PlayStation 4PC (Microsoft Windows)Xbox OneNintendo Switch2019

Creature in the Well

Creature in the Well is a top-down, pinball-inspired hack and slash dungeon crawler. As the last remaining BOT-C unit, venture deep into a desert mountain to restore power to an ancient facility, haunted by a desperate Creature. Uncover and upgrade powerful gear in order to save the city of Mirage from a deadly sandstorm.

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Mostly Positive

341 Steam reviews

Review History

Reviews

341 total

≥h

Steam User 1297STEAMRecommended

Xogas e dis: esta divertido. Qué mais se pode pedir?

Mar 1, 2026·7h

Steam User 4644STEAMRecommended

Great game. Wish there was more. Pick it up on sale. Hyper light drifter but pinball.

Feb 16, 2026·3h·Verified

Steam User 8874STEAMRecommended

Second play through as good as the first. Great game.

Jan 18, 2026·6h·Verified

Steam User 0764STEAMNot recommended

Fine enough, but repetitive and frustrating by the end.

Nov 25, 2025·5h·1·Verified

Steam User 2055STEAMNot recommended

The art is beautiful and the base game mechanic is pretty neat and had a lot of potential. You could use this as a good base to make something much better off of.

However, the world feels empty, there's like only two NPCs besides the antagonist you actually get to meet, so you don't have much attachment or feeling like your actions are actually helping anyone. Also the story and motives of the protagonist and antagonist feel anticlimactic and uninteresting, I was really hoping there was going to be more to the ending and to secret areas I'd come across. It feels like there's so much that just was never finished in the game's story and worldbuilding.

Also, there are multiple gameplay areas that feel frustrating and unrefined in terms of level design and gameplay, or that were too repetitive in gameplay.

I recommend at least watching a gameplay video to enjoy the art and vibes and potentially for inspiration in making something greater, but I can't recommend buying this game.

Nov 18, 2025·10h·Verified

Steam User 8510STEAMRecommended

Was honestly pretty upset that I couldn't get the game to run, figured out it was other apps that were preventing it from launching and when I got it working, the mystery behind it all was what sparked some interest. It's got great visuals, the puzzles pose a good challenge, and the different equipment make for some interesting combos. Hope to see more from this dev. and publisher's future :)

Nov 15, 2025·7h·Verified

Steam User 3764STEAMRecommended

Love the concept of the game, it felt fresh and new without being to pushy on a weird mashup

The difficulty is well balanced everywhere in the game with the exception of the "Synchronous Field" boss fight, I felt a real spike in difficulty at that moment.

Loved the ambiance of the story and overall mystery around the mountain. But I'm a bit "disappointed" with the end. I feel like it's a miss opportunity for something that could have been a narrative twist, that would make you rethink the whole game.

Overall really fun game !

Jun 24, 2025·9h·Verified

Steam User 5718STEAMRecommended

I love this game. An incredible experience with a great style. I wish more people had the opportunity to enjoy this game.

Jun 15, 2025·6h·Verified

Steam User 5653STEAMRecommended

good game not too long and i got it on sale, would recommend!

May 2, 2025·6h·Verified

Steam User 5397STEAMNot recommended

this is the most artistically beautiful game ive seen in years, but i cant recommend anyone to play it because the game play and mechanics are so incredibly inconsistent, boring, repetitive, and buggy i have seen in years.

Apr 20, 2025·13h·1·Verified

Steam User 5519STEAMRecommended

I thought the game was ok. Did not feel refined enough for me. The charge mechanic almost feels like it takes away from the game as it allows you to not need to time hitting a moving ball, not using it just makes everything take longer, and it makes the idea of trying to bounce balls off of a wall or another object not as useful. Plot also seemed a bit undeveloped as to the creature, mountain village and the storm.

Mar 1, 2025·6h·Verified

Steam User 7858STEAMRecommended

An amazing game !
Very innovative gameplay and extremely fun (just challenging enough that you can't roll over the game, but not hard enough that you'll get too frustrated on the levels).
The story is intriguing and get you involved. The characters are few but very interesting which works great, the Creature in the well (haha) itself is a fantastic mystery to discover as you advance !
Loved every minute of it, highly recommend !!! <3

Feb 10, 2025·6h

Steam User 6722STEAMRecommended

Long time since I played it but remember it to be really fun.

Dec 17, 2024·9h

Steam User 9981STEAMRecommended

I very much enjoyed playing this. The arts used at the end credits were very beautiful

Dec 7, 2024·7h·Verified

Steam User 6690STEAMRecommended

Alright game. It has a lot of samey rooms but the game is nice and short and fine.

Nov 6, 2024·4h·Verified

Steam User 9174STEAMRecommended

This game is pretty unique and I love most parts about it. The art, soundtrack and gameplay are great. I also really like the setting even though the story was mostly a thin facade. The movement feels a bit slow as your "dash" is already not that fast and then you can't even use it while charging up. So during combat you need to either fight or evade and switching back to fighting requires an energy ball near you, so it's not instant. But apart from that small complaint, I definetly had a lot of fun.

Oct 27, 2024·7h·1·Verified

Steam User 5034STEAMRecommended

I 100% the game in about 4 hours or so, and I have to say I had a wonderful time. If you need a game that you can just beat and be done with I cant recommend this enough.

