We Love It's Guide to…
As Glimmer, a matchstick-wielding bird, explore a dark fairy-tale kingdom, battle beasts, and search for your kidnapped family.
Released 22 Sep 2026
Fire your matchstick into a wall, then use it as a springboard to reach ledges or interact with mechanisms.
Use the matchstick for more than climbing: it lights the way and can be used in combat, including to bat thrown fire vials toward enemies.
Time a button press during healing; the recovery action becomes a small timing challenge rather than a simple pause.
Glimmer, a small bird armed with a matchstick, sets out through a decaying kingdom to find his captured family and confront the queen. Along the way, he meets animal residents with their own stories and troubles.
Explore connected regions, solve puzzles, fight enemies and bosses, and return to previously blocked paths as Glimmer gains new abilities. The matchstick serves as a weapon and traversal tool: throwing it into a wall creates a springboard for reaching higher places.
Find trinkets to upgrade abilities and combine them to suit your play style. Collect storybook pages, uncover secrets, and use map markers and fast travel between campsites to support exploration; difficulty and accessibility options let players adjust the experience.
Developed by Kyle Thompson · Published by Kyle Thompson, Top Hat Studios, Inc., Doyoyo Games
Many supplied reviewers enjoy the hand-drawn, eerie-but-cute fairy-tale presentation, smooth movement, and the matchstick’s unusual role in both traversal and combat. Charming characters and writing, along with a relaxed and player-friendly approach to difficulty and navigation, are also recurring draws; some reviews additionally praise the music and boss encounters. Criticism most often concerns the game being short or too easy, while some players find parts of the map and exploration repetitive or overly guided.
Deep within the forest, at the bottom of a well, lives the only creature brave enough to kill the queen...
WELL DWELLER is a dark fairy-tale metroidvania made by the creators of Crypt Custodian and Islets!
Play as Glimmer - a tiny bird armed with a matchstick- who must burn the wicked queen to save his family. Explore a dark fairy-tale landscape and befriend the charming characters who reside in the kingdom’s underbelly. Battle terrifying beasts and gain new abilities to expand your map. Solve puzzles, discover secrets, and unravel the mysteries that lie in this rotted kingdom.
Among the rotting ruins are a charming cast of characters just trying to get by. Go camping with Ilda, a tiny mouse who is on the run from the queens grasp. Explore an abandoned castle with Looter, a mysterious scavenger who searches the kingdom for the best wares to steal. And find and reunite with all of your sheltered siblings who were snatched up one night by a crazed hunter.
Light up your matchstick to illuminate the world and aid in combat. Collect trinkets to upgrade your abilities, and mix-and-match them to customize your game play. Solve puzzles, defeat vicious bosses, and forge your path to the queens quarters to save your family.
| Platforms | Windows |
|---|---|
| Achievements | 41 |
| Age ratings |
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| Controller support | PlayStation, Xbox |
| Controller required | No |
| Demo | View demo on Steam |
