Summary
Animal Well, developed by solo artist Billy Basso and released under his Shared Memory studio banner, recently debuted to widespread acclaim. As the first title published in conjunction with Videogamedunkey’s newly formed Bigmode,Animal Wellhad all the momentum and hype that went along with being attached to the popular Youtuber leading up to release. Once fans got their hands on it, though,Animal Wellproved an instant success story, with many players praising it for delivering an absorbing experience and enamored by its creative level design, vibrant pixel art, and gameplay mechanics.
Animal Wellhas already been hailed as one of thebest indie Metriodvaniasin recent memory. Back in 2022, a similar situation occurred when Andrew Shouldice’sTunicvia Isometricorp Games launched to high reception. Both titles have much in common overall, from their use of cute (though often also dangerous) critters to being solo labor-of-love projects that were included at launch on services like Game Pass and PlayStation Plus. But beneath those surface resemblances, one of the most notable between the two is that they contain a trove of hidden/optional enigmas. These require players to diligently search every nook and cranny of their intricately interlinked worlds, in addition to deciphering cryptic clues and markings scattered throughout their respective environments.
Animal Well and Tunic’s Extensive Secrets are Strikingly and Charmingly Similar
Tunic’s Plethora of Hidden Puzzles and Riddles
Although it mixes other genre elements within itsZelda-inspired world, most prominentlySoulslike combatand imposing bosses, likeAnimal Well,Tunichas strong Metroidvania components built into its core design. On top of the normal process of opening up further areas and shortcuts through the main progression,Tunichas a number of sometimes obscurely concealed tasks for fans to discover and solve. Many of these are easily missed upon first glance, or cleverly hidden in plain sight, and may often necessitate some outside-the-box thinking and use of the game’s various tools and items to unearth and unravel, and include:
Each of these constitutes assembling a breadcrumb trail of clues, leading to precise locations fans must (re)visit and subsequent actions to perform at them before revealing their rewards. In many cases, this entails finding instructions for a series of elaborate button inputs and meticulously entering them at specific spots.
How Animal Well’s Secrets Perfectly Reflect Tunic’s
In the same vein asTunic,Animal Well’s multiple secrets are not initially obvious and also tucked away in hard-to-reach or inconspicuous places. A major difference inAnimal Wellcompared toTunic,however, is that it does not have any combat in the traditional sense, although its equipment can be used for defensive or distracting purposes. The amorphous blob-like character that players control starts off, in true genre fashion, with limited resources and the ability to traverse and explore the vast depths of the titular well. In short order, though, fans will find some seemingly ordinary objects that open up a world of possibilities, and using them can then endeavor to tackleAnimal Well’s hidden objectives, which are:
The bunnies and cats particularly most closely mirrorTunic, since players must find and perform similar sequences of controller inputs to complete some of them. One final layer present in both games is that completing certain ones is required to unlock their alternate endings. SeeingAnimal Well’s true endingis predicated upon fans committing to at the very least two of the above, specifically the eggs and certain bonus items needed to obtain them, and then going through a more difficult version of the final encounter, whileTunicagain had something similar.
Perhaps what most links them, though, is the manner in which they expect and trust the player to learn the ropes of the basics, and then increasingly experiment. Both titles showcase an excellent balance of slyly hidden content that isn’t too obtuse or unreasonable. The deft design on display in each lends them a great deal of replayability in this area, as well as satisfaction for players who do delve into and manage to solve them all.
Animal Well
WHERE TO PLAY
Hatch from your flower and spelunk through the beautiful and sometimes haunting world of Animal Well, a pixelated wonder rendered in intricate audio and visual detail. Encounter lively creatures small and large, helpful and ominous as you discover unconventional upgrades and unravel the well’s secrets. This is a truly unique experience that can make you laugh in fear, surprise, or delight.
