The surprises that followed Animal Well’s near-perfect launch

Developer Billy Basso on speedy puzzle-solvers, what he patched in the game since release (and what he won't), plus some vague hints about what comes next.

Animal Well. Screenshot: Billy Basso, Bigmode

Billy Basso has allowed himself one indulgence since the May 9 launch of Animal Well, one of the year’s most critically acclaimed games—and a pretty hot seller as well. 

He spent $9 on coffee.

He was in his grocery store, eyeing the tubs of Folgers and Maxwell House that he used to buy. 

“It did occur to me, I don’t need to do that,” he told me recently. In that store, he was cognizant of the new opportunities that come into one’s life after releasing a hit video game. “I can get one of the ones that comes in the bag.”

Basso splurged, though he has only bought the bag once or twice since Animal Well came out.

He’s avoiding big purchases, he said. “The launch went really well, and I think I still haven’t opened myself up to realizing how well it’s done and what that means.”

Success has, to an extent, taken Billy Basso by surprise. It’s been seven years since he started developing the 2D, puzzle-filled exploration game Animal Well, and it’s now about a year since he began crunching to release the game this past May.

Last week, Basso and I discussed the game’s reception, that special coffee purchase and just how the last three months have gone.

In that time, he’s learned his limits on just what he will allow himself to change in Animal Well via post-release updates.

And he’s come to peace with how wrong he was about how long it would take players to find (most of?) the secrets he spent seven years burying in the game.

”It does let me know that, in a future game, there's kind of no limit to how obscure you can make something,” he floated.