Welcome back to another month of TA Playlist! After several months of big, open-world, epic games like Starfield, Rise of the Tomb Raider, and Cyberpunk 2077, we decided we needed to back it off for a bit for the April 2024 TA Playlist. Great comes come in many different shapes and sizes, so we picked four shorter games that could be completed in an afternoon or a weekend, rather than taking up the whole month. Beating out three other one-word nominees (TOEM, INSIDE, and Firewatch) was the indie puzzle sensation, Cocoon!Cocoon is a top-down 3D puzzle adventure developed by a new studio called Geometric Interactive, formed by lead director Jeppe Carlsen following his departure from Playdead in 2016. The game was published by Annapurna Interactive in September of 2023.Many commenters in our forums were aware of Carlsen’s previous work at Playdead, including the highly-rated puzzle-platformers LIMBO and INSIDE, and were quick to point out Cocoon’s similarities and differences with those previous titles.RiBop said: The connection with the other brilliant games Limbo and Inside is definitely there, but those have more platform elements in there, while Cocoon is primarily focused on the puzzles. Although reviews are perhaps just a bit less good than those of its two predecessors, I think Cocoon is just a bit different but not any less brilliant.Catatonic Nali said:Played this last year and really loved it. Don’t worry too much about the “plot” – I’m sure there are some esoteric metaphors in there that can be unpacked, similar to Limbo and Inside, which were designed/directed by the same guy who directed this – it’s much more about solving spatial puzzles.As Catatonic Nali suggests, Cocoon’s plot does leave quite a bit to the interpretation of the player. The game opens with your character, a humanoid with large wings like a moth or beetle, hatching from a cocoon and heading out to explore the world… and that’s really about all the direction you get. You’ll come across switches to hit, and buttons to press, and it’s intuitively obvious to the player that you need to do these things in order to advance through the game, but there’s really no indication as to what the character’s motivation might be for doing any of these things.For some (full disclosure — myself included), the lack of a driving plot was a bit of a turn-off, although it varied from gamer to gamer whether this was a minor annoyance in an otherwise enjoyable experience or whether it completely ruined the game. This comment neatly sums up most of the negative criticisms we saw related to the lack of a compelling narrative:TymanTheLong said:Cocoon did not grab me at all. […] Now let me just say that I actually quite like games that let me explore and figure out the narrative. Gone Home, What Remains of Edith Finch, and The Park are all amazing examples of this. But here’s the thing: you actually have to dole out information at a reasonable pace. As it is Cocoon’s store page explained more about the world than 90 minutes of playing the actual game.I was conquering the puzzles, and the boss battle wasn’t hard. But success at the mechanics of a game doesn’t make me want to play the game unless I have a reason outside of the success itself. Cocoon offers many questions (where did this technology come from? It’s not clear that whatever I am built this stuff, why do I know how to use it? Why do I want to even do any of this? Etc.) but doesn’t bother with the answers and to me, that’s a failure.I don’t know how I’m supposed to rate a game that has potential but fails to live up to it. At the very least, Cocoon seemed polished, and that’s worth acknowledging. Overall, though, it’s a bit of a cipher, meaning not a puzzle but an empty nothing.For most of the people in our forums, though, the quality of the puzzles, the art design, and the overall feel of the game were more than enough to overcome any perceived shortcomings about the storyline (or lack thereof). And for some commenters in our forums, this lack of story wasn’t a bug but a feature:TheWrestlingGod said:A gorgeous game with really good gameplay. Not really much of a story to it and absolutely no dialogue, but I think that’s OK if you just like solving puzzles and exploring a new world.RiBoP said:I enjoyed the game a lot! The story is definitely a bit weird, but as a puzzler, it’s one of the best games out there. And I really like the concept of no back story, just being dropped at a location with at first limited options and then discovering the concept of the game just by exploring.If I remember correctly, there was one puzzle near the end for which I needed some help, but overall I liked to challenge myself a bit and the game does a good job in helping the player in solving the puzzles without giving away too much. The game is also