Subsurface Circular cover art

Subsurface Circular

A short detective story testing attentive reading and dialogue-puzzle deduction.

Here's the argument for where this game sits - disagree freely.
Match your experience?
EXECUTION0 /10READS0 /10VARIANCE3 /10OPTIMIZATION6 /10

the cheat-test profile

The four axes - the argument

Each axis is rated on its own - how far one cheat would trivialize the game here. They don't trade off; low on all four means the game is an experience, not a contest.

  1. Execution

    cheat: Aimbot - perfect inputs

    0/10

    Pure text dialogue - no physical input demands at all

  2. Reads

    cheat: Out-predict an adaptive opponent

    0/10

    Scripted conversation trees, no adaptive opponent

  3. Variance

    cheat: See what's hidden / map the RNG

    3/10

    The mystery's hidden facts are unknown until dialogue reveals them

  4. Optimization

    cheat: A perfect solver / coach

    6/10

    Picking the right dialogue branches and deductions solves the story

How to read this

Each axis is named by the cheat that would break the game along it. Execution is the hands. Reads is out-thinking an adaptive opponent. Variance is hidden information & RNG. Optimization is the solvable systems layer. A game's region is the top one or two axes.

These four aren't one rating split four ways - they're independent 0-10 questions. A 9 on one axis takes nothing from the others, and a game low on all four isn't missing data: it's telling you there's no skill here to cheat.

The basis is how the majority actually plays this game - not a niche mode or a personal run. For a game with very different modes (a story campaign versus ranked multiplayer), that's the version most people mean.

Compare with

Similar games

see all →

Ranked by shared genre first, then by how closely the cheat-test profile matches - a cross-genre tag means a pick matched on skill profile alone.

The Secret of Monkey Island: Special Edition cover art

The Secret of Monkey Island: Special Edition

Pure Optimization · point-and-click adventure

E
R
V
O
The Secret of Monkey Island: Special Edition
The Dig cover art

The Dig

Pure Optimization · point-and-click adventure

E
R
V
O
The Dig
Life is Strange cover art

Life is Strange

Systems & Chaos · narrative adventure

E
R
V
O
Life is Strange
The Sims cover art

The Sims

Pure Optimization · life simulation

E
R
V
O
The Sims
Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc cover art

Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc

Pure Optimization · murder mystery VN

E
R
V
O
Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc
The Curse of Monkey Island cover art

The Curse of Monkey Island

Pure Optimization · point-and-click adventure

E
R
V
O
The Curse of Monkey Island

Game details

Released
2017
Developer
Bithell Games
Platforms
PC, iOS, Mac, Switch
Modes
Single player
IGDB critics
67/100
IGDB users
71/100
PuzzleAdventureIndieScience fiction