You’re not going to get your handheld in the world of Cocoon. The riddles and alien environments in this game are very complex, yet there are no tutorials or exposition dumps to break the enchantment. As the creator clarifies in an interview with Xbox Era, this is all done on purpose. The developers, Jeppe Carlsen and Erwin Kho describe it as a purposeful attempt to communicate information without stating it out loud.
The interview claims that each component has been painstakingly designed to encourage players to grasp concepts. Instead of using text to advise the player what to do, animations such as the character taking tentative steps close to a leap point or a key object glowing subtly serve as visual signals.
“Lots of innovation is one of them, but it is also sort of the game design angle I’m coming from, but a game like this is to try and sort of teach things without saying anything. But I’m instructing you very well; you just don’t know, of course!”
Jeppe Carlsen
Cocoon’s soundtrack functions as more than simply background noise; it becomes a useful companion that leads you through the game. The music changes as you get closer to solving a challenge, and the game itself gives you a pat on the back when you’re headed in the right direction with a unique little song. It is an engaging method of instruction that other puzzle games ought to adopt.
But Cocoon isn’t simply lovely songwriting. The stages are made to function as one big clue, guiding you through the game’s rules step-by-step without having to explicitly state them. The developer stated that the user would eventually discover that these two locations—a bright doorway here and a bouncing platform there—work together like puzzle pieces.
Of course, there’s always a danger that you may become disoriented and stuck. Most games aim to prevent it at all costs, yet one of Cocoon’s challenges is doing just that. It’s even better when you finally figure it out. The makers claim that it feels as though you are the only one who can comprehend the secret language that the game speaks to you in.
