Lore

While the story of the Animal Well is fairly ambiguous there are several concrete in-game elements that spark curiosity about its world and may be attributed to its broader story and themes.

Premise

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

– Official Steam description

In-Game

In-Game Events

The Jumping Bean hatches from a flower bud. They explore the well. They discover four flames across the well protected by respective guardians. They place the flames within beacons representing the guardians. The deepest portion of the well is opened. The Jumping Bean unlocks a chamber containing a Manticore. The Jumping Bean lights a fireworks display, vanquishing the Manticore. See Endings for alternatives.

UV Paintings

See also: UV Paintings

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  A Bigmode logo
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  A cat
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  A dog
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  'Kilroy was here' graffiti
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  The lynx chasing a rabbit
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  A Manticore's face
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  A Manticore hatching, with other animal witnesses
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  A rabbit brewing potions
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  The player shown riding the Manticore, with a rabbit in a house
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  A smiley face
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  Two cats

Out-of-Game

See also: ARGs

Developer Comments

• Chameleons bleed out of their eyes.
• Fruit are not the same species as the player.
• The player character is confirmed to be a "Mexican jumping bean"

Speculation

Dogs are very possessive of their discs, even beyond death.

Mice have seemingly imprisoned lynx, the ostriches are complicit? It seems like all the mice died, possibly hunted to extinction by the great lynx.

Chameleons don't like eating hedgehogs because they are spiny. They also don't like chinchillas and spit them out.

The Manticore was sealed underground and is seemingly related to the aggressive and passive blue ghosts. It can be unsealed by gathering the four flames and lighting the four beacons at the central room. Obtaining the flames seems to weaken the seal as more passive blue ghosts start to appear. The Manticore and blue ghosts are very weak to bright sources of light.