I know I’ll play Starfield for the rest of the year, so I’m looking for some smaller games to fit in. Enter Cocoon on Game Pass. It released with stellar reviews. A visually unique and mind bending puzzler. The unique puzzles came highly rated and the game length weighed in at a manageable 5ish hours. It was the prefect game to fit into my play sessions.
Cocoon is a Weird Puzzle Masterpiece
After reading all the glowing reviews for Cocoon, I figured I’d give it a try since it’s on Game Pass. The short game length was also appealing to fit in between my Starfield sessions. The simpler graphics also meant it’s a perfect candidate to play via Xcloud on my Steam Deck.
There was no explanation to start the game that I remember. It’s weird and welcome compared to usual tutorials. It was easy enough to follow and controls are super simple. Move with the stick and 1 button to interact with the environment. All that simplicity gives way to ever more complex puzzles
The main puzzle mechanic revolves around orbs that activate switches and contain their own world. It’s so trippy to enter and exit each of these new worlds. Later on, the Cocoon game ups the complexity by nesting worlds within worlds.
I personally cannot remember any puzzle game with something like this. Not sure if one exists, but for me, this was such a unique game mechanic. With so many tried and true puzzle types, it’s refreshing to have such a new thing.
Each of these orbs have secondary functions to build bridges, elevate platforms, shoot energy, etc. The combinations of worlds and these actions lead to interesting multipart puzzles. I’d like to think I’m pretty smart, but I don’t think any of the puzzles are super hard for most people.
Regardless, the mind bending nature of them leaves a sense of “wow I’m smart” after solving them.
The Cocoon Game, Conquering New Worlds
Each of these worlds have a boss to defeat. That’s not too different from other games, but the boss fights are their own puzzles. Sure there’s times to avoid attacks like a typical boss battle, but there’s also almost mini puzzles that require a solution to damage the enemy. Some were a bit frustrating, but overall I enjoyed the majority.
There’s no dying in these boss battles. Mess up and the boss bug grabs you character and throws them outside of the world. You can just hop back in, but it is frustrating to start the whole process over again. I think each had 3 stages of their attack. When I’d screw up though, it’s back to stage 1 of the battle.
One particular boss made my head hurt with a mirror image of my character. I’d run around to avoid the boss and move from disappearing platforms. My character was not quick enough to only run away, so I’d have to activate that mirror character to swap spots. I found myself forgetting which one was me while trying to juggle everything in my head.
In the end, I nested 4 worlds within worlds and defeated the big boss. I did clock in around that 5 hour mark, but it’s fully worth the price for those not playing on Game Pass. I highly recommend the Cocoon game to everyone whether they like puzzles or not.