ANIMAL WELL

Fantastic! It reminds me of Fez and Outer WIlds in that the game is constantly teaching you new mechanics and ways to interact with the game world and its puzzles, all smartly designed to keep you on your toes with your eyes peeled to find all manner of cool lore, atmosphere, and of course, more interesting puzzles. I "beat" the game, but feel like I've only scratched the surface at the same time.

I understand why so many people love this game, it just didn't do it for me.
Moody, atmospheric metroidvania puzzler, but without combat.
I just found the checkpointing and pickiness around jumping to be too frustrating that I couldn't lose myself in the game, and so I didn't want to spend more time in it unravelling the extra layers of hidden puzzles and challenges. Missing a jump in some areas means you start again 2 or 3 screens back, redoing your travel each time. I dunno, I must not be godgamer enough.

This game is indeed a well.

Presented with a weird, misterious art, Animal well paints itself as a classic metroidvania, with a big map segmented by zones that you can only access by using specific items, which quickly unveils as something else by obscuring big parts of the game under a layer of alluring complexity and challenging misteries.

The good part of this presentation is that you can decide how deep you sink into the well. There is a "basic" path that will take you to an ending, and if you have enough, that's ok. But also, the first ending is only the beginning and, for those who like to go neck deep into things, there is a lot to be discovered and experimented.

So yeah, put yourself into the well, and then see how deep you can go. You could easily find yourself obsessed by it and, if it's not the case, you have a more than nice metroidvania to play anyway

It's just an incredible game that has to be experienced firsthand. I highly recommend this to anyone who enjoys a good video game.

A hesitant recommendation. By all accounts, Animal Well accomplishes its goal and does it very well. I just don't feel that goal was clearly marketed. This has Metroidvania trappings, but it doesn't belong to that genre. This is a community-driven ARG, meaning it's full of puzzles that are intentionally cryptic and largely solved outside of the game. Many can't be solved by a single person due to large sets of randomized outputs. These have their audience, but they're not for me --- particularly not when the ARG elements are as tedious as in Animal Well. If these comments haven't discouraged you from playing the game, then you'll probably love it.

Animal Well is a strange game.

On a technical level, it's excellent. The spritework is charming, the music is atmospheric, and the controls are tight and responsive. As a near-solo project, it’s very impressive, and it definitely makes me interested in the dev’s future work. The game's mechanics, though simple, are profound in combination, and their discovery and application in the game's world are genuinely enjoyable-- but even with all those positives I'm not sure I can truly say I like it.

While streaming it to one of my friends, they commented that it feels more like a ‘toy’ than a game, per-se-- and upon reflection I can’t help but think it a cogent enough criticism to warrant mentioning here. Like the many tools which make up the inventory system, such as a spinning top, Frisbee, Yo-yo and bubble wand Animal Well seems to view play as a reward in itself. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but because the game has no real narrative to tie it together and gives minimal instruction at the best of times, the gameplay is all it has going for it. If it doesn’t grab you immediately, the laissez-faire approach to its design can make it wear out its welcome, even considering its short length.

Contrary to most Metroidvanias, a lot of upgrades (even those offering massive quality-of-life improvements) are entirely optional because you don’t need them to progress most of the time. There’s no incentive to hunt them down beyond the general desire to explore the map, and you still might miss them if your observation, note taking, and lateral-thinking skills aren’t up to snuff. Likewise, some tools are woefully underdeveloped and are used only a few times; of the 12 main' items, I would say that the bouncy rubber ball and UV lamp stand out as examples where a tighter focus and fewer items would've served the experience better.

True to its name, Animal Well has a lot of depth, but I would argue it verges on being too much. The player’s enjoyment can only last as long as their patience for puzzling through the game’s deliberate attempts to be obtuse does-- and there are secrets in spades, with varying degrees of reward. Towards the end of “Layer 2” (collecting all the eggs and getting the True Ending), scouring the world can start to feel like a bit of a slog, even with all the items and traversal methods unlocked-- nor would anyone operating in good faith fault you for getting frustrated and looking things up.

Animal Well feels like it was built with speedrunners, dataminers, and obsessive secret hunters in mind (sometimes at the expense of normal players), so it should be no surprise to anyone that that’s who it’s most attractive to. There is a palpable and almost perverse glee on display in the inclusion of puzzles that are basically impossible to solve through legitimate means, or that maybe one-in-a-thousand people will even perceive, a-la Forbidden Siren. Hello, barcode-in-the-grass . I personally don’t find this level of engagement to be fun or rewarding, but I do respect the hustle (on both the developer’s and community’s part) even if it’s not for me.

