This is a new indie gem and one of the best games of the year. We’re playing Animal Well, a mix of puzzle and metroidvania games.

Maybe this Animal well seems like something exceptional: a video game that, after nearly seven years of development, has revealed almost nothing about its offering, except that it’s about Challenging maze puzzle game and exploration with secrets and animalsand which, after its launch, ultimately triumphs, surprising and deceiving everyone who approaches it.

But this is actually not such a unique case: in the battery of titles that come up when talking about this game, there are titles that followed a very similar trajectory, for example: Tunic And Feswhich are strong sources of inspiration for Billy Bassosolo author Animal well. These video games are also mysterious, they also surprised and they also succeeded level of emotions in a society that resonates to this day.

Maze puzzle with animals and toys

And we don’t say this to distract attention. Animal wellproject that has just been published in PS5, PC and Nintendo Switch distributed by Big Mode, a small publishing house founded by Jason Gastrow (better known as video games for his work on YouTube) and his wife Leah Gastrow, but to show that he plays in the same league as these heavyweights and to highlight the coincidence that these three titles are linked in a way that goes beyond similarities between their design philosophies.

Because Animal well It takes a little time to show that this is a game. so smart and deep how it was Fes in his time and how Tunic reveals behind his first impression of ‘Zelda toy’. Here we are faced with metroidvania without a fight, without direct action, in which we control a tiny creature lost in a dark and mysterious world full of animals. As soon as it leaves the flower from which it is born, this creature must have time to do. We don’t know why, but there is grace in simply discovering the main purpose.

This is one of those games that leaves nothing clear. The idea is that we are going moving from screen to screen, solving puzzles each of them, a priori not seemingly connected, but weaving a network of meanings as we progress. It may take us a while to realize what seems to be the main goal (it happened to us), but it doesn’t really matter because The path to this discovery is interesting and complex.both on an intellectual level and on the more platform side (surprisingly demanding and very rewarding thanks to satisfying controls).

Metroidvania without a fight

As you progress you will find new toys. (literally) that offer new ways of interacting with the environment. This is how Animal Well reveals its purest metroidvania aspect: each tool reveals more than just mechanics, as there’s a click in our heads that encourages us to return to places we have already been try new objects on them and try to get to hidden paths.

Yes, most puzzles consist of the same thing: press buttons to open doors. This is something that is repeated throughout the game and we might not like it too much, although to be honest it didn’t bother us. The design of each of its screens (which they restart when you exit themalthough sometimes this rule is broken with better or worse results) puts everything in place so that you don’t realize – or care – that you’re spending almost most of your time looking for a way to press a yellow button that is somehow or other in ultimately opens the way to breast.

Everything is so well measured and the rhythm is so precise. than in the 15 hours it took us to get to the credits (this duration can vary greatly, and it is certainly possible to reach this point in just two or three hours) we didn’t feel a bit bored. Animal well He always manages to pique your curiosity, but above all, he knows how to do it when you’re about to get stuck: then a new object appears, a new strategy for using the ones you already have, or a secret you know. didn’t know it was possible and makes you rethink everything you’ve done.

Because every toy has a level of use that goes unnoticed at first. They are not limited to one mechanic, but almost systematically they can be used for almost anything you can imagine. What is already ingenious becomes ingenious when it is discovered that these alternative use that you thought you had made a discovery by “outsmarting the game” was in fact always meant; Sometimes the game predicts your movements to stop you from making certain decisions, but others reward you with a new secret and then he manages to catch you.

Exploring a magical (not so) living ecosystem

And if that wasn’t enough, it’s all framed in magical jet world not only is it waiting for us to find its secrets, but it is also inhabited by creatures whose behavior is more or less related to that of the animals they represent. When we talked about the game at launch, we couldn’t help but mention Rain World and although we later realized that it doesn’t reach that level of ecosystem simulation at all, we still think there’s something that both games have in common: perhaps feeling like a small creature in a hostile worldto become prey in a place surrounded by predators.

Especially at the beginning of the game, at least powers you have, in Animal well there is such a feeling detecting other people’s behavior: You have to pay attention to what each new animal you encounter does, whether it might be an ally or, as in most cases, an enemy that will take one of the four hearts you start with. What study of animal behavior It evaporates once you realize that these are just parts of the game that you can almost always use to solve puzzles, which perhaps robs the world of a naturalness it never had.

Where Rain World It was damp Animal well it’s magical. It’s easy to dismiss comparisons between the two and view Billy Basso’s performance as something more waterproof puzzles that make up a large maze to be discovered. Its audiovisual portion also plays an important role in this, from the mysterious aesthetic of bright colors contrasting with the always dark background, to the light musical thread that ultimately enhances the mystery of the whole. In addition, there is technical work this may go unnoticed in the sometimes cavalier umbrella term “pixel art‘: The reflections, lighting and special effects in the game are great, especially considering that it takes up only 145 MB on PS5 (and even more so on other platforms).

conclusions

When you get to the credits Animal well We are left with the feeling that we have been introduced to a unique video game that has captivated us. surprise after surprise. The design decisions he makes in your every move show that Billy Basso was very clear about his creative philosophy, and the end result shows that he knew how to transfer it from paper to screen. It’s a magical game that also allows for multiple levels of entry: it’s one of those where it’s easy to say that “the real game starts after the credits” because there’s many secrets and mysteries this will only be discovered over time and with the cooperation of the community, but it also offers a valuable and rewarding experience for those who don’t want to dive into that depth and are satisfied with the more obvious goals set by the game. Is easy work that can be recommended to all those people who liked it Fes And Tunictitles that take pride of place in puzzle games, in which we can now also put Animal well.

We carried out this analysis on PS5, downloading it from the PS Plus Extra catalog.