Animal Well review

Our VerdictA sleep-destroying puzzle metroidvania of baffling depth, Animal Well may go down in history as one of the genre’s best.

Our Verdict

A sleep-destroying puzzle metroidvania of baffling depth, Animal Well may go down in history as one of the genre’s best.

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Need to knowWhat is it?A free-roaming puzzle game with a bottomless well of secrets.Expect to pay:TBCDeveloper:Billy BassoPublisher:BigmodeReviewed on:RTX 3060 (laptop), Ryzen 5 5600H, 16GB RAMMultiplayer?NoSteam Deck:VerifiedLink:Official site

Need to know

What is it?A free-roaming puzzle game with a bottomless well of secrets.Expect to pay:TBCDeveloper:Billy BassoPublisher:BigmodeReviewed on:RTX 3060 (laptop), Ryzen 5 5600H, 16GB RAMMultiplayer?NoSteam Deck:VerifiedLink:Official site

There is no dialogue and direction is minimal. I spent about five hours roaming this world before I got a sense of what I was meant to do but I always felt like I was getting somewhere. First I found a bubble wand, which makes it easier for my blob to reach higher platforms. Then I found a frisbee for flicking out-of-reach switches and distracting curious dogs, though I later discovered that with careful timing I can ride this frisbee over dangerous chasms too. There’s also a slinky, a yoyo and—most mysteriously—a panpipe, which can play eight notes, though I only ever needed to honk it carelessly as a means of distraction or attraction. All these and more can be used for either traversal, puzzle solving or both, in ways ranging from obvious through to surprising. Best of all, I often wondered whether I was accidentally sequence-breaking this game.

Creature feature

For a long time Animal Well feels more forgiving compared to most of its indie contemporaries. There’s no conventional combat, meaning no repeated laborious attempts at bosses. When it comes to rare prickly encounters with oversize wildlife it’s usually wise to run, or else figure out what’s angering them and put a stop to that. The map sprawls in typical metroidvania fashion but once the objective sank in—itself of extremely vague purpose—I didn’t get as lost as I did in Hollow Knight (but more on this later).

Image1of3(Image credit: Bigmode)(Image credit: Bigmode)(Image credit: Bigmode)

Image1of3

(Image credit: Bigmode)(Image credit: Bigmode)(Image credit: Bigmode)

(Image credit: Bigmode)

Animal Well

(Image credit: Bigmode)

Animal Well

(Image credit: Bigmode)

Animal Well

But it is not the end. The credits rolling in Animal Well just marks the end of one game and the beginning of another. After moseying about the world for a few more hours post-credits, I was ready to close the game and start this review, until I found a certain-shaped object that could fit in a certain-shaped hole, which led me into a new region hiding a new tool that, no exaggeration, changed everything. In Elden Ring-style sleight of hand, the UI had suggested to me that there were no further tools to be discovered. But suddenly the map, which had grown stale for me, became riddled with new opportunities. Every previous deadend needed to be revisited. Animal Well morphed from a fun-verging-brilliant indie metroidvania into something that now keeps me awake at night. I’m not ready to move on, and I won’t, but I’m going to need a hivemind’s help to unpick its deepest secrets.

And that’s not to mention all the clear evidence of conundrums I haven’t really begun to scratch the surface of. What’s with those monkeys throwing peanuts at me in that one particular room? Why is there a giant clock at the foot of the well? What’s with the chrome-hued rotating donut? What are those directional hints that appear in certain hard-to-reach areas? My panpipe can play eight notes: which among this well’s inhabitants wants to hear a particular melody? (And are those directional hints melodies? If so, who wants to hear them?) I’ve found a giraffe statue, so where’s the giraffe? Nestled within a stylish and moody metroidvania is an even bigger metroidvania, kinda like a reverse matryoshka doll. For genre enthusiasts, this might make more sense: it starts as critical path Fez, and then morphs into La-Mulana.

Image1of3(Image credit: Bigmode)(Image credit: Bigmode)(Image credit: Bigmode)

Image1of3

(Image credit: Bigmode)(Image credit: Bigmode)(Image credit: Bigmode)

(Image credit: Bigmode)

Animal Well

(Image credit: Bigmode)

Animal Well

(Image credit: Bigmode)

Animal Well

Animal Well is a puzzle game designed to keep players busy forup to a decade. “Finishing" it may suffice for the majority of players, but it’ll likely remain an ongoing mystery for its (at this point theoretical) online community, just like Fez did over a decade ago. I can’t see why it won’t attract a healthy community of sleuths and spectators considering the intrigue of itspre-release ARGs, the fact that the publisher Bigmode is avideogamedunkey concern, and not insignificantly, that the game feels brilliant and more-ish in the hands.

The Verdict90Read our review policyAnimal WellA sleep-destroying puzzle metroidvania of baffling depth, Animal Well may go down in history as one of the genre’s best.

The Verdict

90Read our review policyAnimal WellA sleep-destroying puzzle metroidvania of baffling depth, Animal Well may go down in history as one of the genre’s best.

90Read our review policy

Animal WellA sleep-destroying puzzle metroidvania of baffling depth, Animal Well may go down in history as one of the genre’s best.

Animal Well

A sleep-destroying puzzle metroidvania of baffling depth, Animal Well may go down in history as one of the genre’s best.

More about animal wellAnimal Well developer Billy Basso hints at a new game that will ‘be in the same universe but may not be a direct sequel’Animal Well’s solo dev casually reveals that the breakout metroidvania left ‘at least twice as many rooms that are in the game’ on the cutting room floorLatestThe Last of Us season 2 trailer is a brief look at a story you should probably just play yourself in AprilSee more latest►

More about animal well

Animal Well developer Billy Basso hints at a new game that will ‘be in the same universe but may not be a direct sequel’Animal Well’s solo dev casually reveals that the breakout metroidvania left ‘at least twice as many rooms that are in the game’ on the cutting room floor

Cheshire Cat face glaring at camera in Animal Well

Animal Well developer Billy Basso hints at a new game that will ‘be in the same universe but may not be a direct sequel’

Animal Well

Animal Well’s solo dev casually reveals that the breakout metroidvania left ‘at least twice as many rooms that are in the game’ on the cutting room floor

LatestThe Last of Us season 2 trailer is a brief look at a story you should probably just play yourself in AprilSee more latest►

Latest

The Last of Us season 2 trailer is a brief look at a story you should probably just play yourself in April

the last of us season 2 trailer

The Last of Us season 2 trailer is a brief look at a story you should probably just play yourself in April

See more latest►

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Our Verdict#

Creature feature#

Our Verdict

Creature feature