Dive Into the Orb-Filled Universe of Cocoon

Ever thought about juggling worlds within orbs? That's exactly what Cocoon, the latest puzzle adventure, has you doing. Imagine hopping in and out of these orbs, carrying them on your back, and unraveling mind-bending puzzles. It might sound complex, but each orb-world guides you towards a clear goal: solve the puzzle, grab your orb, and move on. Before you know it, you're carrying orbs within orbs, navigating a cosmic mystery where the floor might be a biomechanical stingray, and the path forward is a spinal cord made of ferns. Trust me, you'll want to hoist an orb on your shoulders and dive in – I couldn't put mine down.

You step into the shoes (or wings, rather) of a winged insect lad, birthed from a chrysalis and dropped into a mysterious desert. Early on, you learn that progress involves hoisting an orange orb onto your back and using it as a key to manipulate the world's biomechanics. One of the first puzzles has you place your orb in a pipe, step on pressure pads, and rotate bits of the tube to drop the orb onto a cradle. This opens the path ahead and teaches you to always grab your orb before moving on. Without his orb, insect lad is nothing, and the world lies dormant without them both.

In one puzzle, insect lad pulls an orb connected to a giant hermit crab, using it as a bridge. I won't spoil all the game's worlds, but let's just say they're beautifully designed, mixing soft membranes and pillowy curves with the jagged edges of metal grates and gears.

Once you've transported the orb far enough and cracked the world's final vault, you're thrust into a battle against a colossal moth. This boss fight is a dance of dodging charges and navigating a rotating deathtrap, reminiscent of classic Super Mario battles. Defeat the moth, and the game's pattern clicks into place. Your orange orb unlocks invisible platforms, leading you to a green orb and new challenges. Each new orb brings new powers and new worlds to explore, making Cocoon a game of managing a growing arsenal of marbles.

Despite the game's recursive theme, it's accessible even for those who aren't puzzle-heads. The geography of Cocoon's worlds is brilliantly designed to expose you to new tools and provoke instinctual responses. Insect lad might have wings, but his progress relies on his body weight and ability to carry orbs. This makes it easy to understand how new platforms, buttons, and little robots work.

For example, I needed to get a flying robot companion across a walkway blocked by orange gloop. The solution? Trap the robot in the gloop, then hop into another orb-world and emerge on the other side. It's like using a world as a Pokéball – pure magic.

Cocoon's visual and audio cues signal when you might need to world-hop and whether your orb is a puzzle in itself or just a weight to activate switches. The game’s solutions are often intuitive, clever twists on a familiar blueprint. Just when you get comfortable, a new orb power shakes up exploration and guides you in an exciting new direction.

As you progress, the sense of discovery grows. You instinctively pull bulbs and lead cybernetic hermit crabs to act as bridges, feeling like these tasks are hardcoded into your shell. The story, abstract as it is, feels like a quest to reunite pieces of an alien universe.

Even if you're not usually a puzzle game fan, Cocoon will grip you from start to finish. Its world-hopping gimmick is so precise and intuitive that experimenting with worlds-within-worlds feels second nature. Anyone can take on the responsibility of insect lad, constructing a backpack swimming with marbles, and embark on a grand adventure. What are you waiting for? Hop in and start your journey.