In Animal Well, it is possible to travel fast, but players will find it a slightly more obscure method than in traditional games. Players cannot fast travel by moving from checkpoint to checkpoint, such as in games like Dead Cells, but there are ways to fast travel once you have unlocked a certain number of hidden items. This will make it easier to move around the map and make the latter half of the game a little less tedious.
Animal Well has many Metroidvanian features, and it has heavily puzzle-focused gameplay. This includes finding items that open up new routes and new ways to do things, such as with the Frisbee disc. There is a heavy amount to find, and one of these things will be hidden eggs, which are crucial for players who wish to fast travel.
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Animal Well is a fantastic 2D puzzle platformer, using the Metroidvania structure to create a mysterious world full of secrets to discover.
How To Unlock The Fast Travel Ability
Finding Hidden Easter Eggs
Players who want to fast travel must first find eight hidden eggs – it doesn’t matter what order or which eight you find. These eggs are hidden in black chests throughout the map and are often protected. Players may have to solve a puzzle or uncover a false wall, or even in one of them, but they must do so to find the hidden eggs.
There are 64 hidden eggs, some of which cannot be found until you get more items. However, players should be able to easily find the first eight. If you need help,
nocaps
has found all the hidden eggs in the above video, which you can reference.
Once found, these eggs will appear in an “Egg Shrine” within Animal Well with a series of doors and multiple shelves. You will unlock the first door when eight eggs have been found, leading you to the Animal Flute. This is the item players will need to be able to fast travel throughout the game.
How To Use The Animal Flute
Play A Sweet Melody For Your Animal Friends
After you pick up the Animal Flute, head to the top right exit in the room. There will be sleeping chinchillas; you can wake up by playing your flute to get to the door. Once there, you will find a Crow with a gleam in its eye. Play the Animal Flute for it, and it will open its mouth, allowing you to jump in. This will transport you to the fast travel room.
Once you enter the room, you will see the heads of animals on the walls throughout the massive maze. Feel free to explore the room, as there is much to see. When you activate the obelisk by playing your flute again, some animal heads will open, revealing shortcuts to areas you have already visited. Hop in any of these animal heads to take the shortcut to another part of the map.
As you venture through
Animal Well
, you will uncover more fast travel points, and more animal heads will open.
Returning To The Fast Travel Room
A More Complicated Melody
A lot of steps were involved in making it to the fast travel room the first time, and you won’t find yourself wanting to go through the Egg Room every time you want to fast travel somewhere else. Luckily, there is another way to get to the fast travel room. This also involves the Animal Flute, and you should not leave the fast travel room the first time until you have figured this mechanic out.
There is a ladder descending from the fast travel room into a room below, where a fish is popping in and out of a pond. This code for using the Animal Flute will inform players how to return to the fast travel room. The fish faces certain directions in a regular rhythm, and by matching his rhythm, you can play the same notes on your Animal Flute.
The rhythm is Right, Right, Left, Left, Down, Down, Up, Up. Entering the notes on your flute this way will instantly return you to the fast travel room from anywhere on the map. This will allow you to pop into any animal head you have uncovered and travel elsewhere. You will be able to see where the fast travel spots on the map are, as they appear as little white dots on the map, much like in some of the other best Metroidvanias like Animal Well.
Using Fish Pipes To Travel Across The Map
Finding The Right Wand For The Job
Another method of travel in Animal Well can lead you in new directions. These are the fish pipes that can be found throughout the map. You will need to find and unlock the B. Wand (or the Bubble Wand) to use these pipes. These are often used to solve puzzles, but they can also shoot you across the map quickly if you need to go in that same general direction.
To find the B. Wand, you must find the Seahorse puzzle and go through its room in what amounts to a boss fight. If you make your way past the Seahorse, unlock the path in the left corner of the room, and platform through it, you will find yourself in a new room that allows you to unlock a chest holding the Bubble Wand. Then, you can use whatever fish pipes you want to solve puzzles and occasionally zoom across the map.
While the fish pipes may not be a traditional fast travel option, they still have their uses. This, combined with the power of the Animal Flute, should allow you to get across the map quickly in whatever direction you want. This will help you collect the rest of the eggs and find the true ending of Animal Well.
Video Credit: nocaps/YouTube
Animal Well
- Released
- May 9, 2024
- Developer(s)
- Shared Memory
- Publisher(s)
- Bigmode
- Genre(s)
- Metroidvania , Puzzle
- ESRB
- E For Everyone Due To Mild Fantasy Violence