2023 has swarmed us with quality games. So many that there aren’t enough hours in the day to play them all — and now, Cocoon has crept onto our screens to buzzing acclaim. Fortunately, if you’re busy as a bee, and can’t dedicate time to a marathon game, this is a nice quick one. Jeppe Carlsen, lead gameplay designer of Inside and Limbo, has teamed up with Geometric and Annapurna to unleash this wonderous puzzler. Those who love a good mind-boggler buggler will enjoy curling up in their cocoons for a few hours with it.
You play as a bug-like creature traversing an alien land, completing puzzles to progress. Sometimes you get a drone-type companion who helps break down fences, though it also gets eaten by certain monsters. Then there are the orbs – Cocoon’s point of difference. Each contains a world you can carry around with you, both forming part of puzzles and containing puzzles within. One orb’s land is filled with prismatic crystals, another contains puddles and reeds, another is a gooey membranous underworld.
You might think this would break your brain, but we’re happy to report our grey matter remains intact, if a little sore. The puzzles are challenging, no doubt, but the worlds-within-worlds isn’t as confusing as it first appears. The game is mostly linear, and its creative UI blocks off areas or retracts items when they’re unnecessary. The character’s little wings also flutter to tell players they can interact with something.
The controls are simple: left analog stick for moving, ‘A’ for interacting. The single yet powerful ‘A’ button enables you to push and pull things, enter and exit worlds, launch yourself off platforms, and more.
You may find yourself a little bug-eyed from the get-go. The tricksy puzzles call for using the orb or drone in creative ways. You have to take multiple orbs from one side to another when you can only carry one (very wolf-goat-cabbage-esque without wolves, goats, or cabbages), memorise symbols, and use the world’s mechanics to your advantage. A puzzle often introduces a function you’ll use again, in different ways. This seamless logic stays consistent throughout, immersing you in the world. Nothing is wasted and there are no red herrings. Of course, that doesn’t mean the answers are obvious.
Even so, the puzzles are unique and satisfying to solve, not least thanks to the dramatic flair whenever something unlocks. Thinking and solving is the hero here, and takes more time than executing. There weren’t many moments where we found a big gap between knowing what to do and actually doing it.
There’s combat too, though it’s contained to battlefields. In each boss fight, you’re chased by a creature that looks like the sci-fi monster version of insects or sea life. They make creepy alien noises and they want to stop you from moving ahead. The combat isn’t difficult, per se, though it may spook the entomophobic. Moreover, it asks you to think on the fly – not an issue if speed and reflexes come easily. You may have to try a few times, and ignore the butterflies in your stomach or frustration when you die (read: thrown out of the orb with no lasting damage). If that is you, we recommend viewing it as a fast-paced puzzle – because the rest of the game is well worth dusting off your wings and fighting again.
Crushing the bugs earns your orbs elevated powers. One allows you to walk on invisible bridges. Another activates lifts that take you up and down. Yet another opens up a shooting mechanic that also takes you back to a previous world.
As with Inside and Limbo, there’s no written word or dialogue, just intuitive visual language – reminding us how much one can say without words. But Cocoon doesn’t have much storyline. We felt it would have been nice to understand a little more about our buggy friend and their aim on this journey. In Limbo and Inside, the lack of dialogue moulded a narrative that pulled us through the play, but that kind of storytelling isn’t present here. It’s a shame, since so much love has obviously been poured into forming this intricate universe.
That love means the art style soars. The worlds are astounding, the details finessed, and our character cute. Those orbs alone look so real we felt like we could reach out and hold them like marbles. The art matches the gameplay, too: 3D top-down design and geometric shapes. Every orb’s world has its own palette, which helps with orientation, and looks beautiful: peachy pinks, soft greens, pastel purples. These colour schemes are quite different to Inside and Limbo’s monochromes.
But that doesn’t mean Cocoon isn’t as eerie as its spiritual siblings. In fact, the music and sound effects set a decidedly horror/sci-fi tone. We’re talking violin squeaks, howling wind, and low droning white noise. The music crescendos during dramatic moments, building tension, suspense, and heart palpitations, and there’s a synth-y hum to say ‘getting warmer’ or ‘well done!’
Performance is very smooth for the most part. We noticed a slower frame rate when we reached an area where it was raining. Otherwise, Cocoon runs incredibly well on Switch, with no noticeable bugs. Except the characters in the game, that is. The controls are very precise too – things snap to where they need to be, and you don’t really have to aim. The game autosaves but doesn’t indicate that it’s doing this, so if you like a little more control over your saves this may bother you.
A more significant issue you may have is its extremely quick playtime. While some puzzles might stump you for a good stretch, speedy players will finish it in a session or two. For such a short runtime, some may balk at the asking price ($24.99 / £20.99 / 22,99€ / AUD36.95). If that's the case, you might be better off waiting for a sale and making a beeline for it then.
