Creature in the Well

« Overall, I had an amazing time with Creature in the Well. It’s one of the best dungeon crawlers on the Switch and most certainly deserves to be the pioneer in a new genre that Flight School is calling the “Pinbrawler.” It’s a game I can easily see myself coming back to multiple times. »

« The Creature in the Well is a harsh mistress, but one that’s incredibly rewarding to those who push on. »

« Flight School Studio has created an exceptional world to explore in Creature in the Well. Its prodigious art direction is enticing, wooing players into a unique puzzle game that very much feels like a history lesson on the medium itself. It combines ideas and concepts found throughout gaming into a single, dynamic experience with a memorable antagonist eerily watching your every move. I absolutely love it, but I recognize there is room for improvement. With a bit more variety in design and a fine-tuned difficulty curve, it could have been one for the ages. »

« It’s tough at times, there no denying that, but figuring out how to use each sector’s layout to your advantage will soon make you appreciate the subtly implemented progression system and impeccably designed rooms, adding to the pinball hack and slash gameplay that feels fantastic in all its forms from the moment you step foot in the mountain. »

« Creature in the Well is an inventive experiment that executes a quirky concept very well. When you’re embroiled in the pinball dungeon crawling, it’s transcendent with only fleeting moments of repetition. The periphery is unfortunately a little maddening, with death gameplay loop and general lack of explanation topping the complaints. My advice would be to not go into it fully blind and don’t be afraid to ask for help at the outset. It’s well worth trotting through the rough opening to get to the gooey center of excellent genre blending. »

« Creature in the Well has a unique concept I cheer along with an eye-catching presentation. True, the execution can feel slightly mixed – certainly not disjointed per se, but jumbled at intervals. The difficulty, at times, is lacking in a balance that leads to consistently true satisfaction, and thus some marks were missed, or not fully realized. But when it comes to exploring the hand-crafted dungeons, finding secrets, and reading up to learn more about the mystery, Creature in the Well excels. »

« It looks fantastic too, with the comic book artwork really bringing the characters and environments to life. If we had one major criticism, it’s that the game suffers from pacing issues, particularly earlier on as you get used to how the pinball mechanics work. »

« Creature in the Well is one of the most original games we’ve played in a while. If you like the idea of mixing dungeons, hack and slash and pinball, then make sure you give it a try. »

« The game has unique graphics and gameplay that doesn't get boring after 100% completion, with a story that's not amazing but keeps you at least vaguely interested. Introduction of new gimmicks is spaced out evenly, and the difficulty is adequate. Overall a good game. »

« I have seen some people say this game is boring, or whatever. Well, each to their own, but this game is excellent. I thought to myself what do i want to say just now, and this game instantly to my mind: Creature in the Well is a really, really, really good game that is honestly made with real heart. The art style is excellent, and although the environment is not expansive, it is captivating. It does get a bit tough, and there are difficulty spikes, but it is not crazy difficult or grindy by any means. Feels like a fair challenge. Highly recommend. »

« [SPOILER ALERT: This review contains spoilers.] »

« I was looking forward to playing a blend of pinball and a dungeon crawler. The actual gameplay experience was very disappointing though. I'd much rather have played regular Pinball instead as that would've been much more exciting and motivating. Creature in the Well gets old really fast. It lacks the thrill of reaching high scores in Pinball and it lacks the depth and loot that you'd find in a dungeon crawler. There is also nothing else to do in the game except for moving from one room to the next while trying to hit targets so you can move to the next room and so on. This became immediatly apparent in the opening sequence where your character wakes up in the desert. I naturally tried to explore the area but immediatly got reset to the starting position whenever I moved too far from the intended path, which caused a lot of confusion as well as trial and error within the first 5 minutes of playing. Also the graphics, while being stylised, are so incredbibly minimalistic that at times it makes it hard to navigate and differentiate which objects are in the foreground or in the background. All in all, the game delivers exactly what it advertised. The actual gameplay experience however was quite disappointing. »

« When you first start hitting the ball with your stick its fun, but after an hour its boring, after 2 hours its just pain boring. The game doesn't change or get better, you just run around mashing the button of hold the ball then let go, thats it.. »

« Creature in the Well started off pretty fun but I only made it half way through. Game(s) like: Pinball w/Hyper Light Drifter Pros: - Fairly unique gameplay in you use a pinball like action to get through rooms Cons: - I thought there would be more puzzles but it was really just hitting the ball into things - Could have done so much more with different ball types and stick types that did interesting things »

« The looks and gameplay of Creature in the Well are very unique, I really enjoyed the art style, it's nothing like I've seen before in a game. I find the controls feel tight and responsive, and they will need to be because this is a precision-based game, it gets intense. I'm positive it would be much easier with a keyboard and mouse though. Other than my frustration with the switch pro controller, I really did enjoy the game. It is unique in a lot of ways, I've played pinball and I've played dungeon crawlers, but never both in the same game. there is no traditional enemies to kill, instead there are bumpers and robots that shoot you, and, with a top down view, you have to very precisely eliminate the current sequence of bumpers without getting hit by the hostile turrets. This is the frustrating part, it's very hard for me to aim with careful precision with the analog sticks, imagine playing an FPS with a mouse and then trying to get headshots with a switch pro controller, it's no contest. with the difficulty of some of the objectives, it feels like the developers originally decided they were a PC release. Don't let my slight frustration keep you from buying this, at it's current price it is a great time, and don't worry, you can skip objectives if you have enough electrical charge so you wont get stuck. Get this on Steam »

« Very fun game, took me about 7 hours to get 99%. Gorgeous, unique visuals (that can get a bit repetitive but remain readable and appealing). Encountered a small bug where I got stuck in some bumpers by running too fast. Would be nice to be able to retry rooms, but running back after death wasn't a deal breaker. Would like to give it an 8.5, but it deserves the props for being so unique »