# Bigmode Check In Some 18 months ago, Dunkey and his wife Leah [[Dunkey Launches Indie Game Publishing Company Bigmode|launched]] their indie publishing label—Bigmode. At the time, there was a wave of criticism that surprised me. > I am a smidge surprised at the criticism of this venture in the just 12 or so hours since its announcement. I generally lean on a half-full perspective, but I’ve seen the devs, publishers, and press share a range of feedback. Takes from “I have opinions on games, so now I can publish the best” to “get lots of money upfront incase it fails.” In Bigmode's initial pitch, the team said they were looking for... > Fun > Substance > Originality > Passion & artistry > Devs with a clear, strong vision > Devs with deep gaming experience & understanding Now Bigmode's first game has been published, so how is the label's first release? Uh...*Animal Well* is sitting pretty with a 91/100 on [Metacritic](https://www.metacritic.com/game/animal-well/). I saw countless critics christening the title as a early "Game of the Year" contender.[^1] A favorite review of mine was [Marty Sliva's review](https://youtube.com/watch?v=0oV6iitDMSY) from Second Wind. > *Animal Well* is a superb Metroidvania, developed by shared memory and published by Dunkey's new indie label, Bigmode. Through a combination of smart gameplay twists, fantastic atmosphere, a wealth of hidden secrets, and a complete sense of trust in the player, *Animal Well* confidently stands as one of the best games I've played in years. Full stop. I succumbed to the hype and redeemed some PlayStation Stars to save some money on *Animal Well*. There is undeniable magic in the dev Billy Basso's game. Some of my early notes... - Graphics - I don’t think I have ever seen pixelated foliage and lanterns move with such fluidity before. It is captivating and mesmerizing. - The water reflections 🥵 - Music/Sound Design - Foreign. Plip plop. Echoes. - An ethereal peace washing over - SFX are blip blop crunch goodness *Animal Well* is a banger so far. Bigmode has delivered a game with fun, substance, originality, passion, artistry, and a clear, strong vision. Full stop. It's a heck of a first impression. I almost feel like a serving of claim chowder should be ordered up for all the naysayers from Bigmode's launch. *Star of Providence* is up next, which did come out in 2017 on PC. It's original incarnation is sitting at an [83](https://www.metacritic.com/game/star-of-providence/). The baseline version has proven quality. I wager it is safe to assume the ultimate edition with all the new stuff will garner similar, if not better, praise upon its release on Switch. The question now is not "can Bigmode deliver?," but "can Bigmode keep delivering?" I'm going to go out on a lilypad and say yes. And yes, [[Biggy.png|Biggy]] is still *divine*. [^1]: A silly thing to discuss in May, but the SEO Gods demand it.