THE WELL IS NOT EMPTY

THE WELL IS NOT EMPTY is a horror game set in a network of underground tunnels beneath a village well. The village’s water supply is almost gone and strange movement has been heard in the well. The player is sent down on a rope to investigate and report back on what is there. The tunnels lead to the ruins of an abandoned construction site that was apparently intended to be a prison.

The game combines exploration with several types of obstacle. Players clear rubble blocking their path, fight off rats with a rusty spoon, and may uncover items the rats had been eating. Some creatures in the tunnels fear light, so the player turns a hand-crank backup generator to light the rooms and must get through before the lights go out. Other creatures can reach out from behind a gate and grab the player if they stand too close, and escaping their grasp is done through a quick-time event. Large chasms must be crossed by balancing, leaning left and right to stay upright, with a long fall as the consequence of failure.

Throughout the ruins, the player can find notes and clues that describe what happened in the prison and why nobody remains there. The aim is to piece together these events and find a way out.