Cocoon is a game about puzzles inside puzzles; wait a minute, did I say puzzle? I meant orb! You carry orbs on your back, use them as switches, and finally enter them.
Figuring out the next unusual use for Cocoon orbs is itself the biggest puzzle of this game. But how did the creators of the cocoon do all this with just one button?
ONE BUTTON?
The truth is that a lot of what this insect in the cocoon does … has been transferred from the buttons to the game world. The orbs themselves, the world inside each orb, the objects inside this world and the temporal and spatial sequence with these objects.
This one button gives you the authority to press, remove, drag and, in general, activate mechanics, although they are activated with a button, but their outcome is highly variable.
Therefore, Geometric Interactive has tried not to add complex controls to complex concepts. This studio has made every effort to present complex concepts in a simple way. So, we have to ask the right question: how the intelligent design of the puzzles makes the presence of any other button redundant and unnecessary?
It won’t take long to get your first response. The game focuses on one main concept, the orb, and all other concepts branch off from it. In this regard, puzzles occur in the game’s world or in other words, inside orbs. What a rhyme! Some of these puzzles will be connected with other worlds and even each Orb itself will play a role in those worlds.
But before this connection is made, the player sees objects that are necessary to solve the puzzles. Switches are one of them. Or spider-like creatures that follow you until they reach their destination. There are also pyramid-like creatures that do almost the same thing. We must not forget the jump pads which Well, they obviously won’t follow you, right?
Anyway, these things combine to create some of the most polished puzzles of the past few years. to use them, you only need to press or hold a main button other than the direction buttons.
CONTROL
When there are no extra buttons, temporal and spatial sequences play a role in the presentation of puzzles. So, first, Cocoon isn’t afraid to close down wrong paths. with semi-closed paths, you realize to use your creativity; A kind of creativity whose quantity and quality are known to player and which brings strange solutions out of your mind so that you can really benefit from what the game itself teaches you.
Also, in many areas of the game, you enter a whole new stage by combining Orbs. The previous stages are closed and this means that there are no puzzles left in the previous areas to solve. Meanwhile, the game’s insistence on staying in one area and closing the previous paths reminds you that different concepts and puzzles will be presented in this particular section, so you free your mind space every time and get ready to learn.
On the other scenarios, in certain areas, cocoon automatically blocks some paths so that you don’t enter and think about them and the possible solutions that could exist because of them. At the same time as these routes are closed, sometimes new routes are opened.
Second, Cocoon isn’t afraid to limit time cycles. You will find that counting time cycles is quite simple and memorable. Time intervals don’t change, and even better, the background music is almost silent in environments where there are no puzzles.
Of course, the synthetic sound design of the game is such that it accompanies you during the game, without you knowing about it. It is not a coincidence that you hear special beats at certain moments. The studio has spent a lot of time on the implementation of this system and has developed a special plugin to control the background sounds.
After facing each boss fight, the rhythm of the game also decreases. Therefore, you will gradually and step by step become familiar with new paths, concepts and possible solutions. This is the part where your mental preparation to learn new mechanics goes through the process of mastering the mechanics.
Unlike many puzzle games, cocoon does not try to use the player’s confusion as an element to increase the number of possible solutions to puzzles. The cocoon guides you to a mindset where only the imagination of relatively correct solutions can exist.
With all this complexity and nested worlds, Softlock doesn’t happen. No blocked path blocks your way to the right solution or solutions that seem to be correct. Also, every wrong solution teaches you a lesson, but you don’t have to start over! If there was a start, like fighting the boss fights, still we see trial and error method, so there is no death or Game Over at the end, only learning!
FEEDBACK GUIDE
The behavior of the objects is also designed to prevent the occurrence of those mistakes that the player will not learn anything by making them, so there will be no need for those mistakes. For example, the creatures that follow you, when they reach the required part, they will be fixed in their place. So, you don’t misjudge possible solutions based on their existence.
Pyramidal creatures have a similar behavior. These creatures show the direction of the path they can open with visual and audio feedback. Even if this path is in another orb, that orb will be highlighted by them. If there is a danger of being trapped, player see a visual and audio warning.
These feedbacks are deep within the game correction system. As difficult puzzles are solved, you will hear audio feedback. We talked about synthetic sound design a little while ago. This feedback first lets you know that the puzzle is solved, no need to look for a solution, and also, good for you! you’ve learned this mechanic!
Second, it evokes a sense of satisfaction that, by releasing dopamine, creates a greater desire to continue playing.
So, I think there’s a third number vantage: details like this reassure the player that they’re not completely alone. Cocoon tell them they are faced with an immersive game that presents many choices in front of them. These choices have minimal guidance that doesn’t strip them of their authority or the opportunity to think, instead allowing them to stray only as far as it’s not boring or misguided.
LEARNING
All that we have said so far, let us finally turn to the orbs themselves. While the player is consciously and unconsciously guided by the game towards a better experience and prevented from a boring experience, the game designer gets the opportunity to implement the complexities of working with different power of orbs.
The first layer is the level of the worlds themselves, in which you often solve small and simple puzzles. The next layer is the power or ability of each orb. The orange orb shows the invisible paths of the bridges. The green orb will hide or reveal certain elevators. The purple orb has the ability to teleport with similar entities, and finally the white orb has the ability to shoot particles.
deeper than other layers, the last layer is the layer where we see the use of these orbs as containers. Many of the big and original puzzles in this game ask the user to move an orb or object from one point to another by placing the orbs inside each other. The developers themselves describe carrying these orbs as “suit casing”.
Considering that the wrong use of orbs as containers can throw the player completely wrong, as a result, the developer doesn’t give you full control of this mechanic from the start. For the first time, you will encounter portals. In these portals, you don’t need to personally control the whole process of moving worlds and putting them together.
PASSING
When you gain full control of nesting orbs, each Orb will also have a thumbnail that shows its inner Orbs. The color themes and environmental design of the biomes also help to understand where you were before, what you left there or what you picked up. The power of each orb becomes important as you place each orb inside the other and use them as suitcase to carry. But how?
In fact, in most of the puzzles, due to the urgent need to use the power of each orb, you must use the container feature and nested between them. By the way, in this complexity and intersection of concepts for the player, other objects and mechanics like creatures that follow you, switches, jump pads, etc., which are on the surface of each orb, come into play.
The sequence of throwing small and large puzzles from the game to the player continues until the player forgets which small puzzle is the solution to the bigger puzzle and which big puzzle will end up solving the even bigger puzzle!
There is a very good learning curve built into the game. You see, you learn a bit, you gain a little control and you become a master. then it’s time for a new concept.
Vastness of Everything
Using visual and auditory feedback, guidance, and design decisions, mini-puzzles make you believe that even though you don’t know what’s going on in these nested worlds, you know exactly how to solve the current puzzle, the next one, and the one after that.
Cocoon, like its name, now is considered a cocoon in puzzle games. As you open each cocoon, many puzzles will be in front of you. But strangely enough, keeping the other cocoons closed creates better puzzles! As a result, the cocoon action button appears to do one task, but in fact, it makes many tasks possible. These tasks save the user from pressing multiple buttons as long as the developers’ decisions work out correctly.
Finally, when enough puzzles are solved, the game’s biggest puzzle, the overall concept of the cocoon, becomes the ultimate question. Maybe we can reach the same conclusion that Jeppe Carlsen, the designer of this complicated game, wants the player to feel: “of being just a dot in the vastness of everything.”
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