Oct 24, 2024·4h·5·Verified

Steam User 1611STEAMRecommended

While this has been a great little adventure under the mountain. i will say [h1]YOU SHOULD MOST DEFINITELY PLAY THIS GAME WITH A CONTROLLER!!!!![/h1] the keyboard + mouse controls are horrible. one thing that could be improved on is that along with some minor bugs i had here and there where i was simply stuck into geometry in healing pools (i believe it's the off shoot one in [spoiler] the north star level [/spoiler] and in a few of the later levels where i was stuck on bumpers causing me to have to start the level over) cute lil game, quite short almost finished it within 3.5 hours which, while not being a bad thing, does leave me wanting more out of the game. the world building is good while being small; just the right size for the game.

the gameplay, while i acknowledge i am playing on mouse and keyboard which could hinder my experience greatly. i found it very hard to move around fluidly. if you were swinging either of your bats you're feet are super glued onto the ground which causes a lot of problems in the final boss fight ( i still gotta beat it, still up for the challenge >:) ). hit boxes felt like they sometimes didn't line up with the ground based lasers and the BOT.

over all, 8/10! i don't think i would replay it much but for a one time play through it's a great time!

Sep 9, 2024·4h·1

Steam User 7476STEAMRecommended

Great Game

Aug 19, 2024·5h·1·Verified

Steam User 0506STEAMNot recommended

Fun until the Synchronus Field boss. 50% of my playtime has been stuck on this 100% ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ RNG boss. Won't finish. Do not buy.

Aug 13, 2024·3h·2·Verified

Steam User 7871STEAMRecommended

Hack & Slash pinball game!? Sick. I did abandon this game after a handful of short sittings, but I do think it's really cool. It didn't have the narrative thrust it needed to keep me playing though.

Jul 22, 2024·4h·Verified

Steam User 8252STEAMRecommended

Great little game. Highly recommended.

Jul 4, 2024·6h·Verified

Steam User 2016STEAMRecommended

Great soundtrack and art style, some compelling and unique game mechanics, overall a very cool little indie game

Jun 13, 2024·6h·Verified

Steam User 3676STEAMRecommended

Delightfully clever mechanic, that can get a tad finicky but does have a technique. Some puzzles are get drastically easier with a certain upgrade. Neat story and fantastic art style. Easily worth the price.

Jun 6, 2024·6h·1·Verified

Steam User 2756STEAMRecommended

キーボード+マウスでは直感的に操作できないので、コントローラーの使用を推奨。

エリアのオブジェクトをボールを弾きながら全て壊すゲーム。
ピンボールというよりブロック崩しの感覚に近い。

しかしながらボールを受け止め、狙った方向に打ち出せるため、
ゲームの殆どをそれだけで通過することが出来てしまう。
一部のパズル部屋以外は、跳ね返る角度を気にすることもないので、
1人で卓球の壁打ちをしているようなゲームプレイに。

コンセプト自体は面白く、がっかりしきる前に終わるボリュームなので、
ギリギリおすすめとしておく...

Apr 26, 2024·5h·5

Steam User 0229STEAMRecommended

A fun puzzle game requiring quick reflexes and a minimum of luck.

Apr 14, 2024·23h·Verified

Steam User 4301STEAMRecommended

Decent. Execution is a little rough which is why I rate it lower.

There are balls. Confusingly, you use one weapon to hit the balls and kind of gather them and power them up, and a second weapon to actually launch them. From there, the balls bounce on everything you need to destroy to advance. It's not really pinball because you have unlimited balls and tend to have a dozen or more bouncing around pretty quickly, nor is there gravity physics, everything is completely flat and friction-less.

It's just too fiddly and doesn't do enough with the idea. Some things fire at you, some cause explosions, and there are drones that come at you. Generally you are hitting things until you are done, but in a few places there are more interesting things like timers and reset buttons you want to avoid.

The controls are not super responsive, and your dash is important but I found it stilted. In a few vital sections it was hard to get to where I needed to be.
The slightest elevation change is a brick wall for your ball.

There is a huge disconnect in the story: [spoiler]The titular creature in the well destroyed hundreds of engineers and clearly could squish you like a bug, but never does. When you die it even deposits you outside the well. It is also doing something with its time but we never get a sense of what it wants.[/spoiler]

Apr 5, 2024·5h

Steam User 1260STEAMRecommended

robo.t... more please?

Apr 3, 2024·7h·Verified

Steam User 1064STEAMRecommended

[h1] Un juego genial pero con un pico de dificultad absurdo [/h1]

Creature in the well nos pone en manos de un robot ingeniero, qué prendido en un desierto estéril tendrá el deber de poner en marcha el núcleo de energía antiguamente abandonado.

Este juego es un dungeon crawler, es decir, tendremos que ir avanzando en mazmorras y completando diferentes desafíos para llegar a la zona final. Todo esto equipado con 2 palos que usaremos para pegar orbes de energía y hacerlos rebotar en diferentes estructuras, todo como si fuera un pinball.

Y ya está. Es un juego bastante sencillo y corto, cuyo principal defecto (al menos hasta cierto punto) es el pico de dificultad que tiene cercano al final. Este juego requiere de paciencia y bastante agilidad, pues, las amenazas son constantes y bastantes injustas en algunas instancias.

Si tengo que destacar algo, es su arte que es bastante bello y se luce con respecto a otros indies. Me resulta curiosa ciertas combinaciones de colores y ciertas paletas que van acorde con lo planteado en este juego.

En sí y como dije, es un juego corto y que no aporta más allá que ser una curiosidad, un buen juego con apartados estéticos hermosos pero una dificultad bastante cuestionable cercano al final.

Jan 25, 2024·4h·1·Verified

Steam User 4907STEAMRecommended

One of the few games I've liked so much I've bought it twice. Really relaxing game with a nice gameplay loop and good progression system. Not technically Deck certified but it plays flawlessly for me.

Last boss can a bit of a pain but it combines everything you've learned throughout the game so it's really rewarding when you beat it.

Dec 20, 2023·2h·Verified

Steam User 1492STEAMRecommended

Really enjoyed this game. Art is amazing, game play is unique and fun.

Dec 3, 2023·8h·Verified

Steam User 3735STEAMRecommended

cool game but the dynamite makes me have a skill issue

Sep 9, 2023·5h·Verified

Steam User 9493STEAMNot recommended

我卡关了，我不开心

Jun 25, 2023·5h·Verified

Steam User 2999STEAMNot recommended

it's a problem when I have to say "I want to like it"
something about this is so immediately too repetitive. I like ping pong games, I like ping pong influenced games. This isn't really that (it's more like brickbreak), which isn't a bad thing in itself, i'm just remarking on the marketing. But I'm walking thru a lot of the same rooms and it's either a cakewalk 90% of the time or horribly brutal the remaining 10% because I'm on a time limit and the controller sensitivity seemingly can't be changed to something usable.
I 100% a lot of games, I don't think I'll even finish this one

Jun 19, 2023·2h·1·Verified

Steam User 9878STEAMRecommended

Chaque salle est une nouvelle épreuve de la créature qui semble habiter le complexe. Cette dernière tentera à plusieurs reprise de vous dissuader de progresser dans votre quête, par les mots ou par la force. Votre personnage ne possède aucune force de frappe de lui-même, il faudra donc faire preuve de dextérité pour rediriger les projectiles reçu tout au long de l'exploration des lieux.

Un jeux agréable à jouer et innovant dans son approche du Hack & Slash mêlant Bullet Hell et Flipper (?!), couplé à une direction artistique qui sort du lot. On pourra cependant déplorer une durée de vie un peu courte même en étant atteint de complétionnite aïgu.

Jun 19, 2023·7h·1·Verified

Steam User 9487STEAMRecommended

Really interesting take on the hack n slash formula, played it twice over and it's a great time! Takes about 6 hours to complete 100%, 7/10

May 5, 2023·14h·Verified

Steam User 2299STEAMRecommended

Beautiful, atmospheric, introspective and sci-fi packed into pinball puzzle. Totally recommended.

Apr 27, 2023·10h·1·Verified

Steam User 5252STEAMNot recommended

Apr 23, 2023·Verified

Steam User 0132STEAMRecommended

🔵[b] Requires light tinkering [/b]

Fullscreen have scale problems. Use borderless window.

To fix resolution problem change the "high DPI settings" of the game executable:
- Find the game executable CITW.exe on your system (manage > browse local files).
- Right-click the executable, then select Properties.
- Switch to the Compatibility tab and click on Change high DPI settings, under "Settings".
- On the new window, under "High DPI scaling override", activate the checkbox: [✓].
- Select Application from the dropdown menu and confirm with OK.
- Click Apply, then OK on the Properties window.
- Launch the game.

Tested on: OnexPlayer Mini Pro 6800U

[url=https://store.steampowered.com/curator/42772030-Handheld-Friendly/] Follow Handheld Friendly [/url]

Mar 27, 2023·8·Verified

Steam User 4658STEAMRecommended

一流美术，二流剧情，三流游玩体验，但是它有一流的美术欸
以及既然有如此用心风格化美术却没有相配套的音乐支撑，地图机制设计得也很简单（最多只有个暗门有点意思），感觉非常遗憾……

Feb 28, 2023·2h·Verified

Steam User 3330STEAMNot recommended

The controller doesn't work.

Feb 21, 2023

Steam User 1079STEAMNot recommended

Good Concept. Poor execution. repetitive and frustrating controls....womp, womp.

Feb 20, 2023·2h·Verified

Steam User 5070STEAMRecommended

Cool game. Simple concept does not get overly complicated. Refreshingly unique gameplay but it does get stale kind of quickly for me. Slow burn kind of progress it feels like. Probably deliberate, to condition you slowly to the game mechanics so when the real challenges begin you won't want to just rage-quit...instead i kind of want to yawn-quit.
Not much going on aesthetically. I do wish the game was prettier, had some lighting effects... I bought in on a deep discount and so I can recommend it as such.
If the devs are reading this, if you are working on a sequel, instead of using this ugly bland aesthetic to stream line your production of a proof of concept game (which is what I assume is the reason for this, either that or someone with more clout than talent was jealous and wanted to ruin your game...), since you proved your concept, maybe go the extra mile and make it pretty. Some lighting effects, ambient occlusion, ray tracing, some nice bloom here and there... I like the game mechanics, the aesthetic is just so drab...my eyes get bored. I have so much other eye candy for my 3080 Ti to dazzle me with, it is hard to justify playing something this ugly. Austere minimalism has its place when done right....for me...this is not done right in that regard. Too much earth tones, oranges and khaki...like someone vomited up a bunch of tacobell one night after the bar closed and thought....that color dynamic would be great for a hack and slash pinball rpg.....blech. Still. I recommend.

Feb 18, 2023·Verified

Steam User 7927STEAMRecommended

This game is goood. Great graphics and gameplay. could not recommend it enough!

Feb 9, 2023·6h·2·Verified

Steam User 7205STEAMNot recommended

操作模式有点捉急

Feb 8, 2023·1h·Verified

Steam User 5961STEAMRecommended

narrativa super interessante e gameplay fantastica, super custo beneficio

Jan 31, 2023·6h·1·Verified

Steam User 0062STEAMRecommended

le pego al a poelotita con mi palo yt los juguitois dfe mi cerebro se ponene conentos :3

Jan 20, 2023·7h·Verified

Steam User 9656STEAMRecommended

Nice game, a bit on the easier side and the main mechanic it's built around could maybe have been used better but I enjoyed my time with Creature in the Well.

Jan 6, 2023·5h·Verified

Steam User 8641STEAMRecommended

Baseball pinball puzzle game. You are cool robot, you help giant alligator woman.

Jan 2, 2023·7h·Verified

Steam User 1202STEAMRecommended

While not without flaws, I have to give this game major props for being entirely unique. I've never played another game with the same gameplay. Or the same art style. Or even the same music or storyline. Every aspect of the game is truly original, and they all harmonize really well together. That alone made the game so much fun to play.

The combat loop involves essentially playing ping-pong/pinball with the environment in order to gain energy which you use to unlock new doors. The game is not a rogue-lite, although it really does feel like one. Largely because the game includes many repeating room layouts, and it kicks you out of the dungeon entirely when you die. The gameplay was fun, although aiming and dodging often became a bit frustrating, and some elements (like how to regain health or the system for upgrading your attack strength) could have been explained better, because I ended up needing to look those up online.

Still though I really loved this game. The gameplay loop is pretty simple, but it's a unique experience and absolutely worth checking out.

Dec 31, 2022·5h·2·Verified

Steam User 7078STEAMRecommended

For a game set in an ocean of sand, it sure is a breath of fresh air!

It's a pinball-hacknslash mix, weird, but it works really well.

The controls and mechanichs are tight and responsive, i am absolutely in love with the art style, and level design.

Dec 24, 2022·5h·1·Verified

Steam User 3455STEAMRecommended

好吧，进去找不到路

Dec 24, 2022·1h·Verified

Steam User 6525STEAMRecommended

Very unique visuals, and a cool gameplay loop

Dec 24, 2022·6h·Verified

Steam User 4720STEAMRecommended

Pinball + Dungeon Crawling = A Pretty Good Game

Oct 30, 2022·3h·Verified

Steam User 0120STEAMNot recommended

I don't even know why but I really wanted/tried to like this game. Unfortunately it was simply impossible. It just doesn't work.

Oct 22, 2022·3h·Verified

Steam User 1633STEAMNot recommended

Неудобное управление. В игре, где 90% геймплея состоит в прицеливании, целиться неудобно и неприятно.

Aug 25, 2022·Verified

Steam User 0284STEAMRecommended

It's a fun little game. Some interesting puzzles that are unfortunately bogged down by some pretty abysmal boss fights. Looking back on it, I can definitely say that my experience was more positive than negative, though.

Aug 16, 2022·7h·Verified

Steam User 1145STEAMRecommended

Довольно занятная и оригинальная геймплейная механика, ради которой и стоит дать игре шанс. для меня это был интересный опыт.

Сюжет довольно простенький, но авторы попытались вплести повествование в элементы окружения. Визуальный стиль приятно выделяется и работает на атмосферу.

К сожалению, основная проблема игры - то, что геймплей, вокруг которого игра и построена, довольно быстро становится ужасно однообразным. Ты просто идешь по абсолютно одинаковым коридорам, решаешь абсолютно однообразные комнаты однообразными способами. Некоторые комнаты ты должен пройти за определённое время. По ходу прохождения ты можешь найти альтернативное оружие, но сути это не меняет, ибо это никак не сказывается на геёмплее. (исключение - ветка, которая ценой здоровья позволяет тебе накапливать больше 3 шаров перед атакой).

Игра очень короткая, но меня не хватило даже на такое короткое время. Прошёл лишь наполовину, после чего мне надоело.

Тем не менее, как уже сказал, это был интересный опыт и я рад, что наткнулся на эту игру в стиме. Если хочется чего-то необычного и нового - попробуйте. Есть все шансы, что понравится.

Aug 6, 2022·2h·Verified

Steam User 0054STEAMRecommended

物有所值，最终boss战有点敷衍，机制欠打磨，属于是有好想法没好执行最终成品就变成让人不知道有啥好玩的，但是打折价肯定是不亏的，至少美术风格都值回票价。

Jul 21, 2022·2h·Verified

Steam User 6083STEAMRecommended

most fun ive had playing pinball ever

Jul 16, 2022·4h·Verified

Steam User 0473STEAMRecommended

One of those indie game gem, visually stunning, gorgeous sound design . nice hint of story telling here and there , the core mechanic is really creative and not so easy if you want to master it, i'd put this game in the same category as hyper light drifter, slightly more repetitive in it's pattern but overall loved it.

Jul 15, 2022·6h·Verified

Steam User 9940STEAMRecommended

I see a lot of the negative reviews on here and I can understand where they're coming from, but all I can really say is that I liked what I played. I'll admit this game is definitely playing its hand heavy on its visual style over its mechanical depth, but I definitely found myself getting into the state of just having fun with it more often than not.

Yes, there are some legitimately time consuming puzzles that can be needlessly frustrating that, once completed, I never want to subject myself to again - but those weren't too persistent. I found the boss difficulty to be pretty fun even though they're primarily the same concepts with added obstacles and hazards to keep you constantly aware.

I dunno, man.
I can see how this game's overwhelming points can turn people off, but I found those moments to be really engaging - so, I believe the best point to say is that it's not for everyone? That's kind of a cop-out answer since no game truly is for everyone, but as someone who enjoys both hack and slash games, the occasional puzzle game, and has a love of just figuring things out mechanically (even if the options are limited), it did what it needed to do for me.

¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Jun 13, 2022·9h·4

Steam User 6398STEAMNot recommended

The game looked beautiful. The atmosphere was intriguing. But the mechanics? The keyboard controls are frustrating to say the least. The game requires accurate pool-like geometry to get the balls of energy going where you want them very quickly but with just WASD and finicky calibration, it's near impossible to play. I uninstalled the game in less than an hour after starting to play it because all I was doing was yelling at the screen. Maybe it's better on controller. Maybe there's a perfect calibration of aim snapping in the settings. But I couldn't do either.

Jun 1, 2022·1h·Verified

Steam User 2453STEAMRecommended

666666666666666666666666666666666

Apr 15, 2022·8h·Verified

Steam User 7945STEAMRecommended

Creature in the Well is a fun game and you'll quickly be drawn into the simple gameplay. While you probably won't feel like playing it for hours on end, it's an enjoyable game to play little and often. It's by no means a bad game and personally, I enjoyed it, but I think a game about a well should have more depth.

Apr 6, 2022·4h·Verified

Steam User 8007STEAMRecommended

Really cool Hack N' Pinball (?!?!) game.

Mar 4, 2022·5h·Verified

Steam User 4042STEAMRecommended

How did they make pinball into such an exciting and beautiful game? There is rarely a game where every element — visual, sound, gameplay, and writing — is perfectly designed to form a cohesive whole. The writing is extremely charming, the mystery of the plot pushes you forward. The gameplay carries the momentum, a perfect mix of reflexes and puzzle solving that have you coming back for more. The visuals use repeated assets in an extremely creative way, where each level has a completely different vibe just with the use of different color pallets. (The map is a circuitry board!!!) Ah, it satisfy both the game developer and the player in me.

Feb 4, 2022·23h·Verified

Steam User 7002STEAMRecommended

When I first heard about this game, I was sold. As a minor pinhead I was excited to see what a game that takes some of the visual eye-candy and mechanical complexity of pinball could achieve. I was slightly disappointed when I started playing and found out that the key word in "inspired by pinball" was *inspired*, but once I brushed off my built-up expectations I began to have much more fun.

Creature in the Well is a hand-built dungeon crawl. You choose the area you'd like to go to, and explore until you get to the final room, at which point you fight a boss (the titular Creature in the Well) and go back to the level select area. The art direction, music, and engaging world do a lot to build up the game's atmosphere, and make it a pleasure to explore and see what you'll find next. How much you value those aspects of a game will influence your level of tolerance for occasionally repetitive rooms with pallet swaps and frustrating ball physics. The lore you find and early conversations with the Creature do a good job of setting up an interesting duality between the Creature and the machine builders. Unfortunately, that's about as far as it goes; later conversations consist of the Creature angrily wondering how you made it that far and vowing that it will stop you at all costs. There's no further development of its personality; it simply exists as a generic villain that wants to stop you. Which in the end is fine; after all, your entire goal is to defy it and restore the Machine, but it's a shame that those early hints of a more complex character or motivation never develop as it made the ending slightly anti-climactic.

The mechanics themselves are pretty solid, and there was enough variety to mostly keep me interested until the end. It's quite a short game, at about 7 hours, but that's about the time that enemies and obstacles began to get repetitive and feel 'samey'. Someone else mentioned that trekking back to the boss if you die is a pain, which it is, but something I didn't discover until the second to last boss battle is that once you get to the room before a boss, a triangle you activate on the ground turns on a teleporter at the start of the dungeon. This lets you jump straight back to the boss and made death quite painless. It's pretty easy to miss though, because there's no indication on the other side of the teleporter that something was turned on, and connecting an empty triangle at the start of the level to a similar one on the ground at the end of it is a bit of a stretch, and it's definitely a source of frustration if you don't know about it.