very pleasing to the eye: the worlds all look very beautiful and different from each other, which ensures that you never tire from these locations. And of course, the switching between these worlds (or even better: the combining of worlds within worlds) is a rather unique addition and makes it a very special puzzle game.Courier#9013 said:This is one of the most relaxing games I’ve played in a long time. I actually fell asleep in my chair playing it last night (I’m getting to that age). The puzzles are JUST difficult enough to make you have to think but not too much to feel like a chore.Also, there are so many games that you have to save the universe or win an impossible war or save the princess. It’s nice to just be a bug-alien-Mothman-guy and walk around doing stuff with no obvious reason behind it.So, without a storyline to focus on, that basically just leaves two elements to grab the player’s attention – the aesthetics of the world and the quality of the puzzles. Most players agreed that Cocoon did a fantastic job with these aspects of the game, and these are the strengths that led to Cocoon’s critical acclaim and award nominations, including winning the Breakthrough Award at the 2023 Golden Joystick Awards, Best Debut Indie Game at the 2023 Game Awards, and Outstanding Achievement for an Independent Game at the 27th Annual D.I.C.E. Awards.ChewieOnIce said:Just completed it and overall really enjoyed it. Loved the aesthetics and puzzle design. The complete lack of HUD, descriptions and handholding make it a game of discovery, and trial and error. If you were really stuck or lost that could be frustrating but it’s mostly fairly intuitive. As with other good puzzle games, new mechanics are introduced and then built upon, and then combined in interesting and surprising ways. Overall a great little game.At the start, your character doesn’t have much in the way of abilities. You can move around the level, but there’s no running, no jumping, no fighting… just walking around and exploring. You start with basic puzzles involving switches and moving platforms, but the real game begins once you start finding Orbs. Each Orb grants special abilities that help you solve puzzles and bypass obstacles. The red Orb, for instance, activates light bridges that are otherwise invisible and unusable, while the green Orb allows you to toggle certain objects between solid and mist forms to access higher platforms. Each orb also acts as a key to open certain doors and activate mechanisms, as well as being a gateway to one of the game’s different worlds.FruitofPassion said:Awesome puzzle game! I went in knowing nothing about it, and when I saw the way you transition between these worlds you carry with you, I was instantly intrigued. Such a neat concept and made for some fun puzzle-solving. None of the puzzles felt too hard, but they still were balanced with providing challenge. Maybe the final door one is the only one I really struggled with.But yeah, super cool game and also when you get to walk through the little dimensional doors into the other worlds….one of the coolest transitions I’ve seen in gaming. I don’t even know how they did that from the technical side of it xDThe complexity gradually increases once you have to juggle multiple orbs, nesting some of the worlds inside others in order to take advantage of their special abilities or bypass obstacles. With each new mechanic mastered, the game grows in complexity to the point where you’re bringing orbs inside of other orbs, and sometimes even bringing orbs into themselves, in order to have access to all the tools you need to overcome the next obstacle.zenboi426#9375 said:I really didn’t want to follow a guide (apart from the collectibles) for this game as it looked interesting, and I wanted to take my time with the puzzles, but either I’m not very good at puzzle games or the difficulty just seemed to ramp up after the introduction of putting balls into balls into balls (or orbs if you’re more ‘sophisticated’ than I am hehe). I caved just after the halfway mark, I believe, and just rushed through the game to get all the achievements.Falensarano said:It did get a bit obscure when you had to go through portals and going into an orb in a world you are already in… I think it definitely helped me to play it all in one day. Once my brain was in ‘orb mode’ and you’ve worked out what does what, I think it would have been much harder to come back to it!Stevo6483 said:I really enjoyed this one. Was pretty chilled and most of the puzzles were easy enough to work out. They certainly got more interesting later in the game, and as others have mentioned, my brain started doing back flips, trying to wrap my head around the parts where you ended up being in the orb world while also having the same orb in your possession. That