Cocoon (video game)

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Cocoon
Cocoon Cover Art.png
Developer(s) Geometric Interactive
Publisher(s) Annapurna Interactive
Director(s) Jeppe Carlsen
Producer(s) Mads Engberg Hansen
Composer(s) Jakob Schmid
Engine Unity
Platform(s)
ReleaseSeptember 29, 2023
Genre(s)
Mode(s) Single-player

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. [1]

Contents

Cocoon received generally positive reviews from critics.

Gameplay

The player can pull specific objects found throughout the world. Cocoon Gameplay Screenshot.webp
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]

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. [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]

Reception

Cocoon received "generally favorable" reviews, according to review aggregator Metacritic. [5] [6] [7] 98% of critics recommend the game on OpenCritic. [9]

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". [2] 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". [12]

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". [14]

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". [13] 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". [17]

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". [20]

Awards

The game was selected by Eurogamer as their Game of the Year. [21]

Awards and nominations
YearCeremonyCategoryResultRef.
2023 Golden Joystick Awards Ultimate Game of the Year Nominated [22]
Best Indie GameNominated
Breakthrough AwardWon
The Game Awards 2023 Best Independent GameNominated [23]
Best Debut Indie GameWon
2024 27th Annual D.I.C.E. Awards Game of the Year Nominated [24] [25]
Adventure Game of the Year Nominated
Outstanding Achievement for an Independent Game Won
Outstanding Achievement in Game Direction Nominated
Outstanding Achievement in Game Design Nominated
Outstanding Achievement in Audio Design Nominated
24th Game Developers Choice Awards Game of the Year Nominated [26] [27]
Best AudioHonorable mention
Best DebutNominated
Best DesignNominated
Innovation AwardNominated
Best TechnologyHonorable mention
Best Visual ArtNominated
Audience AwardNominated
Independent Games Festival Seumas McNally Grand Prize Nominated [28] [29]
Excellence in AudioNominated
Excellence in DesignNominated
20th British Academy Games Awards Best Game Longlisted [30]
Debut Game Nominated [31] [32]
Artistic Achievement Nominated
Family Nominated
Game Design Nominated
New Intellectual Property Longlisted [33]

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References

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