Glad that this was such a fun game. Really cool to see a game that is so lean and so fun. The fact that is designed by one guy... inspiring. And from a gameplay perspective that context helps you see what makes a game fun just from it simplest components.

The vibes are also great, a nice blend of spooky, beauty, and funny. And similar to the gameplay, the visuals are simple and yet have a solid foundation that with all the layers makes something really special. And also the dev out of pure love and respect made the game only 30 or so megabytes. For that reason alone I don't think I will ever uninstall it.

Overall, isn't it just refreshing to get a game that is a complete product and a piece of art?

a tranquil puzzle metroidvania filled with emergent gameplay. animal well was something i didnt expect to enjoy so much but the imsim like quality of its tools really brought up my enjoyment by a lot. being able to sequence break with just some intuitive thinking like "oh what if i hug the wall as i fall and use the yoyo to hit all the buttons?" was a continuous joy. while the backtracking is plentiful and can begin to get tiresome, the plethora of secrets hidden throughout the world makes it not as bad as one may think. the world is sometimes desolate, for better or worse, which does hamper the backtracking for me. sometimes i also felt that certain tools were underused in some cases (firecrackers couldve been more than just a combat tool imo). aside from the rare level design mishaps and how tools were so close to being used to the fullest of their capabilities, the game's cool. cryptic in the best way, eerily beautiful, and filled with organic puzzle solutions, animal well succeeds in being a labyrinthine mind worm.

if you fuck with animal well, PLEASE go check out mosa lina. that game's emergent gameplay incarnate.

a common refrain among Games People is that gameplay is paramount to a title's success and should always be placed first at the expense of everything else. I'm not so shortsighted as to think there's no merit to this line of thinking, at least in that developers should understand their priorities for the health of their game. it's understandable why this idea has gotten so popular in opposition to the Grafiks Craze of the '10s, because that method of advertising and understanding games is actually even worse. however, Animal Well is not a game that puts gameplay first. it is blisteringly obvious when you play it that the bulk of the developers' passion went into the art, animation, and sound design, culminating in an incredibly memorable journey. I had a ton of fun with this one even if I was a little too stupid for all the puzzles. I certainly won't be 100%ing it, but the sights and sounds of the ending especially will stick in my mind for quite a while.

Its like a cross between rain world and fez but less cryptic more atmospheric. The CRT filter blend with the art style used here is very very nice to look at. Its good at being slightly unsettling when it needs to be. I will say though this game doesn't necessarily finish since the phases after getting the credits are just getting all the collectibles and then helping solve the very cryptic puzzles with other people online. I kind of expected a lot less from this experience but I really enjoyed my time with this, it doesn't overstay its welcome and its not to hard to find or figure out a large amount of secrets on your own. It somehow manages to purposefully create the feeling of mystique and mystery that I feel most games only manifest unintentionally.

Really clever Metroidvania with a unique style and really neat tools. Each area of the map is a joy to explore and figure out.

A warning though: I don't recommend delving into the post-game.
The game got really aimless for me at this point especially since it doesn't differentiate between puzzles that are needed for progression and puzzles that are really difficult secrets for the community to figure out. That said if you really enjoy some cryptic puzzles à la FEZ then go ahead, there's plenty to do.

egg.

this game is pretty great but i am not as hyper enthused with it as some people i know, because i'm just not really into the meta-puzzle angle of some of it? like, if ound most of the eggs on my own, and used a guide for the last ten or so, and i feel satisfied by that

i read up some stuff on the hidden bunnies, and one of them literally required solving a puzzle using pieces given out to 50 people who reach a certain point in the game or whatever and that ain't my speed, even if it's a solved puzzle, i'll let the people who like that sort of thign have fun with it!

this is not a negative so much as a personal preference, though... i just prefer more contained experiences for this kind of game!

actual negative might be that there was no... story? that's not quite the problem, because i don't really care if it has a story or not, but it felt like nothing was driving me forward, besides my own desire to do the thing, and so when i reached the end, it was just.. the end, and it felt kinda hollow as a result?

still, that aside, exploring this tiny world and finding all the bits and bobs was a joy, and it is a good game!

