For being a Metroidvania title devoid of traditional combat, you sure can die a lot inAnimal Well. Just because your little blob doesn’t fight back doesn’t mean the critters down here will be friendly, with plenty of them coming to attack and kill you as you solve the puzzles of the Well.
There are ways to temporarily increase your hearts during tough puzzles, but quick-thinking Metroidvania fans realized that the inclusion of one specific animal with a holiday devoted to it was a little curious. As such, get ready to celebrate Groundhog Day in Animal Well with more hearts!
There are blue fruits ina few places around the mapthat provide temporary heart boosts, as denoted by blue hearts added to your total heart container count in the bottom-right corner of the screen, but this guide focuses on how to permanently raise your max hearts in Animal Well.
Set Your System Calendar To Groundhog’s Day
There’s already plenty going on inthe southeast biome, the one that’s outlined in indigo in the bottom-right quadrant of your map. It’s where you’ve faced thecreepy Ostrich boss puzzlenot once but twicein pursuit of one of the game’sfour main flamesrequired to proceed toward the final puzzle.
But when you go intothe room with the telephonein this area, right by the series of platforms that can rise or lower depending onwhich way the mouse nearby is running, you’ll immediately notice an animal in the background here -a groundhog.
Most of the time, when you enter the room to save your game or grab one of the fruits to refill your health,the groundhog normally retreats into its burrow, where it becomes another piece of creepy set dressing to help with the ambiance of the game. However, there’s one day per year when you can interact with it.
If youenter the groundhog room with your system’s internal calendar set to Groundhog Day- aNorth American holidaywherein a groundhog emerges from its burrow and, according to legend, determines if the arrival of spring is coming sooner than later - you’ll find that, in the spirit of the day,the Groundhog isn’t hiding.
Groundhog Day takes place annually onFebruary 2.
Instead, on Groundhog Day,the Groundhog is outside its burrownear the phone, and in its hand is ared potion. Approaching the Groundhog while it’s holding the potion will give you the choice to sip the mysterious brew, and doing sogrants one permanent additional heart container, outlined in yellow.
In total,you can do this four timesin order to obtain a total ofeight possible heartsin Animal Well (per save), but you canonly get one potion per year. As such, if you wantall four of the extra heartsin Animal Well, you’ll need tovisit the Groundhog on Groundhog Day in four separate years.