At a price-point of $25 (at time of writing), the game doesn’t really give that much bang-for-your-buck. It’s not hard to see ~100% of it in 15-20 hours, or to beat it even quicker if you just want to see the end, or have trouble picking up on the subtler mechanics. Furthermore, I don’t think there is much replay value because most of the fun is in the initial discovery, rather than the moment-to-moment gameplay.

Still, for all my grousing, I don’t dislike Animal Well, and I enjoyed my time with it enough to both 100% it and write a review. It ultimately has a lot of heart, and I can’t fault it for being what it is. There is a strong creative vision behind it, and I’d much rather games like this be made than the endless litany of subpar nostalgia-bait remakes or corporate slop that the games industry loves churning out for a quick buck Hello Silent Hill 2 Remake . Consider picking it up on sale, if you can.

A game i wish i could replay all over as if it was the first time, enjoyed every second of it. <3
Also made me realize how fucking dumb my singular braincell i had left was :3

It's an okay game. There's no option to rate this game as indifferent, but I'll choose positive review since the gripes I have with this game isn't a deal breaker.

The goods:
1. art style is gorgeous
2. a lot of puzzles to solve and finding the right item to complete the puzzles gives me the dopamine hit
3. I love when knowledge is the key to solving the puzzle; not just items.

The somewhat bad:
1. Not a fan of puzzles requiring work outside the game. there's a puzzle that literally requires you to collab with other players on the internet, while another puzzle requires you to apparently scan bar code
2. There's barely any story. I don't even know why I'm in a well full of animals other than the title said so
3. a lot of backtracking. During your first playthrough, you'll likely not notice the details in the background and found out they're puzzles/clues later on in the game. If you didn't notice those details, good luck finding your way back to them

I believe half of the game is basically the endgame where all the backtracking problem exists (and puzzle you'll most likely never discover or solve on your own), So if you're not interested in that but still wanna try out the game, get it on sale or better yet deep sale

buen juego, si bien es el mejor metroidvania del año tambien es apto decir que tiene mucho backtracking, ademas que muchas veces vas a tener que buscar en youtube el como hacer ciertos puzzles(opcionales), tiene de lejos las mejores mecanicas q probe en uno de estos juegos.

recomendadisimo

Disclaimer: I expected a bit of a different experience.

Starts out smooth, devolves into blind retrecking.
Puzzle platformer metroidvania with lots of secrets, cool mechanics, cool styalistic choices. There were perhaps 2 gameplay moments I really liked. I mostly didn't care about the world building and lore. I mean yeah it's nice when the mysteries come together but it's mostly unsatisfying.

First off, I'm not going to explain what Animal Well or it's “layers” are, because 99% of reviews already do that. I'm going to focus on the reason I picked this game up, in hopes that if someone else is looking to do so for the same reasons as me, they skip this waste of time.

I got this game because a lot of comments put it in the same vein of titles like Outer Wilds, Tunic, and Rain World; which are all games I absolutely adore. All great games that manage to meld gameplay, world building, and lore into that hard to describe feeling of completeness that leaves you feeling fulfilled for having played it. If you've played one of them, you know what I mean. So I had high hopes for Animal Well to be similar.

Especially because Animal Well is a “once in a generation game” Reddit told me. It was getting 9 and 10's across the board from everyone. Raving reviews. I was told to “go in blind” and its an experience “you can only have once”; so I figured it had to be something amazing . Well after getting through both layers 1 and 2 on my own, getting fed up and looking up layers 3 and 4, I can say this game doesn't even come close to living up to the hype it had. In fact, I kind of hate it.

Animal Well is a competent Metroidvania game, but my main issue with it is the lore surrounding the game world, in that there is absolutely none. I initially thought, as is normal with these kinds of games, and especially with it being compared to the likes of Outer Wilds and such, that there would be some kind of lore to uncover within the well. Maybe not a full on narrative story, but lore clues that lead to a deeper understanding of the world and our place in it; so we can piece together the rest from there. You'd expect to eventually uncover at least some basics. Like what the Well is, why is it filled with animals, and who is our little blob guy. Uncovering things like that is the typical drive behind puzzle games like this. So imagine my disappointment to realize that none of that is in this game, not even a tiny bit. After researching a bit, turns out the dev didn't have any sort of narrative or lore in mind at all. So the only lore anyone can come up with is come up with 100% made up headcannon.

