Returning to The Well in Second Life

In 2012, Loki Eliot created The Well, a horror themed mystery adventure about attempts to rescue a little boy who had fallen down an old well and into the labyrinth of tunnels and caverns which lay beneath it. In 2013, he followed this with The Well: Sollicitus. Set a year later, it set players the challenge of discovering what had happened to a science team that vanished while exploring the labyrinth.

Now, in 2015, comes the third instalment of this unfolding story: The Well Infirmos. Set some time after the events of 2013, it places the player in a mental hospital. how they got there, they have no idea – but perhaps it was a result of their experiences beneath the well. But there is something strange out this hospital: the staff and other patients have vanished, and while the wisest move would be to simply get out of there, the only way to do so is by investigating what has happened; something which means an eventual return to the well and its caverns.

The Well is an Experience based game, requiring the payment of a one-time fee of L$100 to the vendor at the landing point, which registers you to play the game as often as you like. Once paid, press the Start button on the vendor to receive the game HUD, which will auto attach to the bottom of your screen, and will self-destruct on leaving the game area. Should you return another time to play again, simply click the Start button on the vendor to receive a new HUD.

Once you have the HUD attached, approach the Well to view a brief introduction to the game before you arrive in the day care room of the hospital. Here you must explore the various rooms and offices – door will open as you reach them, and your camera will auto-focus on items of interest. You will need local sounds enabled, and make sure you have the volume turned up.

I don’t want to give too much away, other than to say the child’s drawing you find around the hospital are of import. However, you’ll know you’re on the right track when you emerge from the Security Office after seeing / hearing everything you need, to find the hospital strangely altered and the day care room is now dominated by a huge hole which offers you the only way forward.

And so you return to the tunnels beneath the well, and you must find your way through them using the teleporters, which may either carry you forward or backwards, and avoid the child-like Shadows. A direct encounter with this will affect your sanity, as shown on your HUD, and if this drops to zero, you will be returned to the landing point and have to start over. You’ll also be returned to the mouth of the well when you have successfully reached the end of the game – and receive a little prize as a memento.

Those who have played previous iterations of The Well will find this latest version familiar – which doesn’t make it any the less interesting. The major change is to the start of the game when your are in the hospital, but “down below” in the caverns has also been given a few new wrinkles. If I’m honest, moving around some of the hospital rooms can leave your camera on the wrong side of a wall and it can also be a little tricky getting close enough to some of the drawing to auto-focus on them, but not to the extent that the game is spoiled.

Overall, The Well: Infirmos is an engrossing third instalment to the story, which I enjoyed as a returning player, and Jodi and Andi, who took to the caverns as first timers, reported they had a great time  playing. And if you have an Oculus Rift, make sure you use it when playing – The Well is fully suited to complete VR immersion.

SLurl Details

The Well Infirmos, Escapades Island (Rated: General)