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Subsurface Circular
When the truth is buried, go underground. Step into this new take on text-based adventure from the award-winning team behind Thomas Was Alone and Volume. A short story that hands you the fate of the world above, as a detective looking for answers on the Subsurface Circular.
In short, Steam reviewers most often praise “Thought-provoking robot-human narrative” (65 of 96 reviews) and “Short two-to-three-hour experience” (32); the most common complaint is “Simple, limited detective mechanics” (9). What reviewers agree on ↓
What players say
Steam review score and the most-helpful voices, which may include critical ones. Score via Steam as of 2026-09-27 · quoted reviews as of 2026-05-12.
What reviewers agree on
65 of the 96 reviews raise this.
32 of the 96 reviews raise this.
20 of the 96 reviews raise this.
“This was an okay game. I did enjoy the concept of an android "priest", and the puzzle revolving around emotions was fun. However, as somebody who consumes a lot of sci-fi, this game didn't push any boundaries or ask any…”
15 of the 96 reviews raise this.
10 of the 96 reviews raise this.
“Fantastic, short little visual novel. I truly enjoyed my time with it and would easily recommend it to anyone looking for a light little game with a deep, interesting story. Whole thing takes maybe 3 hours to beat,…”
9 of the 96 reviews raise this · 5 of them still recommend the game.
“A short little sci-fi mystery story unburdened by complicated skill trees, tedious exploration, or distracting side quests. Just you, a train, and a colourful cast of robots to chat with as they help you piece together…”
6 of the 96 reviews raise this · 3 of them still recommend the game.
“This was an okay game. I did enjoy the concept of an android "priest", and the puzzle revolving around emotions was fun. However, as somebody who consumes a lot of sci-fi, this game didn't push any boundaries or ask any…”
3 of the 96 reviews raise this · 2 of them still recommend the game.
3 of the 96 reviews raise this · 2 of them still recommend the game.
“A short little sci-fi mystery story unburdened by complicated skill trees, tedious exploration, or distracting side quests. Just you, a train, and a colourful cast of robots to chat with as they help you piece together…”
Counted across 96 English reviews, sampled to match this game's 94.3% positive rating · as of 2026-05-12
“It's a pretty good reading. Ending is okayish. Feels like a short story or a pilot for TV series set in one location. Somehow it's quite calm and soothing to just ride metro. Very small text on steam deck ;/”
— a player, Steam review · 2 hrs played“one of the all-time greats. i would ♥♥♥♥ the ♥♥♥♥ out of that robot”
— a player, Steam review · 5 hrs played“I still think about this game sometimes. It's a lot like those classic movies that happen entirely in one place and yet, when thinking about it it seems like the story happened in so many other places that you neve actualy see, but never-the-less you remember them. This game is…”
— a player, Steam review · 3 hrs playedPlayer activity
Monthly average concurrent players, self-collected from the Steam API since Aug 2026.
Achievement stats
Global completion rates across all Steam players — a data view of how far people actually get. Source: Steam official stats · as of 2026-10-21.
Price tracking
US-region pricing (USD), sampled twice daily by our own tracker since 2026-07-11. Steam prices vary by region — always confirm your local price on Steam.
Regional prices at last sample, in local currency — Steam sets each region's price independently.
Cheapest → most expensive, converted to USD at ECB reference rates (2026-10-21). Relative comparison only.
Latest official news
Developer announcements via the Steam news API — links go to the original posts. More across all games on the news hub.
New Game Announcement - Vampirium: 1997
We've been working on our newest title this past year, and we're incredibly excited to be ready to announce our next game. Those of you signed up to our mailing list and reading The Last Portrait will
New Bundle and Creator Keys - Bithell Games' Legacy Celebration
Subsurface Circular is the game of the week in our legacy celebration!A two-hour tale takes you underground, where strange disappearances among the robotic working class are coming to light. We shadow
We made another narrative short called Quarantine Circular!
Hi all, Did you like Subsurface Circular? Well good news, we just launched a follow up, Quarantine Circular. It’s not a sequel, think of it more as another installment in an anthology. https://store.s
Subsurface Circular, nearly one month later
Hi everyone, Thanks so much for your support of the game! I've been talking publicly about some of our numbers (here, for example) and they're all.. you know.. good :) It felt like the right time to p
Subsurface Circular, nearly one month later
Hi everyone, Thanks so much for your support of the game! I've been talking publicly about some of our numbers (here, for example) and they're all.. you know.. good :) It felt like the right time to p
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Screenshots
Official Steam store screenshots — click any shot to enlarge.
Facts & details
From the Steam store record, snapshot 2026-05-12.
| Genres | Adventure, Casual, Indie |
| Player tags | Visual Novel · Investigation · Detective · Choices Matter · Text-Based · Conversation · Mystery · Robots · Sci-fi · Story Rich · Noir · Adventure (SteamSpy community voting) |
| Features | Single-player · Steam Achievements · Steam Cloud · Commentary available · Family Sharing |
| Languages | English |
| Achievements | 13 |
| Official site | http://www.bithellgames.com |
Minimum system requirements (PC)
Minimum: OS *: Windows 7 Processor: 2.5 GHz Memory: 8 GB RAM Graphics: Dedicated 2048 MB+ Storage: 1 GB available space