Subsurface Circular Critic Reviews

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 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.

As someone who’ll take a concentrated dose of exceptional storytelling over an endless slog of repetitive tasks and quests, I can’t say that the brevity or the lack of replayability bothers me all that much. All I really want is to hear/read an incredible story — well, that, and a genuinely great follow-up to Thomas Was Alone. Luckily, Subsurface Circular delivers on both.

It might be a little short, but Subsurface Circular feels like it's found its forever home on the Switch.

Subsurface Circular is a finely crafted compact experience. Everything about it shines, from its retro-futuristic design and intoxicating soundtrack to its carefully considered text and narrative. This is truly a game where style and substance are perfectly balanced.

It’s a deeply engrossing text-based adventure with a rich narrative, amazing dialogue, and a story that continually gets better and better. It’s beautifully crafted and should be praised for its taut storytelling, which only proves that video games — just like films, tv shows, and books — are capable of telling incredible and impactful stories.

Subsurface Circular is the brunch of gaming fare on Nintendo Switch — abbreviated, filling, and definitely worth the price.

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 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.

The organic integration of puzzle elements makes for one of the best detective games around.

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.

I would fully recommend Subsurface Circular to anyone that enjoys purely narrative games. It’s a short game, but one that gives you a fully realized world in its short playtime. The storytelling method is a bit unconventional and is done well when other games could have easily made it too long. It’s a perfect title for a rainy afternoon play, or for a breather in between longer adventures.

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. If you're looking for something that's a little off the beaten path to add to your burgeoning Switch collection, you can't go wrong with this one, even if it is on the shorter side.

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.

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.

It’s good, but there’s a moral choice at the end that doesn’t really pay off, especially when you can come back afterwards and try the other option and in effect get the same result. But, like a good book, what’s here is great for its run-time, and it’s a good game for its budget price.

This "Mike Bithell short" is an intriguing, little, adventure. Gameplay wise is as simple as efficient and is visually refined and well polished.

Subsurface Circular is a fascinating and unconventional project that, despite running out within a couple of hours, still manages to leave a mark in the memory of the players.

Bithell’s first experimental foray into doing a game short is a successful one. My time spent riding the rails with this robot detective was pleasant enough, and I have much respect for any game that respects my time. I’m up for another, sir.

The story and setting were interesting, but the scope of the gameplay was fairly narrow and the experience was not really repeatable.