One More Go

Animal Well looks like a forgotten 80s arcade game, a cabinet collecting dust in a forgotten garage, or maybe a cabinet that has been reclaimed by nature, infected by its surrounding wildlife. Its wire frame screens are drawn in vibrant neon colours filled with overgrowth, low hanging vines swaying in the wind and grass rustling underfoot. The sense of reclamation stretches to the sound design, with the player character’s arcadey sound effects feeling out of step with the natural soundscape of the world. The sound of howling winds, chirping birds, and flowing water all help bring Animal Well to life.

And then there are the animals, so many animals. Throughout its hidden depths you’ll encounter kangaroos, chameleons, ostriches, and many, many more, each with their own challenges to overcome, and each animated in shifting scan lines, calling to the player with their own warped chirps and bleats, like a VHS viewed too many times. It all builds a sense of unease, that there is something strange happening and some larger mystery to solve.

At its surface Animal Well is a puzzle platformer with a quirky retro presentation. Tightly tuned controls add weight, and the accompanying tip taps and rustles add a tactility that makes exploring joyous. Overcoming Animal Well‘s platforming challenges and defeating its puzzle bosses would make for an excellent game all on its own. But, as its name suggests, there is a depth to Animal Well that stretches well beyond what you might expect.

One layer down leads us to the character’s arsenal of equipment. As you bounce around the world discovering and unlocking chests, you build up a collection of items that grant game changing abilities. Reinforcing the idea of a forgotten artefact, these found items are all popular toys from a bygone era. Spinning tops, firecrackers, and bubble wands all have a meaningful impact on exploration, but their uses are refreshingly opaque. Players are left to master their tools at their own pace, discovering how and when to use them. Sometimes, hours later a new use will present itself, giving you a reason to retread the world and solve the puzzles you thought were impossible, sometimes leading to whole new areas to pick clean.

Soon, hidden clues and messages disguised throughout the games many screens, will reveal deeper layers to Animal Well. While collectibles and secrets amassed reveal yet more collectibles and secrets to search out, dragging you deeper still. My phone’s camera album is filled with clues and codes, some solved, and some that still give me pause for thought even after rolling credits and seemingly having collected all of the collectibles. Animal Well has clawed so deeply into my psyche that for all I know, some of these puzzles may not have answers, or may not even be puzzles at all.

Animal Well is a game so shrouded in mystery it’s impossible to know how deep it runs, or how to reach its absolute bottom. Regardless, each time you click a few pieces of the jigsaw together, a little more comes into view, stretching outward in a fractal. A promise that there are more jigsaw pieces to click together, as well as the coinciding bolts of dopamine. There is no doubt that this is an essential game, easily matching, and for my money exceeding other greats in the genre such as Fez and Tunic. If anything you’ve read has you at all intrigued, then you should jump in without further context, leaving yourself as much to unearth as possible.