A new puzzle title from Annapurna Interactive just dropped and already made waves in the gaming scene, and not just because a storied creator worked on the project. COCOON is a game from the mind of Jeppe Carlsen, whose biggest claim to fame was his work as the lead gameplay designer for Playdead, doing a lot of work on both the bleak nightmare of LIMBO, and its eerie spiritual successor Inside.

These games obviously set expectations pretty high, but don’t just expect more of the same. COCOON is a very different beast and it’s easy to tell from the moment you set eyes on it. For a start, you’ll be roaming around worlds in a top-down 3D perspective, but the differences don’t end there.

It’s Not LIMBO, It’s Not Inside, It’s A Whole New Thing

COCOON is a puzzle game that will make your brain itch, in a good way. It’s all about multiple worlds, worlds that exist within strange orbs. You take on the role of a little insectoid, owl-like person, who pops out of some kind of cocoon at the beginning of the game, into a seemingly desolate world.

There aren’t many people around, though you find plenty of evidence of civilization existing at one point or another, as the world is covered in alien structures and kind of unsettling biotechnical creations that interact in a way that’s a little too squishy for comfort.

Worlds Within Worlds

Soon you encounter orbs, which contain whole worlds inside them. You can hop into the orbs to visit the worlds, even carry another one in so you’ve got a world within a world. You can see how this quickly gets mind-bending, right?

COCOON is a kind of game that does not patronize you, and makes you feel very clever when you figure out what you need to do. It’s something that stretches your lateral thinking, while keeping you hooked on its atmosphere.

You can pick up COCOON now via PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, Nintendo Switch and PC via Steam, or if you’re an Xbox Gamepass user, you can play it now for free as part of your sub.

Interested in some more indie gems? Check out our news on the new retro-style RPG Islands Of The Caliph.