Subsurface Circular Reviews
Subsurface Circular is a landmark moment in interactive storytelling. The elegance of its escalation is simply unmatched, as it tells a story that makes you feel like you're in completely over your head, and yet still perfectly believable. The characters you meet along the way all feel unique with their own personality, which makes interacting with them a test of wit and cunning as you use the conversational mechanics to their full effect. There's nothing quite else quite like Subsurface Circular, and when that uniqueness is combined with the phenomenal narrative at hand, you have all the ingredients for a simply unforgettable and very special journey aboard the subway.
A fantastic exercise in story telling and character driven gaming which could start a new wave of 'short' style gaming. A must play and high bar for other stories to hit for years to come.
Subsurface Circulas is a great adventure release that shines on the Nintendo Switch. The HD rumble ads to the overall feel of the game, and the music greatly complements the overall experience to give us a short but great indie release that is one of the best game's on the Nintendo Switch. The game looks great on TV and on the Switch's screen, with a solid art style that shines on Nintendo's hybrid console.
Subsurface Circular extracts maximum entertainment from limited resources through the admirable trick of great writing, excellent pacing, sparkling dialogue and bang-on story beats. It's a lovely little game, the fine work of a developer whose main skill differential is neither coding, art nor level design, but good old-fashioned storytelling.
The game — really a visual novel with light puzzle-solving elements through text — was released recently on the Switch, after coming out last year on Steam. It’s a short story from Mike Bithell, the creator behind Thomas Was Alone and Volume.
It may be short but it's a fantastic interactive novella that will have its hooks in you from the start
Subsurface Circular has an engaging story with compelling characters that really makes you think about how you'll meet your objectives. While the game is short, clocking in at around two hours, the story itself is enjoyable enough that you really don't mind the short length. For six dollars, Subsurface Circular is worth checking out for the story alone.
Subsurface Circular is the brunch of gaming fare on Nintendo Switch — abbreviated, filling, and definitely worth the price. Anyone who finds some joy in futuristic techno flair will fall in love with this indie darling, and the narrative is short enough that it will leave you wanting more — for better or worse.
Subsurface Circular is worth your attention. It's well-priced, and offers a unique and compelling experience from start to finish which you can very reasonably achieve in a single sitting. The game is concise, but leaves little to be desired, making it a solid value.
This feels like a passion project that is extremely polished. It might not offer much replay value but as a brief experience, it is worth its asking price.
The first Mike Bithell short feels like a pleasant stretch of the grey matter, offering players a story that keeps the intrigue throughout.
Saying anything else will just ruin the magic that this short, intriguing title holds. With its low price point and great pacing, I'd encourage everyone to check this out. If you're a fan of sci-fi, this is almost a no-brainer, but even people who are typically not interested in visual novels would do well to try Subsurface Circular for themselves. The organic integration of puzzle elements makes for one of the best detective games around.
Subsurface Circular is one of the most unique games available for the Switch right now, and this iteration feels right at home on the console.
This "Mike Bithell short" is an intriguing, little, adventure. Gameplay wise is as simple as efficient and is visually refined and well polished.
Review in Italian | Read full review
With a cast of well-realised characters, and a story that captivates from start-to-finish, Subsurface Circular's robot mystery will have your attention from the moment the train leaves the station.
A fast-paced, snappily-written story mixed with some sleek visual design makes Subsurface Circular a great title to think about for the two hour runtime it takes to tell its tale. This game is a wonderful addition to the Switch library, and I hope that more Bithell Shorts will be on the way.
Subsurface Circular is a lovely, short exploration game on the kind of people you might sit next to on a metro. It's thoughtful, engaging and thought-provoking.
Mike Bithell may have intended for Subsurface Circular to be nothing more than something to fill the time between other projects but his team has created an engaging text-based adventure featuring excellent writing, fleshed out characters, a compelling detective story, and a world with the potential to tell many more tales that would be perfect as a single evening's entertainment. Its unorthodox marketing may have seen it slip under your radar when it came to PC and mobile last year but it's definitely worth trying now that it's on Nintendo's console hybrid.
Subsurface Circular is a short game, but it's a satisfying title that doesn't overstay its welcome.
Bithell Games’ experiment into short-form gaming might not rank as the studio’s best release, but if you’re after an evening’s worth of sci-fi entertainment, Subsurface Circular delivers an enjoyable & well-written adventure title.