Subsurface Circular on Steam - User reviews, Price & Information

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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.

Subsurface Circular is a visual novel, investigation and detective game developed and published by Bithell Games.
Released on August 17th 2017 is available in English on Windows and MacOS.

It has received 1,889 reviews of which 1,787 were positive and 102 were negative resulting in an impressive rating of 9 out of 10. 😍

The game is currently priced at 5.99€ on Steam, but you can find it for less on Gamivo.

The Steam community has classified Subsurface Circular into these genres:

Visual Novel Investigation Detective Choices Matter Text-Based Conversation Mystery Robots Sci-fi Story Rich Noir Adventure Casual Point & Click Cyberpunk Cinematic Futuristic Philosophical Indie 3D

Media & Screenshots

Get an in-depth look at Subsurface Circular through various videos and screenshots.

System requirements

These are the minimum specifications needed to play the game. For the best experience, we recommend that you verify them.

Windows

OS *: Windows 7
Processor: 2.5 GHz
Memory: 8 GB RAM
Graphics: Dedicated 2048 MB+
Storage: 1 GB available space

MacOS

OS: MacOS Sierra+
Processor: 2.5 GHz
Memory: 8 GB RAM
Graphics: Dedicated 2048 MB+
Storage: 1 GB available space

User reviews & Ratings

Explore reviews from Steam users sharing their experiences and what they love about the game.

Dec. 2025

Subsurface circular is a short text based investigation story. The story will be held up by occasional slight puzzle elements, which must be figured out to continue with the events. If you get lost a bit, a question mark icon can be accessed with a hint of the solution. The theme of the game is about an android workforce in the future. It starts as a simple detective story, but manages to build towards a high stakes consequence. The themes in the game feel more relevant almost ten years after the game release, with a chance for robotic workforce to appear. A full playthrough was a bit less than 3 hours for me. Playing through the developer comment mode (New game + developer comments checkbox) added a bit more time to that. You will gain access to a new android with that, and can read about various development related topics. There is also an art gallery, with various asset development phases. The game has a save on exit approach. I only exited after the beginning of a new chapter, but supposedly it works at any point outside of a dialogue. Chapters can be replayed from the main menu, though there isn’t much point in that other than to unlock a few more achievements. The game would have been ok even with a low poly approach. To their credit, the developers made detailed 3D assets for the game, together with some animations, to increase the immersion. There is little to no background music in the game. Mostly you will be listening to the transition noises of the metro car. The closest thing to a background music is the music seeping from the listener (i.e. headphones) android. The game has no voice acting, by choice. Though, if it would be developed in 2026, they surely could have used some android AI voices for the various jobs. That would have been perfectly game appropriate, even if it sounded a bit artificial. The game was stable, it didn’t crash for me.

Sept. 2025

A short, thoughtful visual novel game about artificial sapience (among other topics) featuring very interesting and skillfully delivered world-building and sharp, tight dialogue. The art and design of the game is also excellent, as someone who likes these kinds of robots and transit-type graphic design. If this is a game that was on your radar, you should check it out.

June 2025

Made me laugh and cry, and is just beautiful overall. Looking forward to doing a replay with all of the dev commentary

April 2025

I just completed my second play through 8 years after my first. I was 14 at the time and remember this having a profound impact on my philosophy around technology and AI. I found myself wanting to revisit Subsurface Circular after accepting my first ever offer as a software developer. All I can say is that this game's story was, and still is, ahead of its time. If you're at all interested in ethics surrounding AI, this is a must-play. Not to mention the beautiful art and soundtrack provided. Do yourself a favor and try out this thought experiment.

Feb. 2025

Really enjoyed this game! It's perfect for short trips (roughly 3-4 hours) and I played entirely on the Steam Deck. Frustrated it does not clock in the time I play games offline. The narrative story line is simple, yet engaging and fun with the jokes and minor puzzle pieces. Achievements were also easy to max out. I only have two complaints, which are small. 1. On Nintendo Switch it uses the rumble feature when other trains are going past yours and it added a lot to the immersion. This not included on the Steam Deck play through and sadly isn't in the settings menu as an option. 2. I wish that you could link yourself to the traveler's with the headphones so you could jam their music as you played. Most tracks were bops, but very subdued except when engaging with them.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Subsurface Circular is currently priced at 5.99€ on Steam.

Subsurface Circular is currently not on sale. You can purchase it for 5.99€ on Steam.

Subsurface Circular received 1,787 positive votes out of a total of 1,889 achieving an impressive rating of 9.00.

😍

Subsurface Circular was developed and published by Bithell Games.

Subsurface Circular is playable and fully supported on Windows.

Subsurface Circular is playable and fully supported on MacOS.

Subsurface Circular is not playable on Linux.

Subsurface Circular is a single-player game.

Subsurface Circular does not currently offer any DLC.

Subsurface Circular does not support mods via Steam Workshop.

Subsurface Circular does not support Steam Remote Play.

Subsurface Circular is enabled for Steam Family Sharing. This means you can share the game with authorized users from your Steam Library, allowing them to play it on their own accounts. For more details on how the feature works, you can read the original Steam Family Sharing announcement or visit the Steam Family Sharing user guide and FAQ page.

You can find solutions or submit a support ticket by visiting the Steam Support page for Subsurface Circular.

Data sources

The information presented on this page is sourced from reliable APIs to ensure accuracy and relevance. We utilize the Steam API to gather data on game details, including titles, descriptions, prices, and user reviews. This allows us to provide you with the most up-to-date information directly from the Steam platform.

Additionally, we incorporate data from the SteamSpy API, which offers insights into game sales and player statistics. This helps us present a comprehensive view of each game's popularity and performance within the gaming community.

Last Updates

Steam data	16 January 2026 15:21
SteamSpy data	24 January 2026 04:10
Steam price	28 January 2026 20:40
Steam reviews	27 January 2026 03:53

If you'd like to dive deeper into the details about Subsurface Circular, we invite you to check out a few dedicated websites that offer extensive information and insights. These platforms provide valuable data, analysis, and user-generated reports to enhance your understanding of the game and its performance.

SteamDB - A comprehensive database of everything on Steam about Subsurface Circular
SteamCharts - Analysis of Subsurface Circular concurrent players on Steam
ProtonDB - Crowdsourced reports on Linux and Steam Deck Subsurface Circular compatibility