I put up with this slog of pixel hunting collect-a-thons because I was assured that “the post game will blow my mind”, and I was searching for that one moment that ties everything together; thinking layer 2 would be it. If that's what you want out of this game, don't. The moment never comes. There's no Outer Wilds style revelation, no Rain World giving your first pearl to moon, no Tunic book, nothing of the sort. Just disappointment.

Every “layer” deeper you go just makes less and less sense until the game breaks the 4th wall entirely. This game might as well be an empty shell for puzzles to exist in, where your only reward for solving puzzles are more obtuse puzzles.

It's a shame because the atmosphere and world are set up nicely. Animal Well has a very unique style going for it, with a world that is genuinely intriguing to discover. However if you're looking to uncover any sort of lore here, don't be fooled as I was. All the intrigue and wonder is all surface lev. Completely devoid of any meaning beyond the developer's whims to add some random scenery; with no thought into how it relates to the game world as a whole. There is nothing in the game that gives the lore any competent direction, no point to any of it, its all random garbage with no greater meaning.

I really don't know how else to explain my immense disappointment any further without giving specific examples, and others have also expressed this same thought, so take our word for it. If you're looking for even a crumb of reasoning or reward behind the puzzle solving, don't bother with this game.

As a side note, how on earth did this game get 9-10/10's from every review site? The base game (layer 1) is a 7/10 “solid but nothing amazing” at most. Layer 2 is just a pixel hunting collect-a-thon for the eggs that is standard post game “now go collect all the things for the 'true' ending” nonsense; without the satisfaction of a good ending. And layer 3 is both far too much for any reviewer to ever do, and literally impossible at the time due to needing community effort to solve a puzzle. So what gives?

Looking back at the reviews, its like people were amazed at the very basic routine in these games of having a “normal” ending, and “true” ending for 100% collecting the collectibles. Like collecting eggs was a mind blowing experience. It's kind of fishy, like they were grasping at straws for a reason to give it a high score.

Картошка-на-розовых-ножках исполняет сомнительные, но (порой) очень захватывающие трюки! Этакая наследница FEZ и VVVVVV, намного менее снисходительная к игроку (иногда — к сожалению). Могу от души её порекомендовать, ведь где ещё 33 мб могут вместить столько красивенных цветов и фетишных предметов из 90-х, используемых в столь загадочных целях?!

Clever puzzle platformer with a ton of charm that got me hooked. Fun and refreshing game mechanics.
Backtracking can get annoying when you get stuck, but the map gives you just enough hints to keep you going.
There's no fighting and the main puzzles never get super hard, but there are a few sections that can get frustrating.

Recommended for fans of Tunic, Braid, Ori & the Blind Forest.

Fun, if a little short. It felt fresh, not like a lot of other side scrollers because the tools were so interesting and unique. The art style is very charming, and i enjoyed finding the secret areas. Definitely worth playing,

If you have ever met someone who has played video games for a long time, you have probably experienced them describing how a game they played when they were young was "so amazing" during their time. Then you play that game only to realize how underwhelming it compares to everything else you've played. Animal Well is the opposite of this: a small, well-polished game that still amazes you despite its shortcomings.

The game is very short, taking only about 5-7 hours to beat and about 10-20 hours if you want to 100% the game. Furthermore, in terms of graphics, this game isn't groundbreaking. However, gameplaywise this game is perfect. The mechanics are fun and interesting, the enemies and obstacles are unique, and despite giving you no instructions I could understand everything this game was trying to communicate to me. Everything about the game felt new and fresh, combining familiar video game puzzles with its own unique and charming flair.

I don't often write reviews, and usually, when I do it's for a small joke. But honestly, you need to play this game. If you are thinking of getting it, don't look up anything about it. Don't even worry if you think your computer can't run this game it's so small a calculator could probably run Animal Well. Just trust me. It's that good.

