Well Dweller

Worth buying? What 178 Steam reviews say.Worth buying? Here’s what 178 Steam reviews actually say.

Overwhelmingly PositiveOverwhelmingly Positive · 98%2026

$19.99

US Steam price, checked 5 h ago

The verdict

A charming, short, easy dark-fairytale metroidvania with great art, music and smooth movement. Veterans wanting challenge or depth should skip it.

Great for

Newcomers and casual metroidvania fans wanting a cozy, creepy-cute, player-friendly adventure

Main risk

Too easy, short and shallow in mechanics for experienced metroidvania players

Since the last analysis (Oct 9)

Notable change

New complaintShallow mechanics and few upgrades (#1)
New complaintFrustrating time trials and chase sequences (#3)
New complaintControls and input issues (#4)
New complaintToo easy, bosses fall quickly (#5)
Complaint goneRepetitive, simple combat and bosses
Complaint goneAnnoying timed escapes and time trials
Complaint goneDark, unsettling tone and weak writing
Complaint goneControls and key binding problems
Complaint movedRepetitive map with endless doors and backtracking: #1 → #2
Praise movedGreat atmospheric soundtrack: #5 → #3
Praise movedFluid movement and creative matchstick traversal: #3 → #4

What players love

Beautiful cute-yet-grotesque art style

Mentioned in ~1 in 2 positive reviews

“Character designs range from the absolute cutest little animals you have seen in your life to the most grotesque horror-adjacent creatures that look like they jumped right out of a nightmare.”
Steam review · 10.1 h played ↗

“the music and art are wonderful, perfectly straddling the line between cute and deeply unsettling.”
Steam review · 11.9 h played ↗

Charming characters, writing and story

Mentioned in ~1 in 3 positive reviews

“Writing is quite charming and funny.”
Steam review · 10.6 h played ↗

“if you want to play a game that makes you smile because of its character development (Egbert, for example)”
Steam review · 14.3 h played ↗

Great atmospheric soundtrack

Mentioned in ~1 in 4 positive reviews

“The soundtrack, which is often ethereal, melancholy, and lonely but can up the ante with quick, catchy action beats”
Steam review · 8 h played ↗

“the soundtrack is ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ amazing, so glad its on spotify.”
Steam review · 11.9 h played ↗

Fluid movement and creative matchstick traversal

Mentioned in ~1 in 4 positive reviews

“I especially loved how the matchstick mechanic is tied into both combat and exploration instead of just being a gimmick”
Steam review · 14.7 h played ↗

“The games level design is dominated by the 'throw javelins to make platforms' mechanic and I can't think of a better implementation of it - it flows so seemlessly.”
Steam review · 11.5 h played ↗

Accessible and beginner-friendly with difficulty options

Mentioned in ~1 in 5 positive reviews

“I was really happy to see in the Accessibility menu there are some options to make it even easier than the Easy difficulty”
Steam review · 14.3 h played ↗

“it's a truly friendly Hollow Knight, so for those just about to get into metroidvanias, you couldn't ask for a better game”
Steam review · translated · 12.1 h played ↗

Respectful quality-of-life features

Mentioned in ~1 in 5 positive reviews

“It doesn't force you to waste time traveling back and forth just to make the game feel "harder."”
Steam review · 17.9 h played ↗

“everything is made so the player can enjoy the story comfortably and without needless stress”
Steam review · translated · 15.9 h played ↗

What players complain about

Shallow mechanics and few upgrades

Mentioned in ~1 in 5 negative reviews

“there are no builds, no sub-weapons, no spells, no pogo, no parry”
Steam review · 1.9 h played ↗

“By the time you unlock most skills the game is over”
Steam review · 11.6 h played ↗

Repetitive map with endless doors and backtracking

Mentioned in ~1 in 5 negative reviews

“you end up going back and forth between the areas that it become boring and a chore rather than a metroidvania.”
Steam review · 10.1 h played ↗

“In that time I found 2 feathers of 7 and opened 100500 doors.”
Steam review · translated · 6.3 h played ↗

Frustrating time trials and chase sequences

Mentioned in ~1 in 5 negative reviews

“I'll switch my review when the time trial for the Hunter's Cabin doesn't require perfection from start to finish.”
Steam review · 9.7 h played ↗

“I dropped it at the escape from the innkeeper, and that was already 77% of the game.”
Steam review · translated · 15.8 h played ↗

Controls and input issues

Mentioned in ~1 in 7 negative reviews

“> can't set your key bind to "alt"”
Steam review · 12.9 h played ↗

Too easy, bosses fall quickly

Mentioned in ~1 in 9 negative reviews

“even on hard, there is almost no challenge whatsoever. I defeated most bosses in 3 or fewer attempts”
Steam review · 11.3 h played ↗

“All bosses can be spammed with Molotovs and die in a minute.”
Steam review · translated · 12 h played ↗

Matchstick wall-throw replaces double jump awkwardly

Mentioned in ~1 in 9 negative reviews

“having to throw my matchstick into a wall 5 times in every room is so annoying”
Steam review · 2.1 h played ↗

System requirements

From the Steam store page

Steam Deck: Verified

Minimum

OSWindows 10

ProcessorIntel Pentium E2180 (2 * 2000), AMD Athlon Dual Core 4450e (2 * 2300), or equivalent

Memory4 GB RAM

GraphicsGeForce GT 220 (1024 MB), Radeon HD 4650 (1024 VRAM), or equivalent

Storage1 GB available space

OSWindows 10

ProcessorIntel Pentium E2180 (2 * 2000), AMD Athlon Dual Core 4450e (2 * 2300), or equivalent

Memory4 GB RAM

GraphicsGeForce GT 220 (1024 MB), Radeon HD 4650 (1024 VRAM), or equivalent

Storage1 GB available space

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