Animal Well on a Mac with a controller
The Animal Well layout is built into InputConfig, free on the Mac App Store. You don't have to make an account, there are no subscriptions, and nothing is locked. Optimized for Apple silicon.
On a Mac: No Mac version. It runs on Apple silicon through CrossOver or the Game Porting Toolkit. The game has native gamepad support, which a wrapper often does not pass.
Yes, Animal Well plays on a Mac with a controller, through a wrapper and this layout. The game does not let you rebind its keys, so the layout mirrors the hidden keyboard scheme exactly: arrows to move, Space to jump, X to throw, C for the inventory. It is a small layout for a game with more secrets than buttons.
On this page: 8 sections
The layout, control by control
How the layout thinks
- Move. The left stick and the D-pad send the arrow keys. Up climbs and looks, down crouches.
- Act. Jump (Space) is the bottom face button. Throwing the item (X) is the left face button and the right trigger. Confirm (Enter) is the top face button and the inventory (C) the right.
- Items. The bumpers cycle the equipped item (1 and 3).
- Menus. The map (M) is on Create and Escape on Options.
The layout matches the keys the game will not let you change, so there is nothing to set up in the game.
Tune it, or do not
- Nothing to change. The game cannot rebind and the layout matches it.
- A wrong key. If a key is different on your version, press Scan on that row and press the control you want.
This is one layout I would leave exactly as it is.
If the wrapper passes your controller
If the game reacts to the pad on its own, play on its scheme and leave this preset off, since both together make every press land twice. With the preset off, press jump once: a creature that jumps means you can play without it.
If your controller is not working in Animal Well
When Animal Well does not react to your controller on a Mac, climb this ladder, smallest step first:
- Check that the Mac sees the controller. Open the gamepad tester and press a button. If nothing lights up there, the problem is the connection, and a controller that is connected but not working covers that first.
- Expect less inside a wrapper. In CrossOver or the Game Porting Toolkit, Wine passes a controller to Animal Well only some of the time, and the keyboard and mouse get through every time. Using a controller with CrossOver games has the checks.
- Play it from keys. If Animal Well still ignores the pad, activate this layout. It sends the keyboard and mouse controls Animal Well already reads. Turn the game's own controller option off while it runs, or a press can arrive twice. The layout works whether or not Animal Well ever sees the controller.
Get it in two clicks
- Get InputConfig free on the Mac App Store, open it, and click Smart Preset Maker on the welcome screen.
- Search for Animal Well and pick it. The layout is created as a preset in your sidebar, named and ready.
- Press Activate. Every row can be changed afterwards: the editor's Scan button rebinds any control the moment you touch it.
To check the controller itself first, the gamepad tester shows every button and stick live in your browser.
Animal Well controls: every button and the key it sends
The Sends column is Animal Well's default keyboard and mouse controls, as this layout expects them. If you changed a key in the game's settings, change the same row in InputConfig.
| Controller | Sends | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| Left stick left | Left | Move left (Left arrow) |
| Left stick right | Right | Move right (Right arrow) |
| Left stick up | Up | Look / climb up (Up arrow) |
| Left stick down | Down | Crouch / look down (Down arrow) |
| D-pad left | Left | Move left (Left arrow) |
| D-pad right | Right | Move right (Right arrow) |
| D-pad up | Up | Up (Up arrow) |
| D-pad down | Down | Down (Down arrow) |
| A / Cross | Space | Jump (Space) |
| X / Square | X | Use / throw item (X) |
| Right trigger | X | Use / throw item (X) |
| Y / Triangle | Return | Interact / confirm (Enter) |
| LB / L1 | 1 | Previous item (1) |
| RB / R1 | 3 | Next item (3) |
| B / Circle | C | Open inventory (C) |
| Back / Share / Select | M | Open map (M) |
| Start / Options | Escape | Pause / menu (Esc) |
Button names follow the Xbox / PlayStation pair shown in the editor, so A / Cross is the bottom face button on either pad. On a Switch Pro Controller the bottom button is labeled B; the mapping still fires on position.
Questions
Does Animal Well run on a Mac?
Animal Well does not run natively on a Mac. CrossOver and the Game Porting Toolkit run it. This layout is for wrappers that do not pass the controller.
Is Animal Well better with a controller or a keyboard?
Most people play it on a controller: Steam lists full controller support, including DualSense and DualShock 4, and the keyboard keys cannot be changed. On a Mac, CrossOver does not always pass a pad to the game, so this layout sends the keyboard keys instead and the controller works either way.
Why is my controller not working in Animal Well on a Mac?
First check the Mac itself sees the controller, with the gamepad tester. If it does and Animal Well still ignores it, activate the Animal Well layout in InputConfig, which sends the game's keyboard and mouse controls from the controller.
Can I play Animal Well on an M1 Mac or a MacBook Air?
Animal Well has no Mac version, so it runs through a wrapper such as CrossOver or the Game Porting Toolkit, and how well depends on the Mac's chip and memory. I have not tested it on each Mac.
Related
Completely free. You don't have to make an account, there are no subscriptions, and nothing is locked. Optimized for Apple silicon. Open source on GitHub.
Updated