Animal Well launches May 9

Side-scrolling puzzle platformer / Metroidvania game Animal Well will launch for PlayStation 5, Switch, and PC via Steam on May 9 for $24.99 / £20.99 / €24.50, publisher BIGMODE and developer Shared Memory announced.

“I started development on Animal Well seven years ago and spent the majority of my evenings and weekends since that time working on it,” said solo developer Billy Basso in a statement. “I quit my day job about two years ago to finish the game and couldn’t be prouder of how the game turned out. This has been my passion for a long time, and I’m so excited to finally share it with the world.”

Here is an overview of the game, via its Steam page:

About

Explore a dense, interconnected labyrinth, and unravel its many secrets. Collect items to manipulate your environment in surprising and meaningful ways. Encounter creatures both beautiful and unsettling, as you attempt to survive what lurks in the dark. There is more than what you see.

Key Features

• Explore: Illuminate the Dark
  • Dense atmospheric puzzle box world with attention paid to every detail.
  • Light candles for safety and gradually fill out your map.
  • Nonlinear—explore and collect items in whatever order you choose.
  • Tons of secrets.
• Solve Puzzles: Observation is Rewarded
  • Enemies, environment, and items interact in surprising and systemic ways.
  • All items have multiple uses.
  • Learn how innocuous details can become meaningful.
  • The main game is just the beginning. Players will be discovering hidden puzzles for years.
• Survive: Tread Carefully
  • You must assess for yourself what is safe and dangerous.
  • Focus on tension and suspense rather than action.
  • You are disempowered, but can make clever use of your environment and items.

Watch a new trailer below.

Release Date Video