While you explore the expansive world of Animal Well, you’ll encounter paths you can’t access and tools, like the Disc, you must learn the mechanics of if you want to progress.
Animal Well distinguishes itself from other puzzle platformers and Metroidvanias by ditching straightforward combat and making you stop and think your way around obstacles. Not every blocker to progress has a simple weapon or key you can use to open it. Instead, sometimes you’ve got to consider the tools you have at your disposal and think about how they might be able to help. The Disc is a great example of just one item that has so many ways it can help you explore.
How to hit switches with the Disc in Animal Well
The Disc has several basic uses, and one much more complex use. At its heart, it’s a tool that allows you to hit switches from a distance. You’ll undoubtedly have noticed the yellow buttons or switches around Animal Well‘s world that lie just out of your reach. Once you have the Disc, you can throw it to activate those switches.
The most basic form of these switches is those across a large drop from you. Sometimes, you can just throw the Disc to hit them, but at other times, you’ll need to hop on a bubble and then throw it. There are several buttons behind small openings in the game that can only be hit with the Disc, so remember where they are if you don’t have the item at the time you see them.
The Disc will do more than just turn switches on, though. It can be used to create a loop between them. For example, the room in the image above has two switches next to each other. They both swap which platforms are physical in the room and can, therefore, be stood upon. By throwing the Disc at one switch and having it bounce between them, you’ll create a loop that causes platforms in the room to shift, allowing you to progress around the room without triggering each switch manually.
This concept can be taken a step further. In the room above, you can see yellow buttons inside a rectangle that you’ve got no hope of reaching. However, you can throw your Disc into it. Coaxing the whale in the room into blowing water, which you can do by blowing a bubble with the Bubble Wand, will cause the Disc to move upwards and push every button. That unlocks the nearby door.
A similar result can be achieved in rooms with switches in the same position but with fans underneath. Once you set the Disc in motion, all you need to do is activate the fans, and the Disc will slowly activate every switch in the area you can’t reach.
Outside of hitting switches, the Disc is also great at stopping hedgehogs from moving. It only stuns them for a few seconds, but it’s enough to make them drop off a ledge or stay still so you can get around them. I tried using it a lot in the Chameleon boss fight but found it didn’t work well there. It works a treat in the rooms leading to the boss fight, though.
The last standard use of the disc is as a distraction for dogs. Soon after you get it, you’ll encounter dogs in rooms that will pick you up and shake you to death. They’re not malicious; they just get carried away, especially when there are three of them. You can throw it at one dog to distract and get around it or throw the Disc so it bounces between two walls above the dogs. This will cause them to follow the Disc, not you, and you can pass by them without any trouble.
How to ride the Disc in Animal Well
The last use for the Disc in Animal Well that I’ve found is as a vehicle. This is so tricky to get right, but if you throw it at a wall where it will bounce back and forth close to your position, you can jump onto it. You can also throw it at a nearby wall, jump onto it, and ride it across bodies of water to a new region of the map.
There are many areas and puzzles where this is required, but you won’t think of the solution until the mechanic clicks in your head. Remember to try it out in a room if you ever get stuck because it might just help you progress, even if you can’t initially see how.
