Cocoon is a phenomenal achievement of a game, not to mention a debut game. Geometric Interactive manages to execute an incredibly unique and complex concept nearly perfectly, easily making this one of if not my favorite puzzle games of all time. Perhaps the most impressive part is that there is not one singular word uttered or written at any point in the entire experience, making Cocoon a showcase example of "show, don't tell" that deserves to be studied by aspiring game designers. The developers managed to teach the player how to solve the variety of puzzles all through straightforward logic, and there was only one single puzzle that I needed extra help on. The logical difficulty of this game is balanced just so as to allow for a high level of satisfaction when solving each intricately crafted encounter, while still being entirely possible for I'd say the vast majority of players to play from beginning to end without any use of any kind of walkthrough, again, let me reiterate, without a single piece of text to be found.

The final third of this game genuinely left me speechless at points, something I cannot say I've experienced in this genre. The technical genius of Cocoon is backed all by a gorgeous art-style, animations, soundtrack, and general vibe that reminded me of Hyper Light Drifter, one of my favorite indie games of all time, and one that I think understands the importance and execution of a mesmerizing atmosphere as much as one can. The biological, somewhat Giger-inspired environments and creatures in Cocoon are also noteworthy, an at-times-gross but beautiful aesthetic that contributes to the game's minimal but intriguing storytelling. This game made me really happy, and I very much look forward to the developer's next project.

9/10