Subsurface Circular is a really impressive detectice/narrative game. Sit on an underground line for robots only, and chat with each new face you encounter to dive deeper into a supposed mystery..

The writing is really strong, the visuals and overall artistic design are excellent, and Subsurface Circular is gripping for it's full ~2 hr runtime.

I started playing this one afternoon in a single sitting and loved every moment of it.

+ Interesting Gameplay, and compelling story
+ Game made me want to question everyone about everything, to learn more and more about stuff
+ Thomas was alone references
+ Really interesting playing as a detective robot

+/- Last Choice wasn't really that impactful, it makes you think for a bit, but that's about it

- Chapter 5 was very confusing, at some point had to restart it because I couldn't get through.

the world building was really cool. it would be neat to see this as a fully-fledged rpg, especially with the story it was building. i usually have a difficult time sitting down and focusing on a story for a little bit, so this was intriguing enough to allow me to easily finish it in one sitting (as well as how short the game is any way).

one other thing i would like to mention is my appreciation for the developers including hints to the puzzles, especially the ones where you had to solve within conversation, like the glitch. it made it a lot easier for me, and i appreciate that. it's always good to have your story, your art, accessible to everybody, and to not spoil an experience by making it too difficult to play through.

This is a sweet little game with a really really interesting ending!

I enjoyed the puzzles that were here, and the premise was very interesting.
I feel like it could be expanded upon more, and could be a little bit longer.

However, this was a great play and I am excited to see what else the dev team have made/ will make in the future!

Complete playthrough. Another high-quality release from Bithell Games, Subsurface Circular is a text-based adventure game in which the protagonist is a robot detective investigating the disappearance of another robot - in defiance of directives from its human 'masters'. The story here is very well-told, with impressive, immersive world-building despite the limitations of its text-based approach - this creates a strong picture of the outside world that the protagonist (being restricted to a carriage on the 'Subsurface Circular' underground train system), doesn't actually get to experience, while also leading the curious player to ask themselves (and imagine the answers to) questions about the wider world state. Progress takes place through conversations with other robot travellers, with occasional light but satisfying puzzle-solving elements.

This is all wrapped up with an attractive presentation. The text interface is simple but stylish, with a background depicting the train carriage, but particular praise has to go to the soundtrack - although clearly subjective, I found this to have a number of memorable tracks, well-judged to match each scenario.

Would you trust an AI to do your job? The central premise surrounding Subsurface Circular concerns increasing tension between humanity and the robots it has built to afford increasing comfort. These tensions appear to reach a boiling point when it is discovered that robots (known as ‘teks’) are starting to go missing. You play as one detective tek who takes it upon themselves to track down the source of these disappearances. However, there’s one catch: you’ll be doing so entirely on a train. Subsurface Circular is a text-based puzzle game which takes places entirely on an underground metro system in a fictional city where teks perform many of the tasks deemed too laborious by humans. All told, it’s an engaging, if not entirely. unprecedented, setup for the game’s narrative. You’ll interact exclusively with other teks throughout this short game, each having strong a personality, motivations and even feelings. You’ll negotiate, charm and sleuth your way through the teks you encounter to uncover the truth about what is happening. The game thus all plays out with chat room-esque conversation floated on-screen, but done so in an effective manner. The music and art design are also both stellar; this feels like a living, breathing city, even though the teks themselves aren’t. Without revealing plot details, the tension starts to ramp up towards the end of the journey and will keep you engaged. You’ll reach that fairly quickly, as Subsurface Circular is quite a short game that leaves the player wanting more. Given this, and its modest asking price on the eShop, it’s worth picking up and experiencing.

"A Commentary On Art, Design, And Social Structure"

Mike Bithell has done it again! With Subsurface Circular , Bithell and Co. have managed to create a neat new title, despite only being around two hours long. Without spoilers, since this game relies heavily on plot, you are a detective Tek, an android designed to complete tasks for a human overseeing group known as "Management". When introduced to the case of a missing Tek, the roots of a complex narrative and the potential for a fleshed out world begin to take shape.

The gameplay of Subsurface Circular is pretty straightforward - it is a text-based graphical adventure that primarily takes place within a subway train. On this journey, you will meet many interesting (and not so interesting) Tek's, all of whom have different roles and places within this game's society. Dialogue has no voice-over, which lends itself as "both a creative and practical choice" by Bithell himself, and throughout this game it becomes obvious that the game benefits from its absence. This gives enough room for the player to "fill in the blanks", crafting their own details in a world that otherwise is limited to one environment. For a game that is a short, only having been developed for "a few months", it contains much more to say than games that take a few years to develop. This showcase of the talent within Bithell Studios is great to see, and their potential for providing unique, almost "auteur-like" gaming experiences is refreshing in an industry so focused on creating massively marketable and consumable products.

Subsurface Circular has its role in the "games as art" movement. The fact that this movement has to exist in order to prove this point is rather sad, but that is the state of entertainment and its perception of interactive media today. While the gameplay doesn't do anything new, it is the story, design, and purpose of the game that truly stands out. I would Recommend anybody with the time to try out Subsurface Circular , and while it is the same length as most feature films, it delivers an artistic message and commentates on both indirect social constructs as well as the position of video games within the entertainment industry.

Final Verdict: 6/10 (Above Average)

This game was made with a lot of care. Although seemingly short it provides you with a very powerful story you can finish in one sitting. A game where your interaction with other AI influences your perception of the world and provokes a debate over the concepts they introduce. The world feels fully realised and that speaks volumes for the consideration put in the game. The puzzles are also a fun challenge, although I'd argue enough random clicks could get you though the game without difficulty.