The Game Census
Subsurface Circular cover art

Subsurface Circular

Bithell Games · 2017-08-17

Steam

AdventureCasualIndie

Modes: Single player · Perspectives: Text

Releases: Oct 22, 2017 (iOS), Aug 17, 2017 (Mac), Mar 01, 2018 (Nintendo Switch), Aug 17, 2017 (PC (Microsoft Windows))

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.

0
playing now
94%
positive of 1.9k reviews
Very Positive
steam's rating (official)
200,000–500,000
owners (SteamSpy est.)
67/100
critic score (3 outlets, IGDB)
71/100
IGDB user rating (23 ratings)
platinum
deck/linux tier (ProtonDB)
Playable
Steam Deck (Valve)
SteamOS: Playable
$5.99
steam price (US)

0 players in-game as of 2026-10-14 13:00 UTC (census sample)

Subsurface Circular is a text-based adventure game developed and published by Mike Bithell Games. The game was released for Microsoft Windows and macOS on 17 August 2017, iOS on 23 October 2017 and Nintendo Switch on 1 March 2018. The game received critical acclaim for its engaging narrative and writing. A sequel to the game Quarantine Circular released on May 22, 2018.

Health check

Quietly active
  • · 0 players in-game at the last census sample.
  • · 28 reviews in the last 8 weeks (~4/week).
  • · Review velocity down 3% vs the prior 8 weeks.
  • · Top 10% of 28,778 Adventure games in the census by review count.

Health tier since 2026-08-30

Estimated sales: 48k–116k copies

Review-multiple estimate from 1,938 total reviews — how this is computed.

All-time low: $1.19 at Steam (2022-06-15) · bundled 1×via IsThereAnyDeal

12-month high $5.99 · on sale 7 of 14 observed days (census price snapshots)

