Some of the secrets inAnimal Wellare so well hidden that the game’s developer thought that some would take years for the community to find, assuming they were even found at all. One such secret involves a special item called the Cheaters Ring, which allowsAnimal Wellplayers to turn off clipping and travel through walls as they please.
The intended solution for getting the Cheaters Ring remains unclear, butthanks to a Steam user named Striped, it’s possible for both PC and console players to get their hands on this secret item using glitches. The process for doing so is fairly simple, but the timings are a little difficult to master, so players may need quite a few attempts to nail it.
By using the Cheaters Ring, players can gain access to a bunch of secret areas, some of which have buttons in them. Pushing all of them will corrupt the player’s save file, so those using the Cheaters Ring should be sure to steer clear of any buttons they find while exploring hidden parts of the map.
How to Get the Cheaters Ring in Animal Well
In order to get the Cheaters Ring, players will need to make use of the Wheel Warp. To get started, they’ll want to return the Disc to the statue where they found it and then save their game in the save room above the statue. They’ll then want to get inside the Wheel and roll to their right; falling down into the area with the statue and quickly grabbing the Disc as they pass. This will result in the Disc becoming their active item, but the wheel will continue to roll around and will follow the momentum of the player even while they’re not inside it. They’ll need to roll it into the water to their right, thenuse the Animal Flute to fast travel to the warp room.
From here, players should travel through the fish head warp and then make their way to the top left-hand corner of the screen until they find themselves in the spot shown in the image above. Once there, they should wait ten seconds before heading to the screen above. The screen transition should take place roughly fifteen seconds after passing through the fish head; so five seconds to get into position and then ten seconds before exiting the screen. Assuming they’ve already beatenthe final boss ofAnimal Well, players can turn on the timer from the settings menu, which will make keeping track of timings a whole lot easier.
Players can use the Bubble Wand to traverse this room if they don’t already have wings.
In the next area, players should get onto the fan platform as quickly as possible and then wait in the spot shown above. While they’re waiting, they should open up the inventory and switch to the item to the left of the Wheel. Ten seconds after entering the screen (time spent in the inventory menu doesn’t count toward this total), they should simultaneously press the button that opens up the inventory and the right shoulder button that cycles through items. If done correctly, players will be teleported to the position of the Wheel, which has been rolling around off-screen since they left it earlier on.
Before closing the inventory menu, players should switch to another item. It doesn’t really matter which one they choose, as long as it’s not the Wheel, as this increases the size of the player’s hitbox. If the timings worked out, players should find themselves in a small area with a chest containing the Cheaters Ring. If they instead find themselves falling into the water in the room with the two chinchillas or on a platform with a fox and a snail on it, it means they pressed the inventory and item cycle buttons a little too quickly. If they find themselves in the room with the three fish head pipes andthe chest containing the Magic egg, it means that they were too slow. Either way, they’ll need to back out to the main menu and try again.
How to Use the Cheaters Ring
The Cheaters Ring allows players to clip through walls and can be activated by pressing the R3 button or, for those playing on PC without a gamepad, F on the keyboard. While active, the Cheaters Ring allows players to travel freely around the map as if there were no walls, without having to worry about taking damage from any enemies or environmental hazards they pass through. Deactivating the Cheaters Ring is just as simple as activating it, with players simply having to press F or R3 again once they’re ready to turn clipping back on.
Cheaters Ring Secrets
There are a few interesting things that players can find hidden away inside the walls ofAnimal Wellwhile using the Cheaters Rinf. For starters, there are nine additional Secret Bunnies, although players should think twice before collecting any of these. This is because doing so will prevent them from being able to solve the BDTP, which in turn makes it impossible tounlock the secret message from Dunkey. As such, players should be sure to do these things before they collect even a single Cheaters Ring bunny.
As for some of the other hidden secrets, there are a few animals that players can interact with hidden in certain places, though as of the time of writing, their purpose is unknown. Playing the Animal Flute for them will result in their dialog changing, but it’s unclear if this is part of some larger puzzle or simply a nice little Easter Egg for those who stray from the beaten path. Given the cryptic nature of some of theother puzzles inAnimal Well, though, most are assuming that it’s probably the former.