really required some outside-of-the-box (or orb) thinking.Puzzle games always have to walk a fine line between making the puzzles challenging enough so that the player doesn’t get bored but accessible enough so that they don’t give up in frustration. We had gamers fall just a little bit on both sides of that line this month, but overall, everyone seemed to think that the puzzles were well-balanced throughout most of the game.Osmo76 said:Really enjoyed the puzzles in this game. I think I was stuck on one of them for some time because even after solving I didn’t quite understand the logic. Somehow the teleporter that normally took you to the overworld just teleported you into another place in the same world. Or something. And a few of the last puzzles were a tiny bit tedious because they were easy to figure out, but the execution required going back and forth. Still a very enjoyable experience for me!themusicluvr13 said:This is a great puzzle game. From somebody who hates puzzle games, this is a great game. The puzzles are super accessible, and the achievement list is very reasonable. No replays needed either, which is a plus in my book!Catching ZZZs said:I finished this game last month and loved every moment of it. The puzzles were mostly easy enough to figure out pretty quickly, and some of the harder ones, which took longer to understand, really made me feel like I was super smart when I finally got it. I love games that give you that feeling. Very well designed, just a little too short maybe. I would have loved more!PerilousPWN said:I thought the game was a very worthwhile play. The art style was very unique and well done, and the puzzles were challenging but very rewarding to figure out once you get a grasp of how the portal mechanics worked. It seemed like it would have been a very confusing game to develop lolIn terms of art style, each world uses a distinct color palette to differentiate it from the others, and the structures and landscapes are unique to each world as well, although there’s a general theme of a blend of the organic and technological, with squishy tendrils and bulbs interfacing with hard mechanical platforms and constructs. It all combines to give the feel of an advanced alien civilization, which gives the impression that your character is working towards some kind of purpose, even if it’s not very clear what that purpose is.MightierToaster said:Hard to spoil a game that is largely left to the user’s interpretation. I had no idea what was going on from start to finish besides thinking I was a bug and needed to get past bigger bugs to become the enlightened bug…or something like that.Each level ends with a boss fight, which were more like timing-based puzzles unto themselves, rather than actual fighting. Generally, you’re given a way to initiate some sort of attack against the level guardian, and you have to figure out the right time and manner to use those abilities. Defeating the boss grants you access to the next Orb, which will help you move into the next world, or unlock new areas in previous worlds.PeriodicRx said:I found this game to be pretty fun, I enjoyed trying to figure out the clever puzzles. Most of the bosses were pretty unique, but it seemed like they phoned it in at the end with the silly “shoot these diamonds while they’re in motion” challenges. I would recommend this to folks who are fans of abstract puzzle games.Cylon 118 said:I loved every minute of this game. The visuals and the sound design are perfect and the puzzles never gave me to much trouble though I did have to think about a couple near the end for a while, with Doc Brown from back to the future telling me I’m not thinking 4th dimensionally enough! Only missed one of the moon ancestors but you can just load up bits after you are done to get whatever missed and there are plenty of chapter selects which is why I also had no problem going back to all the code input sections putting in the secret codes to get the hidden ending making the grand cosmic horror of the whole affair even greater and hopefully hinting at a sequel which I would very much like to happen!The ending of the game is as abstract as the rest, but without going too much into spoilers, it does seem like a fitting payoff for the journey you’ve been on. It’s grand and visually stunning, but like the rest of the game, it ends up leaving you with more questions than answers.FruitofPassion said:So….ending interpretations? I played through this debating myself if the story complete flag should be removed cuz wasn’t really seeing much of any story then all of a sudden bug guy metamorphosizes, and it’s 2001 Space Odyssey? WHAT? I, for one did not get it at all xDThis initiated a conversation between Falensarano, hanno67, and Allgorhythm about themes of cycles, transformation, and