Sights & Sounds

Through the screen door

• Usually, when playing a game built by a sole developer, you expect a corner or two to be cut. It's sort of the payoff: one aspect of the game suffers from lack of expertise (e.g. gameplay, artwork, stability, optimization, etc), but the dev doesn't have to compromise their vision for the concerns of others
  
• Well, except the publisher, in most cases
  
• I think that's why the pixel art feels all the more appealing in Animal Well. The "Lite Brite" visuals with their bright palettes against black backgrounds aren't unique in the platforming space, but some rooms sport incredibly impressive backgrounds. I would have accepted less eye candy from a single dev, but didn't have to
  
• I usually turn off CRT filters. I distinctly remember playing Yoshi's Island in the glow of 19" RCA and thinking about how much better life would be if it didn't always feel like I was playing games through a window screen
  
• And yet, this game actually looks worse without it. It almost feels naked. Shading doesn't look right, animations feel wrong, and the overall brighter look kinda kills the mood. Wound up leaving it on the whole time
  
• While not the best soundtrack I've heard all year, the music is serviceable. I'm fairly certain there's some additional puzzle clues in the OST that are flying right over my head due to my lack of musical training
  

Story & Vibes

No story, no problem

• Of all the things I appreciate about Animal Well, the choice not to shoehorn a clumsy narrative into the mystery is chief among them
  
• Don't get me wrong; I love a good narrative. Most of my favorite games are story-focused. But after delving into this title's multilayred mystery mille feuille, I don't really know that it would benefit
  
• Sure, some games like Outer Wilds manage to do both aspects well, with the story and secrets working hand-in-hand. But Animal Well is cut from a different cloth. That is to say, the mysteries and secrets are the entire point of the game
  
• You've heard enough people say "go into this game knowing nothing and just experience it for yourself", but after going into this game blind, I actually think that's terrible advice
  
• That doesn't mean I'm about to spoil everything; that would be rude. But here are three pieces of actual advice. 1) This game is best played in a group all tackling the game at the same time, and 2) There's more content after the credits than before it 3) After seeing the credits roll again, ask yourself how much fun you're actually having
  
• I played this solo (I was late to the party again), so I couldn't follow my own advice. And because of that, I think my experience was cheapened somewhat. Do your best to see the credits roll on your own abilities, but don't feel bad about cracking open a guide afterwards if you don't have a bunch of friends also delving into the game
  
• I wasn't only being pretentious with the pastry reference earlier. There are actually layers to this game. I got through the first 2, but after seeing the challenge of the remaining ones, I decided enough was enough
  
• I love the mysterious vibes and the fact that the world demands so much of your powers of observation and dedication to exploration. But if you don't know anyone who's playing it and don't want to make new friends who are, just know that your enjoyment of this game has a ceiling
  

Playability & Replayability

Search action, emphasis on searching

• If you somehow fail to stumble upon or willfully ignore all of Animal Well's secrets and hidden depths, you still have a competent metroidvania/search action title left over
  
• By that token, you sort of know what to expect from the moment-to-moment gameplay. You start off with no abilities and several inaccessible locations on a large map, then chip away at it by progressively beating bosses and finding hidden locations to make yourself more powerful and mobile
  
• Mechanically, it's a fine enough platformer with tight controls and good jump physics, but the mobility options offered by the tools/abilities you locate are how you really make progress
  
• The bubble wand (especially after you upgrade it) and the disc were personal favorites. They're intuitive to use and can be combined early-game to help you get into some places you're not supposed to be yet
  
• Beyond items, you're also likely to stumble upon a chest here or there containing a unique egg. Finding enough of them can unlock some great abilities like fast travel that will make exploring much simpler
  
• Some of them are particularly devious to find. By the time the credits rolled the first time, I had found 40 of them on my own and certainly don't feel bad about using a guide to find the rest afterwards
  
• It's true that there's no combat in this game, but that doesn't mean that everything isn't out to kill you. Especially that dog. He's a jerk. Be clever, be evasive, and be quick to stay alive
  
• As far as replayability goes, I think I'm done with the game. I didn't see all of the secrets and mysteries, but that's mostly because some of the most interesting ones are best left to amateur cryptographers
  

Overall Impressions & Performance

Time, effort, and friends

• I always found calling a game "demanding" to be a little silly because you're always free to put it down and do literally anything else with your time. But I think this is a game that a lot of people would call demanding
  
• I think it's because it's not merely a difficult multilayered puzzle in a vacuum; this isn't Baba Is You. You play a game like that on your own time and your own pace and learn to twist the game's rules on itself to find new stuff. Animal Well asks more of you
  
• Beyond the second credits sequence, you'll need a sharp pair of eyes, a few clever friends (or at least some friendly strangers) who are playing concurrently, and a lot of time to devote to finding bunnies
  
• It's kind of a high barrier to entry for all but the biggest of fans. It's nice to know it's there for those who want it. For my own part, it makes me respect the game far more than I enjoy it
  
[*] Great game for a handheld format. Not like you're going to lose anything by playing it on a larger screen, but you won't gain much either. Perfect Steam Deck experience

Final Verdict

Very excellent. It's like a Metroid game with no traditional combat. Substituted with little puzzles. Amazing atmosphere,visuals, and sound design. Really enjoyed my time with it.

