Well Dweller Review

Though it is always true that every gamer is unique, with their own particular tastes and preferences, there are few genres truly as divisive among the broader gaming community as the metroidvania. On the one hand the sprawling maps embody the true spirit of exploration, hiding fascinating discoveries and harrowing challenges in every nook and cranny. They also provide a perfectly shaped vessel for the classic “hero’s journey” narrative structure. On the flipside, long runbacks to grueling boss fights and labyrinthine level design can also deter players who find the genre to often be more trouble than it’s worth. Regardless of your history with the genre, Kyle Thompson’s Well Dweller makes a strong case for any player to fall in love with the metroidvania… or fall back in love, as the case may be.

As someone who has dabbled in the genre but is by no means a metroidvania sicko, I find that Thompson (also the developer behind Islets and Crypt Custodian) has honed the sharp and subtle skill of shining a light on the wonderful sides of the game’s structure, while polishing out its rough edges. Before a single enemy has been felled, a double-jump has been double-jumped, or a locked door has been cracked open, it begins with his characters and world building.

Well Dweller in Action

Thompson constructs landscapes that are simultaneously serene and haunting: misty bogs accented with human skeletal remains and dark caves with gently flowing spring water and framed by enormous statuesque stone hands. In this gorgeous, devastating world he then nestles in some of the most charming, slightly befuddled, and adorable creatures you’ll ever meet, along with a parade of tragically grotesque and grotesquely tragic antagonists.

In Well Dweller, you play as Glimmer, the eldest child of the last family of birds to inhabit the forest. Though the avian population was slowly depleted by the mad queen, obsessed with her quest to create a bird feather gown by the cruelest of means, Glimmer seems only somewhat concerned when his mother sends him and his siblings out to fetch food from the hunter’s cabin. A devoted but meek big brother, he’s forced to lock in and shake off his fears when his family gets captured by the greedy hunter. And thus Glimmer sets off on his rescue mission, armed with nothing but a matchstick stave and his nerves.

Removing friction from the metroidvania

Glimmer’s journey takes him from the very depths of the drains and the graveyard, to the heights of the lookout tower atop the mountain that leads to the evil queen’s castle. And this is how we become familiar with one of the most legible world maps you’ll find in a metroidvania. The map features lock labels to remind you of where you cannot yet traverse, optional quest and collectible markers, and two different visual styles. Maybe it’s because I went in feeling confident that Thompson wasn’t going to put me through more than about 20 hours of playtime in Well Dweller, but I felt much more confident traversing this world without getting turned around than in other popular metroidvanias.

He also has my eternal gratitude for the well-distributed save points. Any time I started to feel itchy about how long it had been since a save, I knew another purple tent would surely be right around the corner. And it always was.

One of my favorite victories in game design that Well Dweller achieves is the seamless relationship between the world design, the character design, and the abilities that Glimmer unlocks over the game. In every other metroidvania, including Kyle Thompson’s most recent title Crypt Custodian, I always wind up with one or two abilities that I naturally tend to forget about. Whether it’s because they’re so rarely used, or the controls are unintuitive, or simply because they lack diegetic cohesion, I wind up neglecting some skill or other.

But this was not the case in Well Dweller. Glimmer’s abilities evolve very naturally from one to the next. From wall jump to timed wall climb to infinite wall climb, Glimmer’s powers matured logically and in ways that clearly met my needs. Better yet, I didn’t find a single one annoying to execute. Truly a win all around.

Again, all of the above I think really speaks to a desire that comes through in Thompson’s game design, to bring more players into the folds of the metroidvania genre. He showcases the fun and rewarding sides of this format, without being precious about the things that historically put some players off. This extends to his boss fights as well. Yes, they will challenge you. Yes, I died plenty of times. But I also didn’t experience any boss fight where I felt like I got worse at it over time. Maybe playing Silksong just made me a better, more patient player, but I found these fights to be frenzied but very fair.

Well Dweller Trailer

Thompson’s approach to metroidvanias can essentially be boiled down to one idea: getting out of the player’s way in order to let them enjoy the experience. This allowed me to lean into the theater and camp of characters and the strangely magical world I found myself in. The Well Dweller villains are, almost as a rule, steeped with tragic irony. The gravedigger, buried among his subjects. The dollmaker, struck down by her own creations. The hunter, laid to rest by the fragile creatures he pursued. 

And though the world of Well Dweller is filled with senseless violence and cruelty, it’s also filled with senseless compassion and joy. Glimmer’s siblings find every opportunity for play and shenanigans, in spite of the horrors they’ve witnessed. Strangers accompany each other on dangerous quests for the hell of it. And new friends come to the rescue even at the risk of their own lives because, hey, what else would we do? The absurdity of the world and denizens is the very thing that makes Well Dweller so relatable… inspiring, even. Because when the lights seem dim and we can’t find a single reason to hope, what more beautiful thing can we do but to have hope for no reason at all?

Emily was provided with a review key of Well Dweller by Top Hat Studios

About No Small Games

No Small Games is an indie game recap and review podcast brought to you by hosts Kate and Emily! They became friends while streaming on Twitch and bonded over their love of indie video games. In each episode of No Small Games, the two will discuss an indie game they both played independently. They’ll compare their experiences: the good, the bad, their most memorable moments of their playthroughs.

Learn more about the podcast and its hosts on the About page.

Check out the latest episodes from No Small Games: