Although Creature in the Well comes with a steep learning curve, it also offers a unique combination of fun gameplay that is part dungeon crawler, part hack and slash and part pinball. Creature in the Well, developed by Flight Studio, takes place in a dystopian future with players taking on the role of a robot called a BOT-C unit, the last of its kind. It is up to this robot to travel into the heart of a desert mountain to restore power to an ancient weather machine, which will help save the city of Mirage from a deadly sandstorm.
A mysterious creature lives in the mountain, though, and the BOT-C unit will have to face this ancient beast to proceed with its mission. Gameplay involves a dungeon crawling experience where the BOT-C unit traveling through various levels of the mountain. Each level of the mountain requires the robot to absorb a certain amount of energy to access doors leading to other levels. The robot gathers energy by whacking small pinballs into bumpers, making them bounce around to absorb energy. The BOT-C unit does this with weapons found throughout the mountain and the city of Mirage. Strike weapons are for hitting the balls, while charge weapons charge the balls before striking.
This gameplay also requires a certain amount of physics. The BOT-C unit needs to know precisely where to stand and how to strike and charge balls to hit targets. This becomes more difficult when the BOT-C must also dodge attacks, not just from each level itself, but also during boss fights when the creature fights back. Because accessing levels isn't sequential, meaning players can pretty much wander into any level without warning, this can get difficult quickly, as well as frustrating. Exploration, though, does often result in finding secret areas, places where the BOT-C unit can find extra weapons and ways to gather more energy.
Players might also find the game's lack of instructions equally as frustrating. There are no tutorials to explain how the game's mechanics work. Lucky players will soon learn how to access the mountain's hub, a place where a restorative pool can bring the BOT-C unit back to full health. But there is no indication this pool exists, so finding it feels like stumbling upon a gold mine. Exploration is encouraged, but at the same time, this can also lead players into areas they aren't prepared for.
Graphically, the world of Creature in the Well is stunning, with bright and vibrant colors reminiscent of the PC pinball video games of the 1990s. The audio is also quite good: a techno-inspired soundtrack keeps the game moving like a well-oiled pinball machine.
Creature in the Well feels like a dungeon crawler, but it is unlike anything that has come before it. The addition of hack and slash and pinball elements gives it a fun and entertaining twist, despite some of its more frustrating issues.
Creature in the Well is now available for PC, Nintendo Switch, Xbox One and PlayStation 4. A digital copy for PS4 was provided to Screen Rant for the purposes of this review.