downwell is the best mobile game that should probably never be played on a mobile device. while the pick up and play nature of the game suits the mobile format quite nicely, the necessity for massive digital buttons on-screen could easily be a hinderance to play. the last thing you'd want would be for a run to fail due to not seeing what's down below or fumbling with the controls. that's not to say the game requires high dexterity, it only has 3 inputs after all, but in my experience it's better to use any controller you can get your hands on. in some ways, downwell feels even closer to an arcade game than a mobile game. the vertical screen space reminds me of overhead shoot-em-ups and in general the pace of the game is comparable to old arcade games that held about 30 minutes of content. for how tightly designed the game is, it's a marvel that the game is only $1, even on pc. while it may not be the most content rich game in the world, it's commendable for making the most out of the platform it's built for and managing to avoid any preconceived notions around the soulless void of the mobile market.