Review momentum

PositiveNegative
686820172026Week of 2017-12-01: 61 positiveWeek of 2017-12-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2018-01-01: 68 positiveWeek of 2018-01-01: 3 negativeWeek of 2018-02-01: 25 positiveWeek of 2018-02-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2018-03-01: 19 positiveWeek of 2018-03-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2018-04-01: 22 positiveWeek of 2018-04-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2018-05-01: 19 positiveWeek of 2018-05-01: 3 negativeWeek of 2018-06-01: 26 positiveWeek of 2018-06-01: 3 negativeWeek of 2018-07-01: 31 positiveWeek of 2018-07-01: 3 negativeWeek of 2018-08-01: 11 positiveWeek of 2018-08-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2018-09-01: 13 positiveWeek of 2018-10-01: 7 positiveWeek of 2018-10-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2018-11-01: 25 positiveWeek of 2018-12-01: 12 positiveWeek of 2018-12-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2019-01-01: 8 positiveWeek of 2019-01-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2019-02-01: 10 positiveWeek of 2019-03-01: 5 positiveWeek of 2019-04-01: 11 positiveWeek of 2019-05-01: 13 positiveWeek of 2019-05-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2019-06-01: 61 positiveWeek of 2019-06-01: 5 negativeWeek of 2019-07-01: 23 positiveWeek of 2019-07-01: 3 negativeWeek of 2019-09-01: 10 positiveWeek of 2019-10-01: 3 positiveWeek of 2019-10-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2019-11-01: 4 positiveWeek of 2019-12-01: 14 positiveWeek of 2019-12-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2020-01-01: 5 positiveWeek of 2020-01-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2020-02-01: 4 positiveWeek of 2020-03-01: 3 positiveWeek of 2020-04-01: 8 positiveWeek of 2020-05-01: 9 positiveWeek of 2020-06-01: 3 positiveWeek of 2020-07-01: 14 positiveWeek of 2020-08-01: 6 positiveWeek of 2020-09-01: 4 positiveWeek of 2020-10-01: 13 positiveWeek of 2020-11-01: 10 positiveWeek of 2020-12-01: 11 positiveWeek of 2021-01-01: 14 positiveWeek of 2021-01-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2021-02-01: 8 positiveWeek of 2021-02-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2021-03-01: 7 positiveWeek of 2021-04-01: 3 positiveWeek of 2021-05-01: 3 positiveWeek of 2021-05-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2021-06-01: 5 positiveWeek of 2021-07-01: 6 positiveWeek of 2021-08-01: 4 positiveWeek of 2021-09-01: 7 positiveWeek of 2021-09-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2021-10-01: 7 positiveWeek of 2021-11-01: 9 positiveWeek of 2021-12-01: 7 positiveWeek of 2022-01-01: 7 positiveWeek of 2022-02-01: 4 positiveWeek of 2022-03-01: 1 positiveWeek of 2022-03-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2022-04-01: 5 positiveWeek of 2022-04-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2022-05-01: 3 positiveWeek of 2022-06-01: 43 positiveWeek of 2022-06-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2022-07-01: 22 positiveWeek of 2022-07-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2022-08-01: 5 positiveWeek of 2022-09-01: 9 positiveWeek of 2022-09-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2022-10-01: 17 positiveWeek of 2022-10-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2022-11-01: 8 positiveWeek of 2022-11-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2022-12-01: 13 positiveWeek of 2022-12-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2023-01-01: 7 positiveWeek of 2023-02-01: 5 positiveWeek of 2023-03-01: 9 positiveWeek of 2023-03-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2023-04-01: 7 positiveWeek of 2023-05-01: 7 positiveWeek of 2023-06-01: 5 positiveWeek of 2023-07-01: 6 positiveWeek of 2023-07-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2023-08-01: 6 positiveWeek of 2023-09-01: 5 positiveWeek of 2023-10-01: 4 positiveWeek of 2023-10-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2023-11-01: 6 positiveWeek of 2023-12-01: 3 positiveWeek of 2024-01-01: 8 positiveWeek of 2024-02-01: 4 positiveWeek of 2024-03-01: 5 positiveWeek of 2024-04-01: 4 positiveWeek of 2024-04-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2024-05-01: 3 positiveWeek of 2024-06-01: 5 positiveWeek of 2024-07-01: 17 positiveWeek of 2024-07-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2024-08-01: 7 positiveWeek of 2024-09-01: 3 positiveWeek of 2024-10-01: 3 positiveWeek of 2024-11-01: 10 positiveWeek of 2024-12-01: 12 positiveWeek of 2024-12-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2025-01-01: 8 positiveWeek of 2025-02-01: 5 positiveWeek of 2025-03-01: 6 positiveWeek of 2025-04-01: 3 positiveWeek of 2025-05-01: 3 positiveWeek of 2025-06-01: 3 positiveWeek of 2025-06-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2025-08-01: 5 positiveWeek of 2025-09-01: 5 positiveWeek of 2025-10-01: 2 positiveWeek of 2025-11-01: 5 positiveWeek of 2025-11-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2025-12-01: 4 positiveWeek of 2025-12-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2026-01-01: 3 positiveWeek of 2026-02-01: 1 positiveWeek of 2026-02-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2026-03-01: 2 positiveWeek of 2026-03-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2026-04-01: 2 positiveWeek of 2026-05-01: 2 positiveWeek of 2026-07-01: 4 positiveWeek of 2026-07-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2026-08-01: 4 positive
Weekly review counts (Steam review histogram). Positive above the line, negative below.

Players online

102026-09-15 14:00 — 0 players2026-09-16 22:00 — 0 players2026-09-18 06:00 — 1 players2026-09-19 13:00 — 0 players2026-09-20 21:00 — 0 players2026-09-22 05:00 — 0 players2026-09-23 12:00 — 0 players2026-09-24 20:00 — 0 players2026-09-26 03:00 — 0 players2026-09-27 11:00 — 0 players2026-09-28 18:00 — 0 players2026-09-30 02:00 — 0 players2026-10-01 09:00 — 0 players2026-10-02 17:00 — 0 players2026-10-04 01:00 — 1 players2026-10-05 08:00 — 0 players2026-10-06 16:00 — 0 players2026-10-07 23:00 — 0 players2026-10-09 07:00 — 1 players2026-10-10 14:00 — 0 players2026-10-11 22:00 — 0 players2026-10-13 06:00 — 0 players2026-10-14 13:00 — 0 players
Concurrent players, hourly average, last 30 days (census samples).
361Aug 2017Jul 2022Aug 2017 — avg 36 · peak 188Oct 2017 — avg 2 · peak 12Dec 2017 — avg 5 · peak 21Feb 2018 — avg 2 · peak 9Apr 2018 — avg 1 · peak 11Jun 2018 — avg 3 · peak 21Aug 2018 — avg 1 · peak 6Oct 2018 — avg 13 · peak 59Dec 2018 — avg 3 · peak 11Feb 2019 — avg 2 · peak 11Apr 2019 — avg 1 · peak 6Jun 2019 — avg 6 · peak 66Aug 2019 — avg 1 · peak 6Oct 2019 — avg 2 · peak 7Dec 2019 — avg 1 · peak 7Feb 2020 — avg 1 · peak 5Apr 2020 — avg 1 · peak 5Jun 2020 — avg 1 · peak 6Aug 2020 — avg 1 · peak 3Oct 2020 — avg 1 · peak 6Dec 2020 — avg 1 · peak 4Feb 2021 — avg 1 · peak 4Apr 2021 — avg 1 · peak 4Sep 2021 — avg 1 · peak 5Jan 2022 — avg 2 · peak 7Jul 2022 — avg 2 · peak 6