The game does have two larger issues though, namely inconsistent ball physics and a huge difficulty spike. The balls act the way you want them to most of the time, but it's pretty hard to figure out where you're aiming them and how they're going to bounce off a surface. This becomes a problem in harder levels when precision is important and you need to bounce balls off of several surfaces to hit something. The aiming can be alleviated by a weapon that shows you the projected path of your balls, but it's hidden away in a secret room. I really wish it was a weapon you were given at or near the start of the game. I understand wanting to have trade offs between equipment and finding cool hidden toys, but the precision in this game for me wasn't quite good enough to justify hiding away that particular weapon. The difficulty spike in the last three levels is brutal; I was able to finish every boss fight before that in one or two tries. The last three fights took me a dozen or so tries apiece, and the final fight took me a good fifteen or twenty attempts. These fights did get much easier once I figured out that swapping your weapons on the fly to deal with specific problems is key, though, so you might have an easier time than I did.

Overall, I think this is a solid and beautiful attempt at something new, and I applaud it for pretty much succeeding! I think $15 is a fair price, and I did have fun with it, some issues aside. Also, a controller is a must; I can't imagine playing this with a keyboard.

Feb 2, 2022·9h·Verified

Steam User 0868STEAMRecommended

I got the game because I was interested in how the gameplay would work and honestly it was ok. As long as you just want something to pass a few hours with its fine. I wish they would have made it more interesting as it does get a bit repetitive. Although my biggest issue with the game was something else. You see while the game looks great IT ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ ATE MY INPUTS! Seriously I would have been done with this game in 4-5 hours (maybe faster) if not for me being stuck at certain parts because my bot would just not react to inputs. At first I though that it was an issue with my old laptop as it was really REALLY old but now I have a PC that can run the Witcher III on ultra. Maybe the game was optimized for a controller and the devs did not really know how to properly add mouse support or I somehow missed the fact that this game has stamina. If you won't run into this issue then you will like this game, if not then I hope you are not a stubborn mule like me and make yourself suffer like I did because the pay off is just not really worth it. Like the final boss is fine but then the end felt anticlimactic especially if you read how the creature deal with the other engineers.

Jan 30, 2022·8h·Verified

Steam User 7314STEAMRecommended

incredibly well made and definately in the top 3 of my personal favorite indie games ive ever played. amazing art style, great mechanics, and a all around puzzling and challenging mechanics make it all work ver well

Jan 4, 2022·11h·Verified

Steam User 0390STEAMRecommended

unique gameplay/mechanics unseen in any other titles I have come across. Art style is top tier and the music really immerses you in the setting. note: game may not be for everyone, I for one however am enjoying it.

Jan 2, 2022·11h·Verified

Steam User 5134STEAMRecommended

Simple and easy game, can pick up and stop anytime. I enjoy it a lot. By the way, I HATE time attack stages.

Jan 1, 2022·8h·Verified

Steam User 3387STEAMRecommended

Absolutely excellent, high-paced and beautiful. This game was a real journey full of brilliant visual design and gameplay that got me hooked.

Dec 24, 2021·16h·Verified

Steam User 4009STEAMRecommended

フレンドにいただきました。
すごく熱中するというわけではないけど、淡々とプレイしていると予定より1時間長くやってしまう不思議な魅力のあるゲーム。

武器が重要で、どうしてもクリアできないところも武器を変えることであっさりとクリアできたりします。
爆発物がダメージ量多いし爆発範囲広いし爆発までの時間が短いしで恐怖です。

※プレイ時間のうち6時間ほどは放置時間です。

Dec 11, 2021·14h·6

Steam User 8954STEAMRecommended

Short and fun game with a unique premise, grab it on sale!

Dec 8, 2021·5h·Verified

Steam User 6778STEAMRecommended

Got my ass kicked by a pitching machine.

Nov 23, 2021·5h

Steam User 4073STEAMNot recommended

Нет, не могу рекомендовать. Сильно противоречивые чувства. Однообразие и милисекундные тайминги в последних уровнях меня просто добили. Да, сеттинг и дизайн прикольные! Даже саунд-дизайн тут погружает в атмосферу. Но однообразие и словно недокрученность идеи боевого пинбола нельзя игнорировать. Игру советую лишь тем, кому хочется бросить вызов своим навыкам мелкой моторики.

Nov 18, 2021·8h·1·Verified

Steam User 0543STEAMRecommended

This is one of those games that hooked me right away. The premise of this game is so interesting and unique. I haven't played a pinball battle game since Sonic Pinball, and this game is quite different and much more interesting.

I found the game to be challenging at first, really only when trying to uncover the secret rooms. I struggled with a few due to the timers, but made it through. On around the 4th level, I realized something couldn't be right. The secret room I was attempting seemed impossible. I needed to upgrade myself and didn't realize I could because the game does not do a great job of explaining itself, or the fact that there was an entire town below the machine. I found the well at this time as well lol. I wish this had been introduced a bit earlier, but that's okay, it didn't detract from the game too much. So at this point, I upgraded myself, and the game became much more simpler, but not less satisfying.

The aesthetics in this game remind me of Hyperlight Drifter, but it is not anything like that game at all. I do, however, feel as though the game is a head-nod to HLD. The old robots you find and take the garb of is very reminiscent of HLD. The graphics and colors are very nice and I really appreciate the style of this game.

The story is interesting and I wish it had been fleshed out more. I wanted to know more about the creature, what were it's motives, but unfortunately this does not happen. And the ending is quite anticlimactic, which was a bummer.

The game is short, but the time spent playing it was very enjoyable. It took about 6 hours to 100% the game. Despite being short, the asking price seems fair, given the quality of the game. If it's on sale though, I would recommend not hesitating to pick this game up.

