Well Dweller Xbox Series X Review: Kyle Thompson's metroidvania is the indie surprise of 2026

A Game That Came Out of Nowhere 

Well Dweller is one of those games that truly risk going unnoticed. It arrived almost out of nowhere, without much fanfare, and I myself discovered it almost by chance while looking for something to play on Game Pass.

Then you start playing and realize that behind that seemingly simple appearance, there's much more than you could have imagined.

Developed by Kyle Thompson, author of Sheepo, Islets, and Crypt Custodian, with music by Eric Thompson, Well Dweller takes all the fundamental elements of the metroidvania and puts them together with truly surprising care. Exploration, combat, new abilities, secrets, bosses, and a progressively unfolding world are all present, but it's the way they are blended that makes the difference.

And above all, there's a story that starts as a small dark fairy tale and, as it progresses, becomes something much deeper. 

A Dark Fairy Tale That Becomes Something More 

The story tells of a gardener who finds an abandoned child among the bushes and decides to take her to the Queen. The sovereign chooses to adopt her, but as the child grows, she develops an increasingly cruel character, even killing birds.

The Queen tries to change her, but is found dead.

The child thus becomes the new sovereign and orders the hunters to eliminate all birds in the kingdom. Few manage to survive, and among them is a small family consisting of a mother and five children, hidden at the bottom of a well, inside an old skull.

The mother is now exhausted and sends her children to look for food in the territory where the hunters sleep. The eldest, who becomes the protagonist of our adventure, sets off.

From this moment, the story begins to expand, adding characters, situations, and new elements that progressively transform what seemed like a simple search for food into something much grander.

There are different layers of interpretation, stories within other stories, and some plot twists that deserve to be discovered by playing.

And for this reason, I'll stop here. The rest is best discovered on your own. 

A Metroidvania That Knows Exactly What It Wants to Be 

Well Dweller doesn't try to reinvent the genre, and personally, I believe that's one of its main qualities.

It takes the foundations of metroidvanias and uses them with great confidence, building an experience that constantly grows through new abilities, powers, and mechanics. Initially unreachable areas become accessible later, and what at first seems like a simple path gradually transforms into a much more articulated world.

What I appreciated most is the way backtracking is handled. Returning to already visited areas to reach previously inaccessible points is part of the genre's DNA, but here I never had that feeling of having to traverse half the world again just to retrieve something. Movements feel much more natural and rarely become tedious.

And then there are the variations on the theme.

Without going into detail, at certain moments Well Dweller completely changes its approach and leads us to use tools and abilities to overcome specific sections. So you don't spend all your time jumping, fighting, or dodging, and this variety always arrives at the right moment.

The first comparison that inevitably comes to mind is Silksong, for some solutions and sensations, but Well Dweller is not a copy and still manages to build its own identity.

The bosses are also a particularly successful element, with some of them leaving a stronger impression than others, but all are well-constructed, original, and above all, different from each other. There aren't simply variations of the same combat, because each boss has its own characteristics, attacks, and mechanics, perfectly integrated into the environment where we face them. 

Simply Spectacular Art Direction 

Well Dweller is a feast for the eyes.

The drawn style immediately gives it a precise personality, managing to combine an almost fairy-tale atmosphere with a dark, degraded, and at times unsettling world.

Each area has its own identity, with different colors, atmospheres, and sensations. It moves from bright and almost reassuring zones to much darker settings, without the game ever losing its visual coherence.

Even the protagonist, at first glance, isn't exactly the most handsome of heroes; to be honest, he's even a bit ugly, but precisely this characteristic ends up becoming part of his charm and identity, and after a few hours, it becomes difficult to imagine him differently.

Technically and artistically, we are looking at a truly superlative work. Animations, environments, colors, effects, and details are crafted with great attention.

The soundtrack also does its job without ever being intrusive. It's simple, but not trivial, and above all, it knows when to be heard and when to leave room for silence. At times, the very absence of music manages to create that feeling that something is about to happen.

Everything seems to be in its right place.