Simple but deep. Dare to enter the rabbit hole. I still can't phantom how well designed, and made this game is. It weights about 50MB and can be run by a potato. You can finish it in 3 to 4 hours or sunk your life trying to dechiper all its secrets manually. Definitely a masterclass in game design and development. 10/10

This game is the perfect example of "show don't tell". This game tries to tell you as little as possible and let you discover the mechanics you need. Each tool you are given throughout your play-through has many secret ways to utilize them and obtain secrets, but to find them you have to actually use them and figure it out. I expected this to lead to frustration or times where I'd have the tool to progress and just not know how to do it, but I never found this to happen. While there have been times where I passed areas with the key to unlock it, I would usually pass it without knowing and come back later when I'd have figured it out.

Animal Well is an exceptional game full of secrets to find, and the map is large enough for you to have plenty to do, whilst also being small enough where you can easily figure out where secrets may be via the map. Being just shy of 100%-ing the game, none of the secrets ever seemed impossible to find, but still challenged you multiple times to figure it out.

That being said, if you don't like finding secrets, this may not be for you. The game otherwise doesn't provide much of anything else. But in my opinion, that is completely fine. What it does well, it does REALLY well.

7/10

Fun game and really well made, but not a 10. It's really fun to explore and discover new areas, but having to revisit those locations over and over with your new items is more annoying than fun. Navigating the map is super tedious too. I know that's kind of the point of the game, (and I know about the warps) but it just gets boring after awhile. A lot of the puzzles are obscure as well with little to no pay off. I read a review comparing this to Celeste and Hollow Knight but that is so far from accurate. Those games are superior. I would give this a 9/10 if it were $10. $20 is a little high.

a really good metroidvania :D the artstyle is incredible for such a small game!!! very fun to explore, i hate platforming and this is the best ive felt unlocking & platforming with the different tools you collect... just awesome. 10/10

Amazing exploration and every item is layered in it's uses and interesting to use.

An unforgettable experience from start to finish, rarely do I feel locked at any point in a game, but this game along with Tunic made me feel that more than once while searching for all the secrets. The secrets from the deeper layer of the game are by far way too complex for me to ever discover without going insane so I made sure to follow a guide for those since I was really curious to see everything this gem had to offer.
Slowly but surely this genre, not even sure what to call it but I`m talking about knowledge based progression games, is starting to be one of my favorites thanks to games like Animal Well, Tunic, Inscryption, Fez and many more, hopefuly we'll see more and more titles in the genre releasing in the near future.
Along with Another Crab's Treasure and Nine Sols, this has to be at the top of the indie games industry in 2024. The greatest praise I can give to the game is making sure I will gift this game to some of my friends as well. :D
10/10 ( even tho the "floor is lava* bunny can burn in the hottest pits of hell)

Had a blast playing Animal Well, loved how the game encourages creative solutions, a lot of them which I thought would never work but they did, very satisfying.

Was really looking forward to this given all the hype, but I was just really underwhelmed and disappointed. I had really high hopes given how much I love metroidvanias and exploration games.

The controls feel incredibly stiff, sluggish, and finicky. It just doesn't feel fun to traverse the world which is a massive part of any metroidvania, let alone one built around nearly pixel perfect jump puzzles.

Ended up refunding it.

Purest game experience.
There are a lot of game that make you feel like a teenager again, but its rare to have a game like that makes you feel like a child again

I want to like it, but I don't think it's actually fun. Relies too much on really tight jumps. Extra annoying ghost dog chasing mechanic. If it's this annoying 30mins in, it will get way worse. Can't really recommend it and I'm a guy who likes metroidvanias...
Love the graphics, performance, and game size though (30mb? absolutely amazing)

For a while into this game I didnt get it. But after just stumbling my way into a puzzle solution I became obsessed. This is as good as everyone says it is.

Animal Well is a unique twist on the classic Metroid formula, in which a player will meet obstacles they cannot immediately overcome and must return later to progress further into the game by uncovering more of the interconnected map. The twist is marrying the formula with clever puzzle platformer with outside-the-box tools like a frisbee or a bubble wand instead of relying on constant combat to pad the game out.

