Cocoon is not a puzzle game. It’s an interesting, weird little world to explore that uses light puzzles-based mechanics as a way of getting you to interact with the world in interesting ways. That shift in perspective helped me to adjust my expectations for what Cocoon was trying to do and helped me to appreciate it more.
I went into Cocoon expecting a puzzle game and was kind of disappointed at first. None of the puzzles feel particularly puzzling. It just feels like I’m carrying out a series of actions in the order the game wants me to do them in order for it to feel like I’m solving puzzles, but none of it ever made me feel clever. I never got that “Oh I’m so smart” feeling you get from some other great puzzle games. Even on the one or two occasions where I was stumped, I never got the satisfaction that comes from figuring out a challenging puzzle, I just eventually went “Oh this is what the game wants me to do here.” and then moved on.
Despite my feelings that the puzzles are not challenging or really even mentally engaging, I still think the mechanics of using the nesting orbs as a way of interacting with the weird world was very cool. Even if those “puzzle” interactions were sometimes a bit tedious.
I can acknowledge that the visuals in this game are extremely cool but they’re also extremely not my jam. As a person who does not like bugs or body-adjacent stuff, I found most of the visuals in this game to be grotesque and unsettling. I hate them. And yet, I find them to be really incredible. Extremely well-done visual design.
Here’s another hot take - I think the boss fights are actually one of the coolest parts of the game. They have really interesting mechanics that aren’t really used anywhere else in the game and I found them to be pretty fun.
Similar to Limbo and Inside, I don’t really know if Cocoon is my type of game. It’s got unsettling visuals, non-engaging puzzles, and an abstract, weird story. That said, I can appreciate that it is an extremely well-made game with a cool world to explore using brilliant, unique mechanics. Cocoon is a neat experience that I feel is best approached as a linear game rather than a real puzzle game.
+ Extremely cool mechanics
+ Weird, interesting world with fantastic art design
+ Cool boss fights
+ Great soundtrack
- Puzzles are not challenging or even very puzzley
- Puzzles can be tedious
- I, personally, find the visuals to be unsettling and gross
I went into Cocoon expecting a puzzle game and was kind of disappointed at first. None of the puzzles feel particularly puzzling. It just feels like I’m carrying out a series of actions in the order the game wants me to do them in order for it to feel like I’m solving puzzles, but none of it ever made me feel clever. I never got that “Oh I’m so smart” feeling you get from some other great puzzle games. Even on the one or two occasions where I was stumped, I never got the satisfaction that comes from figuring out a challenging puzzle, I just eventually went “Oh this is what the game wants me to do here.” and then moved on.
Despite my feelings that the puzzles are not challenging or really even mentally engaging, I still think the mechanics of using the nesting orbs as a way of interacting with the weird world was very cool. Even if those “puzzle” interactions were sometimes a bit tedious.
I can acknowledge that the visuals in this game are extremely cool but they’re also extremely not my jam. As a person who does not like bugs or body-adjacent stuff, I found most of the visuals in this game to be grotesque and unsettling. I hate them. And yet, I find them to be really incredible. Extremely well-done visual design.
Here’s another hot take - I think the boss fights are actually one of the coolest parts of the game. They have really interesting mechanics that aren’t really used anywhere else in the game and I found them to be pretty fun.
Similar to Limbo and Inside, I don’t really know if Cocoon is my type of game. It’s got unsettling visuals, non-engaging puzzles, and an abstract, weird story. That said, I can appreciate that it is an extremely well-made game with a cool world to explore using brilliant, unique mechanics. Cocoon is a neat experience that I feel is best approached as a linear game rather than a real puzzle game.
+ Extremely cool mechanics
+ Weird, interesting world with fantastic art design
+ Cool boss fights
+ Great soundtrack
- Puzzles are not challenging or even very puzzley
- Puzzles can be tedious
- I, personally, find the visuals to be unsettling and gross