Developer Jeppe Carlsen, the lead gameplay designer for the critically acclaimed puzzle-platform game Limbo, debuted his latest game at Microsoft’s Xbox and Bethesda showcase on Sunday. Nearly 10 years in the making, Cocoon is a puzzle-adventure game where you navigate between worlds and solve puzzles in order to solve an inter-dimensional mystery.
Published by Annapurna Interactive, Cocoon follows a bug on an as-yet undefined quest, navigated by carrying orbs that contain other worlds inside them. When one orb is brought near another, you’re able to hop to a new world, a mechanic that the trailer showcases as a method of travel and a way of solving puzzles. Any narrative that’s present is unclear so far, but the vibrant and puzzle-packed environment looks compelling enough even without knowing anything about the story.
Like Limbo, Cocoon is a puzzle game with platforming elements. Annapurna’s website describes the puzzling as follows: “Wrap your head around the core mechanic of leaping between worlds—and combine, manipulate, and rearrange them to solve intricate puzzles.” From the gameplay trailer, much of this seems to revolve around carrying orbs to switches and then leaping into them to travel to new locations, a matryoshka-like progression that looks compelling even in the relatively short sections we’ve seen so far.
The art style reminds me of Death’s Door, one of our favorite games from 2021, and which gathered comparisons to Hollow Knight and Dark Souls. Cocoon seems to more heavily emphasize environmental puzzles than real-time action, but its gameplay does require precise movement and quick thinking in order to progress.
We’ll likely get another look at Cocoon next month, when Annapurna will be holding their own showcase on July 28 at 3 p.m. EDT. The showcase will focus mostly on providing new material for previously announced games, but will also include some new announcements.