▼ −2 avg players (−56.0%) vs prior month — Jul 2022

Monthly average players (source: steamcharts.com) — history via steamcharts.com; live census sampling since Aug 2026.

Price history

$5.99$1.192017-08-182026-07-272017-08-18 — best price $4.792017-11-22 — best price $4.792018-03-19 — best price $4.792018-09-24 — best price $4.792018-11-21 — best price $4.792019-02-04 — best price $4.792019-05-10 — best price $4.792019-06-26 — best price $4.792019-10-24 — best price $5.392019-12-19 — best price $4.792020-02-03 — best price $4.792020-04-06 — best price $4.792020-10-05 — best price $4.792020-11-25 — best price $4.792021-02-11 — best price $2.992021-09-13 — best price $2.992021-11-24 — best price $2.992022-01-12 — best price $2.992022-06-15 — best price $1.192022-11-22 — best price $1.192023-03-16 — best price $1.192023-08-07 — best price $2.992023-11-21 — best price $4.792024-02-26 — best price $4.792024-04-08 — best price $4.792024-06-27 — best price $1.192024-10-27 — best price $5.992025-01-02 — best price $5.992025-03-20 — best price $5.992025-06-23 — best price $5.992025-08-04 — best price $5.992025-10-06 — best price $5.992026-01-05 — best price $5.992026-03-26 — best price $5.992026-07-09 — best price $5.992026-07-27 — best price $5.99
Lowest recorded price across tracked stores, per day (census snapshots).

Attention

1402026-05-30 — 9 pageviews2026-06-03 — 2 pageviews2026-06-07 — 10 pageviews2026-06-11 — 2 pageviews2026-06-15 — 3 pageviews2026-06-19 — 6 pageviews2026-06-23 — 3 pageviews2026-06-27 — 7 pageviews2026-07-01 — 2 pageviews2026-07-05 — 1 pageviews2026-07-09 — 14 pageviews2026-07-13 — 13 pageviews2026-07-17 — 5 pageviews2026-07-21 — 0 pageviews2026-07-25 — 10 pageviews2026-07-29 — 10 pageviews2026-08-02 — 10 pageviews2026-08-06 — 2 pageviews2026-08-10 — 5 pageviews2026-08-14 — 6 pageviews2026-08-18 — 4 pageviews2026-08-22 — 5 pageviews2026-08-26 — 10 pageviews2026-08-30 — 6 pageviews2026-09-03 — 6 pageviews2026-09-07 — 11 pageviews2026-09-11 — 3 pageviews2026-09-15 — 5 pageviews2026-09-19 — 5 pageviews2026-09-23 — 6 pageviews2026-09-27 — 8 pageviews2026-10-01 — 3 pageviews2026-10-05 — 5 pageviews2026-10-08 — 2 pageviews
Daily Wikipedia pageviews (attention proxy, census-recorded).

Completion

13
achievements tracked
86.7%
earned "The next case"
59.4%
median achievement earned by

Global achievement rates from Steam.

Details

WindowsmacOSSingle-playerSteam AchievementsSteam CloudCommentary availableFamily Sharing

1 supported languages: English

Console footprint

PlatformPlayers trackedCompletionTrophies/achievements
Steam (Steam)3,38834%13
Switch (Nintendo)240%0

Players tracked by Exophase (achievement/trophy trackers) — a sample of the player base, not total sales.

Player tags

NoirCasualRobotsSci-fiMysteryAdventureCyberpunkDetectiveStory RichText-Based

Census log

Computed from census-recorded observations only — dates are observation dates.

Recent updates

Players also track

The WitnessThe Talos PrincipleUnclaimed WorldZigguratGhost 1.0PLANET ALPHAUse Your WordsPikuniku

Similarity via IGDB.

Official site ↗Wikipedia ↗