ReviewDisparity

Critics, outlets, and games against player sentiment

Animal Well - Critic vs User Scores | ReviewDisparity

Animal Well

Animal Well

Released: 5/9/2024

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. EXPLORE - ILLUMINATE THE DARK - Dense atmospheric puzzle box world with tons of secrets - Light candles for safety and gradually fill out your map - Nonlinear -- explore and collect items in whatever order you choose 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 SURVIVE - TREAD CAREFULLY - 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

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. EXPLORE - ILLUMINATE THE DARK - Dense atmospheric puzzle box world with tons of secrets - Light candles for safety and gradually fill out your map - Nonlinear -- explore and collect items in whatever order you choose 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 SURVIVE - TREAD CAREFULLY - 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

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. EXPLORE - ILLUMINATE THE DARK - Dense atmospheric puzzle box world with tons of secrets - Light candles for safety and gradually fill out your map - Nonlinear -- explore and collect items in whatever order you choose 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 SURVIVE - TREAD CAREFULLY - 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

Critics

90

Steam

96

Metacritic

80

Score Breakdown

89.6

Critic Average

45 reviews

96

Steam User Score

23,718 reviews

80

Metacritic User Score

704 reviews

Disparity Breakdown

Steam Disparity

-6.2

Metacritic Disparity

+9.6

Combined Disparity

+1.7

Average of both sources

Review Timing

1 early (2%)40 launch window (89%)4 late (9%)

Review summary

Updated May 8, 2026

Based on 45 scored critic reviews, critics give this game an average score of 89.6/100. Critics score this game 6.2 points lower than Steam users and 9.6 points higher than Metacritic users.