Conclusion
Cocoon is a fun and addictive puzzler. Its unique mechanics and gameplay had us glued to our screens, and it’s gorgeous to boot. Its lack of story is a minor disappointment, but if you love puzzles and aren't bugged by fast-paced combat, this game will be an easy favourite — even if it flies by all too quickly.
Comments 24
Just waiting for the inevitable physical release from iam8bit.
I would like to have thatgamecompany games on Nintendo Switch...
Edit: Sky doesn't count.
Great review as it's quite thorough and well written, based on it I'll definitely get this eventually (on sale, but that's just what I mostly do when it comes to exclusively digital - or way too expensive to import physical - games)!
With all the hype around it, I found Limbo extremely underwhelming, so I'm reticent to play another game by designer. Nice to hear some people enjoy these games, though.
This looks pretty sweet, although I'll wait for a sale. I played Inside and, while I enjoyed it, the storyline could have been a bit stronger. The puzzles were a lot of fun though, and the graphics and feel of the game were excellent.
I'll admit to being a bit disappointed that, despite the title, there's no evidence of Steve Guttenberg being in the game.
looking forward to the Don Ameche dlc.
@Magician There haven't been physical releases on Switch for Limbo and Inside though, have there?
Kinda hoping someone puts all three games on a single cart for me someday, though I would like another game in a similar vein to Inside too.
@gcunit Nope, still no physical for either Limbo or Inside. 505 Games released a double pack for Xbox One and PS4, but did not obtain the rights for a Switch release. I assume developer Playdead weren't happy with the revenue split with that release and perhaps that's why they haven't inked a deal for a Switch double pack? Not sure.
In a year of exceptional titles, this is one of the best games this year. It’s also on Gamepass. Personally, I feel like the game succeeds on its shorter runtime, as it never overstays its welcome and leaves you wanting more. If you’re real quick with the puzzles, you could beat this in one session, but it would be about as good of a gaming session as anyone realistically could have. I would say Cocoon tops Limbo and Inside.
I suffered from really, really bad performance playing this on Switch the other day - frequent slowdown, occasionally looked like a slideshow, and the entire game crashed three times.
I assumed that'd be the case on Switch everywhere but at least glad to hear that Nintendo Life had a better time with it - starting to wonder if the game's terrible performance was a bug or glitch in my case, should have maybe restarted it to see if it stopped.
I played and finished the game on Xbox Game Pass this weekend. For me it is one of the best games this year. Fun puzzles and great art style. But just like Limbo and Inside on the short side.
Digitally I would wait for a sale. But if they had released it physically I would have bought it immediately for the Nintendo Switch. Hope there will be a physical release in the future.
Started playing it on PS5. The graphics are beautiful, and the environments imaginative. Have to admit that it is a bit slow moving so far. I have gotten through one battle that wasn't too difficult, but haven't gotten to any reflex/speed challenges yet.
Stepped away for awhile to play Warriors of the Nile 2 (fun SRPG/roguelite hybrid), but plan to pick Cocoon back up at some point.
Maybe should have waited for a sale, but it's not expensive to begin with.
Cheers for the review. It definitely reads like my kinda thang. Yeah, will DL this at some point soon.
Does it really run nicely on Switch? Judging by gameplay videos on Youtube the frame drops are quite bad.
Limbo and Inside are excellent games by the same developer, so I'm glad Cocoon continues the high quality.
@cchhaasseerr Perhaps it's one of those games that ends up running worse in docked, which is how Switch video capture is handled (to my knowledge)? One of the streams I checked out was also chugging far more than any of the other footage I saw, so I'd imagine that may not have been on the game's end. Heard it's solid otherwise
Runs good? Does the reviewer have eyes? This runs bad. Hitches all over there place.
@Kochambra But Inside was an absolute masterpiece and WAYYY better than Limbo. You should play that immediately. It’s one of the best games I’ve ever played.
So far very nice, but not reaching the hype level. It's nothing new. Just very well executed remix of elements.
@eaglesfly76 Thanks for the recommendation!
@MJL I didn't play this game, but I had just the same with Ori 2, everybody is praising it as well visually as performance wise, when I played it on Switch there was about 1/3 of the time freezes and slowdowns. I ended up wondering if it wasn't due to the game wanting to connect in the background and my connection being difficult. But I probably won't play it again so I won't be able to double check.
@eaglesfly76
agreed, I enjoyed limbo a lot, but inside is something very special indeed
Finished Cocoon tonight after checking it out on Game Pass. A beautiful and unique puzzle game. The mechanics of the orbs are a lot of fun, and it’s so satisfying when a puzzle clicks.
Great little game that can be fully completed in around 3/4 hours. Nice otherworldly level/puzzle design, and quirky sound design. I would recommend it, however I do feel that it lacks replay appeal long term.
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