Nov 9, 2021·6h·Verified

Steam User 5390STEAMRecommended

Cute lil game, about 4-5 hours of gameplay. Went into it thinking it was very pinball-y, but the charge attacks are the bigger focus of the game so it's more like... a lite bullet hell with aiming.

Oct 31, 2021·6h·Verified

Steam User 1555STEAMRecommended

i hit ball with stick and brain light up :3c

Oct 30, 2021·3h·6·Verified

Steam User 7686STEAMRecommended

fun

Oct 29, 2021·4h·Verified

Steam User 1485STEAMRecommended

it's alright

Oct 27, 2021·4h·Verified

Steam User 0794STEAMRecommended

A unique genre blend that is very challenging. Also, one of the most gorgeous art styles <3

Oct 25, 2021·1h·Verified

Steam User 0621STEAMNot recommended

苦行。
難易度が無駄に高いくせに、操作感が悪いため、とにかくストレスで、ミスした反省が活かせない。

・最大の売りであるはずの、ボールを飛ばす方向を調節し辛いのが一番の難点。なかなか狙った場所に当てられない。
　狙った場所にあたったとしても、何の反応も手応えもなく、アクションとして、カタルシスを感じる部分がない。
・一部のギミックにボールが触れると、敵の攻撃としてはじき返されるため、ボールを飛ばすことを萎縮してしまう。
・一部のレベルでは制限時間が設けられているが、こんな操作で精密さを求められても、さすがに無理。
・リトライする度、いちいちダンジョンの入り口からさらに遠く離れた場所に戻されるのも、本当に煩わしい。

Oct 22, 2021·9h·4·Verified

Steam User 3659STEAMRecommended

Recommended if on sale.

it's graphically & stylisticly neat & I can with certainly say I've never played a game with this mechanic.
Pinball-/Baseball-esque mechanics instead of standard dungeon crawler enemies is a nice take.
some rooms require a serious amount of precision & timing, which is nice to learn & manage.

Others can feel like pure RNG, because at a certain point it's impossbile to keep control of what bounces of where & when. can get a bit too visually busy as well.

It's not much of a puzzle game - not really that much to wrap your brain around.

M&K controls [i]work[/i], but you'll want to turn your mouse-sensitivity all the way down.
Otherwise the aim rotation is just [b]way[/b] too fast.

The items & equipement are neat, but the capes do nothing except fashion-appeal & most of the weapons really don't seem that useful compared to those few that have special effects.

Oct 17, 2021·6h·Verified

Steam User 4663STEAMRecommended

Interesting. Its definitely unique. The pinball style combat, where you use one button to capture balls (up to 3 at once) and then use another button to send them flying, with the right stick choosing what directly to fling them in. There doesnt' seem to be any PvE combat though. Your always facing off against stationary pilons or turrets.

They find a lot of unique ways to keep each room/puzzle different. But the problem at a very high level, its just the same thing over and over again. The gameplay isn't built into anything truely compelling.

I'd say if your curious about the style of gameplay, or a fan of the developer (such as I), buy it on sale.

Sep 26, 2021·6h·2·Verified

Steam User 0188STEAMNot recommended

This is the first time I've genuinely disliked a game I own on steam. So much so where I just wanted to remove it from my account lol. I just don't wanna play it again.

Good: Art direction is great and so are the fun character designs. The sound design is great too.

Bad: Controls are annoying when going from walking around to aiming with your primary weapon.

Not an elaborate review but I felt inclined to add one. Sorry game. Style over substance.

Sep 14, 2021·4h·14·Verified

Steam User 3848STEAMRecommended

Какой-то невероятный сюрприз, никогда не думала что пинтбол может быть таким интересным.

Aug 16, 2021·8h·1

Steam User 7430STEAMRecommended

El juego es bastante entretenido y posee una historia agradable que permite un universo apropiado para las mecánicas implementadas, muy recomendable.

Aug 7, 2021·4h·Verified

Steam User 3084STEAMRecommended

A cute little pinball-esk game with some style. Good for some casual fun (although it can get tricky/challenging at bits), although it can get a bit repetitive if you're playing it in one or two sittings. Would recommend breaking it up into small game sessions.

Aug 3, 2021·6h·1·Verified

Steam User 7829STEAMRecommended

[h1]Pinball simulator, with a dose of dungeon-crawling and bullet hell.[/h1]

[h1]Things I Like About Creature In The Well:[/h1]

[b]1. Tools[/b]
Decent amount of weapons and playtime variety. All of which sports different purpose in terms of charging or striking the orbs. Mixing up different strike tools and charge tools is key to solve every puzzle in different areas of The Artifact.

[b]2. Pinball Puzzles[/b]
Ranging from timed challenges to trap mechanic, there are plenty of pinball puzzles inside The Artifact. Different areas present different mechanics to play around.

[b]3. Interesting main menu.[/b]

[h1]Thing I Like And Dislike About Creatures In The Well:[/h1]

[b]Length[/b]
This game only have two to three hours of gameplay, which is both good and bad.
[b]Like:[/b] I am glad that this game is short. It is enough to have a decent taste of turning pinball into a dungeon-crawling game. A fresh air to find this unique piece among the action genre.
[b]Dislike:[/b] However, there are still much to be desired. I think the developer should stretch the concept more outward. Maybe adding some RPG elements. Maybe adding some items to play around.

