A few months ago I played a really short game on my Nintendo Switch and I loved it. It's called Subsurface Circular and was ported to the Switch in early 2018. I saw it on sale for under £4.00 and thought I would give it a shot based purely on the synopsis of the game and the designs of its robots.
I had no idea it was made by Mike Bithell and his company Mike Bithell Games who made another short Indie game hit Thomas Was Alone (Which I would also highly recommend). I think if I'd have known it was made by him I'd have likely picked it up sooner than I did.
The game is a text based adventure game in which you play as a Robot Detective in the not too distant future who is tasked with solving a case in which many other Robots are going missing. In order to do this you as the player are confined to the underground rail network and have to talk to a number of other worker robots and solve short puzzles in order to crack the case.
The gameplay is entirely simplistic and the perfect sort of game to play on the Switch in tablet mode (Or on an Ios device). The game is presented as a question and answer scenario with the odd puzzle placed here and there but this is more of a quick look at the rail map or a decision on who to talk to first and which questions to ask that will open up answers to other passengers questions. I enjoy that the game never really goes too far above that in terms of the gameplay because it allows the focus to be on its narrative.
I adore the Robot designs in the game for a few reasons. They stick to a more or less humanoid form and keep a simplistic approach to their colour schemes and facial designs. I feel as though they are the 'right' amount of futuristic as they don't look too much like humans yet and I feel they would not be too out of places in a movie like Blade Runner. It is a shame we did not see much of the world above ground but I do like the focus the game puts on where it wants you to be and why.
To speak more about this I enjoyed that the game could do a lot of world building purely by the conversations you have rather than have you explore as you are only confined to a single train car. It's interesting to see what could happen in our future with the advancements in robotics and perhaps we too would have humanoid robots replace us in many aspects much like this game.
It's interesting to wonder would we give them as much or little freedom as is afforded to them in this game. It was quite harrowing in some ways to see what would happen to a certain unit once you had removed the limiters it was constricted in to by its creators by inputting a certain phrase. It was totally surreal to see a Robot feel some form of 'freedom' for the short time it was on the train with you and it was kind of heart warming to see some of them thank you for it.
I do wonder will there be a point where there will be rights for machines and Robots who are more or less also constricted by us to serve a certain purpose.
The final chapter of the game and its lead up are absolutely fantastic. I will try not to go too much into it as I don't wish to spoil the game for people who have yet to try it however it deals with a dilemma of do you upset the status quo and hope that a new future works itself out or do you keep with the status quo and not risk a terrible unchangeable outcome but still be stuck with the parts of the your present 'life' that really are not that great.
To have one simple enough case lead up to a moral question such as this really shows how well Mike Bithell and the team are at weaving a great narrative. I am generally excited to see what they come out with next and only hope it can match this game or surpass it.
If I did have to try and critique an aspect of the game I would say it does feel a lot more like a visual novel at times as I feel I can't really lose. There is not a time limit to find the answer to questions in a chapter or anything like that so you really can just go at your leisure. There also is not an incentive to replay the game at any point other than perhaps the last chapter just to see the outcome of the other decision you make. However if you are into directors commentary you do unlock this for every chapter once you beat the game.
Overall Subsurface Circular is a great short game to play on a rainy afternoon or on your commute. It may also be a great title to start of with if you are looking to get in to the genre. I would highly recommend picking this title up on the Switch the next time you're heading to the Eshop!
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