Animal Well’s Speedrunners now beat the game in less than five minutes

Animal well is one of the hottest games around. It quickly shot to the top of the Steam bestseller chart after it was released glowing reviews last thursday.

While most players complete the main story in four to six hours, it didn’t take long for speedsters to figure out how to blaze through solo developer Billy Basso’s eerie maze. YouTubers are now posting sub-five-minute bursts, and the any% record (ie the best recorded time without any restrictions) has been broken time and time again.

Within hours of Hubert0987 claiming the world record with 4:44 run on ThursdayDemonSlayer6669 seems to have managed to boast one that was 18 seconds faster and maybe the first recorded time under 4:30. (Don’t watch the video yet if you haven’t beaten the game and want to avoid spoilers.)

Animal well it hasn’t even been out for a week, so you can expect records to keep falling as runners optimize routes until the final piston of the game. It’s great to already see a speedrunning community forming around a new game as skilled players try it out, perhaps for the chance to show off their skills at the next big Games Done Quick event.