[h1]Things I Dislike About Creature In The Well:[/h1]

[b]1. Too Less NPCs[/b]
Only two NPCs to speak with. Both of which have limited dialogues on loop. The developer should add more characters in the game to tell the tale of The Artifact, to give more insight of the world players are thrown into instead of the main antagonist talking all the time about its own ideology.

[b]2. Repetitive Puzzles[/b]
Especially in later parts of the game. It becomes clear that beside the main path, dungeon puzzles become more and more alike. Same puzzles with different textures placed throughout certain side path.

Jul 27, 2021·3h·2·Verified

Steam User 6108STEAMRecommended

A pinball dungeon crawler is such a weird concept that works so well in practice. The first 3/4s of this game feel pretty easy once you get a feel for the controls. Towards the end, there are times where there is too much going on to really track everything and then you die to... something. But then you just run right back in and figure it out. The final dungeon definitely feels like a big bump up in difficulty, but getting through that is one of my more satisfying gameplay experiences I've had for a while and really feels like a good test of all the skills you learn throughout the game.

Combine this with the lovely art style and a rather interesting villain haunting you throughout the game, you get a weird little gem of a game worthy of the few hours it ask of you.

Jul 13, 2021·6h

Steam User 2753STEAMRecommended

The art direction for this game is insanely good and the pinball-type mechanics rather unique.
I have no idea how a game like this isn't more widely known, fully recommend.

Jul 5, 2021·10h·Verified

Steam User 1835STEAMNot recommended

I would have liked this game if not for a few flaws.

The dash is worthless. If it didn't have cool down frames or actually had some distance, then it would be useful. Especially for the EMP towers. Those things have so much range for how quickly they go off, this is very frustrating when they overlap.

It seems geometry is sometimes randomized, more specifically for flat bumpers. Many times I have shot them straight on only to have the balls bounce at ridiculous angles. The opposite also happens, I fire on an angle only to sometimes see the shot return straight back.

The map is somewhat unclear. A colored marker would have served better to show your location. Also the orientation of the map does not always line up to that of the rooms/paths.

Item collection is slightly tainted from only select items having any extra use. Many of my favoured cosmetic weapons did not have effects. Should have cosmetics and perks separate. Give the blacksmith more use, let them unlock perks.

Fix these, then I would recommend.

Jul 4, 2021·4h·2·Verified

Steam User 5484STEAMRecommended

Maybe it seems weird at firts, but when you get how the gameplay works, it's a really cool game. Very unique and the graphics and very pretty too

Jul 1, 2021·6h·1·Verified

Steam User 9002STEAMRecommended

Creature in the Well was a game that I was not expecting to find, but I'm glad that I did!

It's has a different type of mechanics that most of the games usually have, but it works like a charm. I had some troubles with the way the aim works in this game, but nothing that ruined my overall experience. To be honest, the pacing of the game was really good, all the boss fights were fun and challenging in their ways, but nothing too difficult.

But I have to say that I raged quit in the last boss, after spending 2 hours lol

Overall it's a great game to kill time. :)

Jun 23, 2021·6h·Verified

Steam User 7043STEAMRecommended

The Creature in the Well is an action puzzle game which plays kind of like pinball. You are a robot engineer the last of many created to maintain a machine which has a mysterious purpose. In the years since you went offline a malevolent creature has inhabited the mountain which houses the machine and taken the village surrounding it in its thrall. Upgrade your robot, solve the puzzle rooms, unlock features of the machine and defeat the creature in the well.

Jun 23, 2021·15h·Verified

Steam User 5898STEAMNot recommended

A meandering, pinball-inspired game with controls that aren't precise enough to make the pinball-style action fun. Runs out of ideas halfway through and tries to be a bullet hell by just filling the screen with bullets without any patterns.

Jun 19, 2021·2h·3·Verified

Steam User 1323STEAMRecommended

Great game, very original and well executed concept. Graphics are pretty and charming, story interesting and nice soundtrack

It isn't very long, but personally I feel the lengh is just in the right spot. It's enough to get all the fun you can from the gameplay, but certainly not enough to get bored with it by the time you reach the end.

Great title, certainly worth your money, really way more than any shlock Ubisoft throws up ( *Ekhm* Watch Dogs Legion *Ekhm* )

Jun 19, 2021·7h

Steam User 4491STEAMRecommended

Un bon jeu dans l'ensemble : un gameplay original avec de bonnes idées, des graphismes agréables, et une durée de vie correcte (comptez six heures minimum, potentiellement plus si vous galérez sur les passages difficiles de la fin).
Les décors comme les ennemis / puzzles sont un peu répétitifs, mais globalement je recommande !

Jun 17, 2021·6h·1·Verified

LANGUAGE	AUDIO	SUBTITLES	INTERFACE
English	—	Y	Y
Chinese (Simplified)	—	Y	Y
French	—	Y	Y
German	—	Y	Y
Japanese	—	Y	Y
Korean	—	Y	Y
Portuguese (Brazil)	—	Y	Y
Portuguese (Portugal)	—	—	Y
Spanish (Mexico)	—	—	Y
Spanish (Spain)	—	—	Y