How to sneak up on a squirrel in Animal Well

Animal Well has numerous secrets and side content throughout the main story. One peculiar secret you’ll encounter is a certain squirrel’s treasure, which you can obtain by sneaking up behind it and stealing it. Whether you’re looking to complete an achievement or just have a quick laugh, you can complete this within minutes of starting your playthrough.

Animal Well SNEAK achievement guide

The easiest way to sneak up on a squirrel for the SNEAK trophy is to start a new save file, follow the squirrel that appears in the starting room, and steal its nut. You’ll go through the usual path of obtaining firecrackers and clearing out any ghosts you find before heading toward the animal statues room. Shortly after, you’ll find your opportunity to sneak up on the squirrel, knocking out the SNEAK achievement.

This interaction with the squirrel is the only missable achievement you’ll encounter in Animal Well, so if you’re near the end of your first playthrough, creating a new file is the way to go. Otherwise, if you’re not far into your current run, you can continue partway through and play as usual. Nonetheless, I’ll explain each step as if you’re starting from the beginning.

Complete the beginning sections

Initially, you’ll follow part of the squirrel’s route before deviating slightly. At first, upon spawning into the game and spotting the squirrel, head right and continue down the usual beginning path. Save in the telephone room if needed, as the next room can catch you off guard if this is your first playthrough.

After saving your game, go right before avoiding the ghost and running up the ledges to the top layer. Running this way will bring you back to the save room, where you’ll hop across the moving platform, travel down the hidden corridor, and interact with the crank to reveal another platform. Cross this gap, head left down the bottommost path, and loop around to step on the last button to unblock the left exit. Pick up the firecrackers before returning to the first save room.

Remember to save your game

Once you enter the save room again, the squirrel will run off again. Follow it into the ghost room, eliminating the ghost along the way and turning the crank to bring up another platform. Cross the gap, climb the ladder, and follow the squirrel once more, opening the map chest along the way. Save once you enter the four statues room, as you may have to reload your save a few times soon.

After heading right into this room, you’ll enter the last stretch of finding the squirrel. Go up the ladder and run along the usual path, activating buttons along the way, until you find the final squirrel room for the SNEAK achievement. You won’t interact with the squirrel yet; instead, continue right, avoiding the hedgehogs, until you find the key chest room. Use the chinchilla to reach the platform, grab the key, and unlock the door in the hedgehog room.

Move very slowly to sneak up on the squirrel

Be careful from here onward. Once you enter the door, you’ll have to move very slowly to sneak up on the squirrel on the next screen. If you’re using controller, slowly nudging your joystick until you reach the squirrel is the way to go. Using keyboard and mouse makes this far more challenging, so it’s recommended you grab a controller if you have one.

Once you’re ready, slowly move to the left and approach the squirrel. When you’re close enough, interact with it to steal its nut. If you scare it away at any point, reload the save and repeat it until you grab the nut and complete the SNEAK achievement/trophy in Animal Well.