A game I don't think will hit the same for everyone but one that hits some people's spot HARD, the world of animal well is one of small discoveries and slow exploration in which the youre given the freedom to just tinker and just play with the items and abilities you have and the game just sometimes rewards you for that its so satisfying and cool man

the items have progressing depth that slowly reveal the layers of heaven senses that await through the level design, play this game if you think you will like it cause you will

A stunning puzzle platformer that combines tight mechanical design with a vividly dream-like pixel aesthetic. This game is the best of what's come before blended with plenty of fresh innovations that make it a joy to explore.

Plenty of games have done the pixelated look but this game truly stands out. The combination of dynamic lighting, the way every little shrub, vine, and light moves as you pass it, and the vividly dream-like wispy lighting and particles leave Animal Well feeling like nothing I've played before. The result is something equal parts haunting and surreal, enriched further by the beautiful soundtrack, foley, and sound effects. The audio combines to create a blend of commodore chirps with more realistic sounds that heighten the already rich atmosphere.

Gameplay consists primarily of tightly designed classic platforming throughout the vast labyrinthine world which plays host to a variety of feature rich biomes. Each screen feels thoughtfully crafted and given the immense depth of the world it's no surprise. As you explore you'll begin solving puzzles to access new tools, as is tradition of the metroidvania; But Animal Well is uniquely original in this regard making innovative use of very simple and well implemented gear with stacking mechanics galore. Of course getting the tools is only the first step down a long and winding road of gameplay I won't spoil here - but deep as the rabbit hole goes there are plenty of stopping off points for those who know their limits.

If you enjoy a good puzzle platformer then Animal Well is worth the play for the excellent design and ethereal aesthetic of its world. There's an amazing game just on the surface that anyone can see through to the end. For those who want to scratch deeper though (or just follow guides to explore all the content) the game will treat you generously. AW epitomises the heart and soul of indie gaming - hand crafted, generous in content, lovingly made, and charming from start to finish. An incredible start for Billy Basso and Bigmode.

This is a really good first attempt at a commercial video game for sure, but ultimately I don't love it quite as much as I'd like.

The idea of an oblique and subtly creepy metroidvania game really appeals to me, and I do think the game has some very memorable moments and imagery in it (I love the fuckass Kangaroo even though he made me shit my pants in fear every time he showed up), but ultimately it fails to really come together as a compelling whole. The world doesn't feel quite as alive as I think it intends to, and it mostly just ends up feeling like a vessel for cool little things to go 'oh thats neat!' at or for big ARG puzzles that I frankly do not care about beyond seeing the solutions on my twitter feed before going 'oh thats neat!'. It just feels empty, and once the 'vibe' wears off you aren't left with much to dig in to.

Same goes for the general puzzle solving, the items are all very cool and the puzzles are generally fun to work out but very few really stick with me the same way something like the puzzles in Portal do. Plus there is a LOT of backtracking through sections of the map that are objectively just dead air after you've finished with the puzzle they contain.

After completing what is generally referred to as 'layer one' of the game, I think I've had my fill. I basically know what I'm supposed to do to complete 'layer two' of the game (it isn't hard to work out considering how many obvious loose ends the game leaves you with) but I can't say I give a shit about doing any of it. And as I said before, I don't really give a shit about big community ARG puzzles beyond watching from the sidelines. So for now, Animal Well just kinda sits as a neat start for both its main developer and its publisher. I'm excited to see what both of them do next, and that's not nothing!

Animal Well bietet vor allem tolle Puzzle in einer tollen Atmosphäre. Der "Haupt"-Playthrough ist sehr spaßig. Man kriegt innovative Items, die es einem erlauben sich auf neue Arten durch die Level zu bewegen. Dabei haben eigentlich alle Items mehrere Anwendungsmöglichkeiten. Manche davon sind sehr überraschend und es fühlt sich unglaublich gut an alle Möglichkeiten, die das Spiel bietet herauszufinden.

Viele Leute unterteilen das Spiel in 3 Phasen:
Phase 1: durchspielen
Phase 2: alle Eier finden
Phase 3: weitere Geheimnisse.

Ich habe jetzt schon oft gehört, dass Phase 1 im Prinzip für jeden machbar ist und die meisten Leute den größten Spaß in Phase 2 haben. Das kann ich nicht wirklich unterschreiben. Nach 11 Stunden und 42 Eiern ist Schluss für mich. Die Rätsel werden echt brutal und sind alleine nur unter großem Aufwand lösbar. Das ist schön für Leute, die Spaß an solchen Kopfnüssen haben. Mir aber ist das zu viel. Man muss nämlich Metroidvania-typisch für die richtig versteckten Eier ordentlich backtracken (Eine schlechte Eigenschaft, die in Phase 1 zum Glück noch nicht zu stark zum Vorschein kommt).