At no point does it attempt to tell you what to do or where to go and the lack of an overt narrative means there's really no explicit rhyme or reason for the player to be doing what they're doing, but the pacing and progression are coupled with fantastic level design keep the task compelling. In other words, you don't really know why you're doing anything in the game other than that you are compelled to do so because you decided that you would when you fired up the game. You can apply whatever logical story you conclude overtop of it, but that's just as valid as thinking there isn't one at all. It doesn't really need much of an explanation anyway as the game is focused on exploration and discovery. Simply go out and do stuff until you've done all of the stuff. Now reasonably, you might dismiss the game for this reason, but bear with me here, as Animal Well is entirely about the journey.

Going in blind and decidedly without any guides, I managed to reach the credits roll in about 8 or 9 hours even while trying to wedge the little player character into as many places as I could. While this is a decent run time for an indie, the journey itself was a lot of fun so I wasn't even a smidgen disappointed. The joy for me was that the game rewards your powers of observation rather than emphasizing your dexterity and there were certainly moments of elation at accidentally discovering something rather than being told outright how to accomplish it. I don't want to give any specific example as I feel it would ruin your own experience, but suffice to say that the backgrounds aren't just there to fill negative space and if you see something that you know is significant, but can't quite figure out what it does or how to use it, it helps to just try everything in your pocket and see if it reacts. The tools available to you aren't just whacky, but they're fascinating and are multifaceted and sometimes even when you think you've figured out what something in your inventory does, you discover a different way to use it and the game opens up even more. This is the design principle that keeps the game fresh and fun.

That said, it's not quite over when it's over. As with any game in this genre, once the credits finish rolling, you're put back in control to explore even more. Once again, you're not told what to do, but if you are keen on exploring even more, you'll quickly figure out what it is you're expected to accomplish.

Over the course of the game, players will invariably discover a handful of hidden eggs; they don't do anything specifically, but there are a ton of them and they're clearly significant. Why eggs? Why not? Without using a single hint, I was able to discover all, but ten of them on my own and several of them have clever solutions that are rewarding if you can figure them out. Doing so nearly doubled the game's length and of course there's a payoff, so it's worth your time. The ones I couldn't find without help sometimes made me smack my forehead for missing it, but most of them were fancier solutions than my smooth brain could muster up. That said, in retrospect, had I been paying better attention, I'd say only three truly would have eluded me even if I were playing my very best. That's not an admonishment, mind you - I love that I could suss out some of the trickiest stuff on my own, but the dev is far trickier than I could ever hope to be and a good handful of solutions were just impressive design even if I was too dumb for a few of them.

The fact that this game didn't focus on combat was a huge plus for me. I often find combat in this genre is either really engaging (rare) or it's just padding (common). That's not to imply that there is no danger or that the experience is cozy; there are bosses, there are ways to die, and there are certainly a couple of dexterity tests in there, too. Instead of just charging in while swinging your sword wildly, most challenges are puzzles and this applies to even the bosses you will inevitably encounter.

I loved Animal Well for taking the genre and twisting it into something new. Controls were responsive, the graphics and lighting were extremely well-produced and even the overall audio experience is fantastic. I am often inclined to nitpick the heck out of a game in these reviews even if I liked it, but I really have no input to make this game better. It really is just a stellar experience end-to-end and while it might have been nice to have easier fast travel, some of the secrets are so subtle that it's far better to just wander around the long way.

Animal Well may not be perfect, but it is about as close to it as you can get for this genre and that's no small feat. Bravo.

A 2D platformer puzzler metroidvania with good sound and visual design (at least without the CRT overlay). The core mechanic the game is based around, however, is figuring out the core mechanics. See also Tunic. Not really my cup of tea which isn't helped by the complete absence of any kind of meaningful plot.

If you enjoy this style of game then Animal Well will probably deliver. I do not, though, so it's a pass from me.

Dude. It’s been a few months since I’ve played this now, and let me tell you it had me ABSORBED you oughta call me spongebob.

I was strategically siphoning any free time I had into playing this game, just walking in circles with a literal pen and paper noting down details, drawing connections on the map like a conspiracy theorist, and the crazy part is IT ALWAYS LED TO SOMETHING. Play this game, and do it without a guide. The discovery is actually one of the most magical feelings I’ve had playing a game I thought peter pan was gonna come in and make me float away.

A game with an almost nostalgic feeling. No handholding, no telling you where to go first or how everything works. Explore and figure out all the little tricks yourself and you'll have an amazing time.

the most engaging and cute little game I've managed to almost beat. be forewarned, it's stupid hard and needs a LOT of patience, but the pride you get from figuring out a puzzle is worth it.

