Fast traveling has become a staple of the modern gaming experience across genres, and players have come to expect a certain level of QoL, even from Metroidvanias. While games likeDragon’s Dogma 2subvert player expectationsof what fast travel looks like by making it extremely punishing,Animal Wellgoes a different route.
Instead of letting players warp to discovered locations via certain checkpoints—a standard practice inmodern platformers—Animal Well’s Fast travel is integrated into the game via strategically placed animal mouths in locations that warrant revisiting. Here’s how it works.
How to Fast Travel in Animal Well
Collect 8 Secret Eggs
Secret eggs are hidden inside black chests throughout the map ofAnimal Well. Most often, they’re either protected by a puzzle or hidden behind false walls, making finding them challenging. Once playersfind eight eggs(any eight will do), a door will open in the egg room just west of the statue room (shown above).
Players will also receive the achievement ‘Egg Enjoyer—Find 8 Secret Eggs’ for collecting eight eggs.
With eggs in hand, visit the egg room and enter the bottom left door, which should now be unlocked automatically. This path leads toward a golden chest on three glass tiles.Open the chest to find the Animal Flute, the item needed to unlock fast travel shortcuts.
How to Use the Animal Flute
To unlock fast travel with the Animal Flute:
In the room with the animal heads, stand on the pedestal in the middle andactivate the flute again. A few of the animal heads in the room will open their mouths. Each of these statues is afast-travel shortcutto a location the player has previously visited. Walking into the mouths will lead players back to those places.
Depending on how much of the map players have explored, the number of fast travel points that open up when they first use the flute will differ.
Use the ladder below the pedestal to reach the room below. Stand on the pond’s edge (as shown above), and you’ll see a green fish popping out of the water at regular intervals. This is a code describing how to use the Animal Flute. The fish faces right twice, left twice, down twice, and up twice before stopping.
Repeat the same actions with the Animal Flute:Right, Right, Left, Left, Down, Down, Up, Up. Playing the flute like this will let players warp back to the fast travel room instantly (the one with the animal mouths) from any location on the map. This way, they don’t have to make the trek through the egg room every time there is a need for fast travel.
Fast travel spots are visible on the map as little white dots.They’re extremely hard to spot, even when fully zoomed in, and only appear on the map after players have unlocked them.