So lege ich nun das Spiel zur Seite und werde mir stattdessen in Videos angucken, welche unmöglichen Geheimnisse dieses Spiel noch birgt. Es ist schön, dass es solch knifflige Rätsel gibt, für mich sind sie allerdings nicht zugänglich genug um dieses Spiel als Meisterwerk abzustempeln. Doch selbst die ca 6 Stunden ,die man für Phase 1 benötigt bieten ein exzellentes Rätselspiel.

Quando eu fiquei sabendo que Dunkey ia publicar esse jogo eu fiquei muito feliz, eu acompanho o canal há 6 anos e ao longo do tempo passei a valorizar muito o selo de aprovação dele que sempre demonstrou verdadeiramente enxergar um jogo como arte e se importar com a qualidade e criatividade colocada. Por conta disso eu passei mais de um ano na expectativa pra esse jogo, afinal era o "jogo do dunkey".
Usei todo esse momento pra esse relato pessoal pois hoje após acompanhar um pouco a produção do jogo e finalmente jogá-lo eu percebo que resumir o jogo a isso era de certa forma até desrespeitoso. Mais do que o jogo publicado pelo meu youtuber favorito, Animal Well é o jogo do Billy Basso que sozinho fez cada música, cada sprite, cada puzzle e cada segredo e assim é um dos jogos mais únicos e cativantes dos últimos tempos. Raramente eu chego ao final de um metroidvania, não é muito meu estilo de jogo e eu geralmente acabo me cansando rápido dos mapas labirínticos e das centenas de salas e caminhos escondidos mas aqui a ideia de desistir nem passou pela minha cabeça, pela primeira vez no gênero eu me sinto realmente recompensado por explorar e principalmente por me perder, cada sala vale a pena entrar, seja pelos segredos, itens, colecionáveis, animais, puzzles ou até mesmo só por sua ambientação e eu imagino que isso se deva um pouco a tranquilidade do jogo, acima de tudo Animal Well é um jogo pra você deitar e relaxar jogando enquanto aproveita sua ambientação, músicas, efeitos sonoros, animações e quebra-cabeças (tanto que o jogo, apesar de ter ameaças ocasionalmente, não tem combate em momento algum).
Animal Well é muito único no cenário atual da industria e o sua abordagem descompromissada e relaxante que permite ao jogador experimentar, brincar e se divertir com o jogo no seu próprio ritmo é um elemento que está muito em falta no que é lançado e valorizado nos jogos atualmente. Desejo todo sucesso a BIGMODE e principalmente ao desenvolvedor para que mais pérolas assim sejam lançadas e espero que no futuro esse se torne um título influente pois aqui estão muitos dos valores que futuros jogos deveriam se inspirar.

It has a good hook with the general vibe and mystery surrounding what's going on, and I love the creativity with the items and generally exploring is pretty fun. But while getting to the first ending is pretty reasonable, a pretty significant amount of the game's content works toward a true ending and is designed to be obtuse puzzles for the sake of being obtuse/for an audience that loves that sort of thing, and there's never really any payoff plot-wise--there's no big reveal that's going to explain the world. It's just a place that exists for you to do things in. Which, I mean it's not like the dev is obligated to have a greater meaning, but I think there's a substantial amount of mystique/mystery in the environment that serves as a hook here, so it's disappointing to never really see it addressed.

I think if you're someone that just wants a short, cute Metroidvania to explore and beat, this is probably a good bet for you once it gets to the $10 range on a sale. And then you can just play it through to the first ending and have gotten what you wanted. But so much of the "meat" of the game really comes down to gameplay that, for the vast majority of the audience, is just going to amount to "searching up a guide online and then crossing off a checklist as they go to place and press the right button to find a thing they never would've found there on their own." That is, unless you're a Metroidvania fan that wants to do things like comb over every inch of a game repeatedly for potential secrets hidden anywhere (even in the background), or figure out the correct way to decipher an extremely long sequence and the correct way/place to utilize the deciphered code, in which case, hey, this is going to be a 5/5 for you easily. But if that's not you, while the game is still good for a Metroidvania-lover, this game will not live up to the hype it has.