Simply 10/10. If you have doubts because of the price, listen to this review and just buy it.
Bonus: Works perfectly well on the steam deck.

Stellar. I did not expect to much going into this. "Another indie game people are playing and recommending," was the thought running through my mind UNTIL I started the game. The atmosphere that is established and the art design made me instantly want to explore more and see new areas. The Animal Well is vast with tons of puzzles around almost every corner. This is a puzzle game through and through, with a terrific post game experience also. If you're on the fence about buying it at full price, wait until a sale, either way you wont regret this buy! 9/10 needed more animals

Dying sends you way too far back, no shortcuts, and you're forced to redo most of the frustrating platforming/puzzles if you accidentally fall down or something. The puzzles are obvious and easy, any difficulty the game might have is achieved artificially through extremely puniching mechanics (accidentally press a wrong button, instead of losing one life, crows attack you until you lose all five, there's no way to escape it, and then you get send miles back and need to trek back to where you died).

Such a great game! Hollow Knight is harder in a different way. But this game ticks of so many boxes to make it a very enjoyable game to play. Played it on the StreamDeck, very happy with the gameplay.

Insane this game is only 33mbs, genuinely a really solid experience, pixel art is beautiful, controls are really tight, and exploring feels fantastic. If you like games such as Hollow Knight and Rain World, I cannot recommend this enough. Easily one of my favorite games I've played this year.

---{ Graphics }---
☐ You forget what reality is
☑ Beautiful
☐ Good
☐ Decent
☐ Bad
☐ Don‘t look too long at it
☐ MS-DOS

---{ Gameplay }---
☑ Very good
☐ Good
☐ It's just gameplay
☐ Mehh
☐ Watch paint dry instead
☐ Just don't

---{ Audio }---
☐ Eargasm
☑ Very good
☐ Good
☐ Not too bad
☐ Bad
☐ I'm now deaf

---{ Audience }---
☐ Kids
☑ Teens
☑ Adults
☐ Grandma

---{ PC Requirements }---
☑ Check if you can run paint
☐ Potato
☐ Decent
☐ Fast
☐ Rich boi
☐ Ask NASA if they have a spare computer

---{ Game Size }---
☑ Floppy Disk
☐ Old Fashioned
☐ Workable
☐ Big
☐ Will eat 10% of your 1TB hard drive
☐ You will want an entire hard drive to hold it
☐ You will need to invest in a black hole to hold all the data

---{ Difficulty }---
☐ Just press 'W'
☐ Easy
☑ Easy to learn / Hard to master
☐ Significant brain usage
☐ Difficult
☐ Dark Souls

---{ Grind }---
☐ Nothing to grind
☐ Only if u care about leaderboards/ranks
☐ Isn't necessary to progress
☑ Average grind level
☐ Too much grind
☐ You'll need a second life for grinding

---{ Story }---
☐ No Story
☑ Some lore
☐ Average
☐ Good
☐ Lovely
☐ It'll replace your life

---{ Game Time }---
☐ Long enough for a cup of coffee
☐ Short
☐ Average
☑ Long
☐ To infinity and beyond

---{ Price }---
☐ It's free!
☑ Worth the price
☐ If it's on sale
☐ If u have some spare money left
☐ Not recommended
☐ You could also just burn your money

---{ Bugs }---
☑ Never heard of
☐ Minor bugs
☐ Can get annoying
☐ ARK: Survival Evolved
☐ The game itself is a big terrarium for bugs

---{ ? / 10 }---
☐ 1
☐ 2
☐ 3
☐ 4
☐ 5
☐ 6
☐ 7
☐ 8
☐ 9
☑ 10

---{ Author }---
☑ https://vojtastruhar.github.io/steam-review-template

An excellent puzzle-platformer. The artstyle is unique, as it gives personality and atmosphere to the game. The music is good. Its difficulty feels fair and the game teaches you a bunch without saying anything. there are secrets upon secrets upon secrets! So if you LOVE hunting for them, ANIMAL WELL will definitely scratch that itch. One guy p much made this game, which is incredibly impressive as well! Bravo!

