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".

Ed Thron's 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".

Awards
The game was selected by Eurogamer as their Game of the Year.