rebirth, that’s just a little too long and spoiler-y to reprint in this article. The full back-and-forth of the conversation can be found here, and I really think it’s one of the better conversations we’ve seen in recent months, so go check it out if you want some excellent analysis about the game’s ending (including the secret ending) and meanings.Spa1h said:Although I completed it yesterday I have no clue what I played exactly. The only thing i got from the ending is, that they want to make a second part ;). Thank you fellow playlisters for these lore interpretations, my little brain couldn’t comprehend.The puzzle design is great, the gameplay is smooth, and the boss fights were fun, except for the shooting stuff near the end. The game does a masterclass in guiding the player through the levels without any verbal explanation. Without the written guide and without being an achievement hunter, I would not have reached the end of the game and would probably have left for good in the middle of the game, when the orb-inception timed shooting puzzles occur.Still a recommendable piece of entertainment.HawkeyeBarry20 said:I read someone say I like the game but couldn’t describe what I did in the game and I couldn’t agree more. It almost makes me want to replay the beginning to see if it jogs my memory. Just puzzles, lots and lots of puzzles.I was really worried once we started putting orbs into orbs my head was gonna be in a guide the rest of the way but that wasn’t the case. Things could have gotten a lot more complex so I appreciate it was within my brain capability. I thought the level design was a 10/10. I knew my goal, just had to figure out how to get there. The only exception really being the end of the game. My helper bug took down the final barrier and that was the only time I thought where am I supposed to go and what am I supposed to do.Just some random thoughts, I didn’t like shooting the triangles portion, just seemed out of place with the rest of the game. I was glad there wasn’t a final boss. Just didn’t seem right in a game about exploration and solving puzzles it would end with a boss fight. Were the collectibles the moons orbiting the orbs at the very end of the game? Maybe not a lot of discussion for a game like this but being the game of the month caused me to move it to the top of my playlist and I definitely appreciate thatI don’t know, I thought there was lots of good discussion this month! Almost too many good comments to fit in this article. Thanks again to everyone who participated in this month’s forums for providing good, substantive opinions about this game!We had 2,262 gamers playing along with Cocoon during the month of April, with 1,603 tracked gamers starting it for the first time, and 701 completing it during the month. In total, 17,189 achievements were unlocked in the game during the month, for a total of 997,250 Gamerscore, and 1,426,941 TrueAchievement score – an overall ratio of 1.43 for the month.“Pathfinder” was the most-unlocked achievement during the month, with 1,511 unlocks, awarded after defeating the first boss in the game. It’s possible to get another achievement prior to that – “Off the Beaten Path”, for finding the first Moon Ancestor – but those Moon Ancestors are well-hidden, so it’s no surprise that many people didn’t catch the first one before getting to the first boss. Still, “Off the Beaten Path” was just barely behind “Pathfinder,” with 1,509 unlocks during the month.At the other end of the spectrum, “Loophole Maneuvers” – awarded for releasing the final Moon Ancestor at the 97% progress mark – was the least-unlocked achievement during the month, with 762 gamers earning that achievement during April. ShailRaVeN said:Started and finished Cocoon this month. Straight forward and short game, has interesting puzzles that could be solved if you take a deep breath and look around. In that deep breath moment you will get the solution :DAncestor Moons are marked by Black floating stone (things?) so easy enough to get those while playing, otherwise good old chapter select. All in all, my first TA playlist game done and an evening well enjoyed.Starting and completing the game within the month earned ShailRaVeN a spot on the April 2024 Shout-Out List, alongside a whopping 488 other tracked gamers. Special Shout-Out to EsQaMeE for speedrunning through this puzzle adventure in just 2 hours and 16 minutes on April 2!With May drawing to a close, it’s time to finish up our playthrough and discussion of this month’s featured game, Fallout 3. Either unlock an achievement in the game before midnight UTC on June 1, or drop by the Spoiler-Free and Spoiler Discussion Threads to discuss this classic RPG and its recent Amazon Prime adaptation. See you in June!
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