There's not much more I can say that hasn't been said before, but Animal Well is a master class in show-not-tell gameplay chock full of aha moments and more depth beyond your initial (of which there are many) credit screens than perhaps any other game. There are many stopping points at which players can choose to gracefully bow out of the game, but for those who enjoy increasingly obscure and esoteric mysteries, puzzles, and secrets Animal Well is the deepest I can recall. Some of the post-game puzzles start becoming SO mysterious you should not feel ashamed if you want to declare you've had your fill with Animal Well and move on or look up solutions on the internet, but I think that is a strength of the game and not a weakness; This well is, ironically, as deep as you want it to be. The innovative uses of the tools you find are always fun when you discover a new, unexpected use of something you've already been using for hours, and who knows what percentage of those secrets of the game have yet to be discovered.

The style, the sound design, the fact that the entire game is literally only 33MB, you can just go on and on about this game. Suffice it to say, I would recommend every single gamer, whether they are specific fans of metroidvanias or not, to at least try this game at some point. Yes, it is that good.

a beautifully crafted game ruined by its difficulty. I enjoyed the puzzles and the environments, the music established a really cool vibe, this game is a great metroidvania but HOLY FUCK this games bosses are TOUGH, while some people like to be tested and pushed to their limits, i do not. A difficulty option would have been nice, or something to ease the pain.

Animal Well invites you into a deep, labyrinthine world of exploration, where an ever-expanding toybox of tools helps you navigate its intricate secrets. There’s no combat; instead, the tools you find assist you in further exploration and help you avoid danger. While it may appear on the surface to be a simple puzzle-platformer, the deeper you delve into its mysteries, the more layers there are to uncover.

With its stunning pixel art, the game is a delight to explore. Even after completing the main story, Animal Well offers plenty to do, revealing its true depth. Its densely packed with secrets that remain consistently engaging...just when you think you’ve uncovered everything the game surprises you with yet another layer.

If you’re like me and craving a new FEZ-like experience, I highly recommend this game.

I bought Animal Well because of the high scores and reviews, but honestly, I can't really understand this hype. As someone who loves Metroidvania games, I had high expectations, but this one just didn’t work for me.

The art style didn’t appeal to me, and the lack of combat made it feel more like an average puzzle game. The level design felt weak, and exploration wasn’t enjoyable. Save points were too far, which was really frustrating for me.

I really wanted to enjoy this game, but it ended up being disappointing. Unfortunately, I’ve passed the two-week threshold for a refund, so I’m stuck with it. Unless you’re a big fan of slow-paced puzzle games or want to wander around wondering what to do next in a pixelized mess, I wouldn’t recommend it.

Very fun little game with cool gimmicks, the puzzles are really fun and smart and the exploration and curiosity are really rewarded. Would recommend if you like puzzle platformers and metroidvanias

Incredible game design for a metroidvania game with many creative items/ablities and interesting puzzles. Amazing atmosphere, sound design and world structure. A serious indie game of the year contender and one of the best metroidvanias I've played so far

You may think that Animal Well feels like a Metroidvania on the surface, but as you play, you will find out that it pushes the genre forward in a maniac way by using old techniques to deliver an experience that deep down is unlike anything you ever played.

One of the only games I have gathered all achievements for (save for one..) just out of spite. This game is absolutely fantastic. A genuine work of art. It will lull you to sleep and slap the **** out of you in one sitting. You have to use at least 73% of your brain power to even think you've finished it, and you haven't.

Animal well was such an experience it did take me a little while to get into it when i first sat down and played it i enjoyed it alot but then i put it down for awhile. when i picked it back up i fell absolutely in love with it. it is a stunning game in looks, sounds, and vibes. i find its world so charming and mysterious and as i completed the game and took a deep dive into its post game content (if you can even call it that) it only entranced me more. it's a game that doesn't take you by the hand and leaves everything up to you. it sorter feels like you are game testing an already finished game in the best possible way.

My advice to you: This game is very deep in its secrets most likely way more than you know or would even think. i suggest going as far as possible blind and even further than that. this will truly make the experience amazing. i do feel like i looked up some of the post game solutions too fast and i wish i had gone longer blind because i did not realize how much was rlly left. so give yourself the extra challenge and try to go a little longer before looking up solutions. Though it is totally understandable and advised to look up some solutions because this game can get pretty out there way beyond my capabilites of puzzle cracking. even so the solutions will still amaze and amuse when looked up.

Rating: 10/10
Worth it?: yes
Worth 100%?: yes
Must play?: yes

I normally do not have an issue with this, but Animal Well's visuals made me feel genuinely unwell after only 15 minutes of play. The colour palette is jarring and makes it difficult to read where platforms and terrain are. Not helped that when screen transitioning, you are moving into a very colourful screen into a pitch black room. Have requested a refund.