Creature in the Well is a striking indie game in more ways than one. This action title makes a strong first impression with its dreamy music, beautiful art style, and smooth performance, but it holds your interest beyond that with an intriguing tale and some pretty interesting gameplay. A town is trapped in an everlasting sandstorm, and BOT-C -- a robot engineer -- boots back up after hundreds of years to tend to some big machine in the mountain. That's where you step in, but a mysterious monster lurks in the darkness, watching your every move.

Your main job is entering each level and recharging every room with electricity. You'll build this up by smacking electro-balls around the environment, a little like playing pinball with hack and slash style controls. You can charge them up and then hit them in any direction with a duo of "weapons". As you progress, rooms become trickier, with new hazards and obstacles to deal with as you work to get the power running through the entire stage. It's simple stuff, but satisfying to pull off. Occasionally things can get a little repetitive, but there are just enough new elements sprinkled in to keep you on your toes.

As well as delving into the main levels, there's a small hub that's worth exploring if you want to get the most from the story. You can find a couple of NPCs to talk to about their experiences and the state of the game's world, while you can hear the nervous chatter of people holed up indoors. You can also upgrade your character here and practice your electro-ball swing. The whole game feels fairly modest, but it punches above its weight to deliver something very different.