Animal Well Critic Reviews

Explore a bright vision of subterranean nature in this astonishingly rich Metroidvania.

So, it’s not about if you’ll play Animal Well, but when. I feel like it’s the perfect case study for how games should approach game design with player agency. You know the phrase, can’t put a square peg into a round hole? Well, this is the kind of game that wants you to at least try. I’ve never been so lost and yet so motivated at the same time. So confused, and yet, have several options and directions that I can take. So confident, only to be tested moments later. Animal Well is a masterpiece.

Animal Well is packed with more things to do and secrets to find than most other games.

Animal Well is a masterclass in puzzle design, with tight platforming, set in a beautiful, oftentimes perilous world. It's actually at its weakest when it's just a Metroidvania, and instead, its world and the genre serve as a way to deliver some of the most intricate, interconnected puzzles of any game I've ever played.

Animal Well is one of the most interesting indie games released so far in 2024. It starts from a known formula, as a metroidvania, but twists it into something different and takes us to a less explored terrain, full of mysteries and secrets. A special game, that you should play as soon as you can, specially if you love the genre.

Animal Well delivers a gorgeous art style paired with unique gameplay and an uncompromising vision.

Animal Well surprised me around every turn. What I expected to be yet another Metroidvania quickly became one of the most memorable gaming experiences I’ve had in recent years. Its a game that you’ll get out of it as much as you put in. If you want to see credits and be done, you’ll have a great time. However, if you want to see how deep the well truly goes, you’ll be embarking on a journey you may not have been prepared for. I assure you, the twists and turns and conundrums you will come across are well worth your time.

Animal Well is stubbornly traditional in keeping you in the dark as you embark on your adventure, but that's firmly to its credit as you unravel the mysteries sprinkled around its map. Puzzles involving animals, toys and mechanical devices demand creative thinking, while the sense that nothing is quite as it seems never lets up. This is an endlessly inventive Metroidvania with unfathomable depth.

The level design is excellent, the platforming controls perfectly after a short time to get a feel for it, and the moody art is far more detailed with fancy effects than its pixely nature shows in screenshots. The heart of the game is its mysteries, though, whether that be something as basic as scanning the map for breaks in the wall that indicate a missed secret passage, or realizing that one of the tools has a less-obvious ability that completely changes how useful it is. Even beating the game is just another step towards solving it, because the credit roll means a whole new set of more intricate puzzles has opened up. Animal Well is a stunner of a metroidvania, usually charming but frequently creepy, mysterious but by no means unapproachable, and filled from top to bottom with secrets that are always satisfying to uncover.

This is a game that's chock full of pleasant surprises, from the way its items forgo tradition in interesting ways to the visual design and sense of atmosphere generated by its bizarre, neon-soaked world. Animal Well might look antiquated and familiar at first glance, but this well is cavernous and unpredictable.

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

Animal Well is a Metroidvania that stands out in a crowded marketplace thanks to a lack of combat and some seriously creative power ups.

Animal Well is something quite remarkable. A Metroidvania title that still feels fresh in 2024 thanks to its puzzle-centric gameplay, incredible atmosphere and army of secrets to discover, this is a must-play for those who like a bit of mystery in their games. Players should just make sure to discover the secrets themselves.

Animal Well is a unique experience that will appeal both to lovers of platformers with metroidvania elements and to those who appreciate creative puzzles and mysterious atmospheres. The fascinating visual style, combined with a very solid game system that is easy to learn and difficult to master, make it an unmissable title for those looking for an original, fun and highly replayable journey.

Animal Well brings unique ideas to a genre that doesn’t often get them, with a firm grasp on how to design a world that constantly pushes you to explore deeper. All of its tools are things the genre hasn’t seen before, and that novelty makes you feel incredibly smart solving puzzles the likes of which you’ve never seen in any other game before.

The fascination of those lingering unknowns is part of why Basso's remarkable indie debut takes up residence in your brain when you're not playing it. But on a more fundamental level, it is simply a beautifully constructed, wonderfully characterful adventure, one that marks the blossoming of a major talent.

After a few hours it really starts to be felt that this game would benefit from more atmospheric music, for longer periods. Minus that, I have no complaints about this lovely indie gem.

Anyone who falls into this well won't want to leave it any time soon: Animal Well is a Metroidvania milestone.

Animal Well isn’t some grand adventure or sweeping artistic statement. It’s just a boatload of tiny interconnected puzzles, woven together to form an almost unimaginably intricate web.

Animal Well brought a new breath to the metroidvania genre with its clever puzzles, endless mysteries, great-looking pixel design and intriguing exploration structure. Animal Well will be in the 2020s what FEZ was in the 2010s.