This is one of the most creative games I've played in a long time. I'm not even that far into it and I am already very impressed by the puzzle/level/item design. The ability of the player to discover new uses for seemingly mundane items is some of the best i think i've ever seen in any game honestly. Art style and music are also awesome. But really, what makes this game truly amazing is that it was made by 1 guy that made it from scratch, engine and everything, all compressed into 40MB. Definitely worth a play. Great job to the developer, super impressed. Inspirational to aspiring indie devs.

Animal Well is a very good game that ate my entire weekend and a few pages of my notebook, but I'm hesitant to call it a masterpiece and I'm still trying to understand why.

The art is the biggest positive for sure. Basso's pixel art is extremely simple, and the layers of processing and effects combine to make it an extremely alluring thing to look at. He picked a very good color palette too. I read in an interview that Super Mario 2 and FEZ were both big inspirations, and aesthetically speaking that absolutely shows. The Mario 2 indoor mini golf course look is pleasant and cool, and it's neat to see a genius like Basso agree with that. A few of the animals are constructed with what I think are procedural animations as well, which makes them appear especially lifelike. I think more background elements like the Cranes, Sloths, Groundhogs, etc would've been really neat and probably would've helped me be less frustrated when backtracking.

It's an extremely competent Metroid-like with an underlying current of puzzle solving and deciphering, which is pretty much what I was expecting based on videos and trailers. The levels and world of Animal Well are also masterfully designed, and there are little to no "dead-ends" due to the fact that the areas of the Well are designed to be navigated in pretty much any order, which makes the game feel almost friction-less to play at times. You can just go.

The best parts of Animal Well are the parts where you're not backtracking. Exploring the Animal Well for the first time is magic, almost every screen contains some entity or interesting thing and it makes for a really interesting experience the first time through. The fifth and sixth times are exponentially less interesting though. FEZ had a really nice map, that would show you which screens contained mysteries still without telling you what the secret is or whether or not you had the knowledge to solve it, and I think something like that would've really helped this game. I was able to find a few bunnies and about 59 or so eggs before eventually giving up on scouring the entire map and looking up the locations (not the solutions) of the remaining eggs and like 3 of the bunnies. I just didn't care very much after a certain point. I care a lot more now after seeing some the bunny solutions though and I'm hoping to solve the rest of those on my own (except the one(?) I can't).

I also have to bring up the price. This is a product and I am a consumer, and while it isn't necessarily fair to appraise like this, I have to compare it to the prices of other things I could be buying with that money, cause I do that for everything I buy at a subconscious level (same as any other human). For 25 USD, I could buy FEZ and Hollow Knight at the same time, which are masterpieces that convinced both my head and my heart that they were such near-immediately. FEZ is a masterpiece, with puzzles that also require the player to do things in meatspace while also incorporating elements of archaeology, anthropology, and codebreaking. Hollow Knight is a sprawling, well realized, and tight Metroidvania filled with things to see and do, and I was convinced of it's greatness when I realized I initially beat the game without ever going to the Queen's Garden. The problem is that it's hard to recommend one good game over two great games when they both cost the same. I have a hunch that Basso isn't to blame for that though, and if you already own those two then just buy this one anyways.

In closing I think Animal Well is worth your time and maybe your money if you enjoy well-crafted puzzles, note-taking, and pretty colors. It's clear Basso worked hard on this, and it shows at every level. Basso is undoubtedly a talented mind, and he's clearly capable of a lot, I just don't think this game is a masterpiece the same way similar games are. I do think that every game would be better with a blacklight now though.

You may have seen multiple reviews stating this game has several layers. That’s true, and you’ll need to decide how far you want to go.

The first layer is simply completing the game without focusing much on collectibles, just to see the basic ending. It’s fun, and the visuals are a real treat for the eyes (I’d even say it’s one of the most beautiful pixel art styles ever). Playing with all the instruments feels amazing. For most people, this is where you should stop, admire the game, and move on to something else.

The second layer is finding all the eggs and witnessing the true ending. At this point, the game might start to irritate you. With each new instrument, you’ll be forced to backtrack — A LOT. You may revisit almost every area 2, 3, or even 5 times, just to see if your latest tool reveals new secrets or collectibles. If you really want to continue here, I recommend using a guide or map to minimize aimless backtracking.

The next layers are where I think you should stop unless you were absolutely thrilled by the previous two. This is where the hardest challenges lie, and they WILL take an enormous amount of your time, even with guides. The community collectively solved many of these puzzles, so the chances of figuring them out on your own are slim. If you’re still curious, I’d suggest watching some YouTube videos of the hardcore players who spent countless hours unlocking these "rewards."

TL;DR: The game is amazing, but you should suppress your inner completionist.