Would you trust an AI to do your job? The central premise surrounding Subsurface Circular concerns increasing tension between humanity and the robots it has built to afford increasing comfort. These tensions appear to reach a boiling point when it is discovered that robots (known as ‘teks’) are starting to go missing. You play as one detective tek who takes it upon themselves to track down the source of these disappearances. However, there’s one catch: you’ll be doing so entirely on a train. Subsurface Circular is a text-based puzzle game which takes places entirely on an underground metro system in a fictional city where teks perform many of the tasks deemed too laborious by humans. All told, it’s an engaging, if not entirely. unprecedented, setup for the game’s narrative. You’ll interact exclusively with other teks throughout this short game, each having strong a personality, motivations and even feelings. You’ll negotiate, charm and sleuth your way through the teks you encounter to uncover the truth about what is happening. The game thus all plays out with chat room-esque conversation floated on-screen, but done so in an effective manner. The music and art design are also both stellar; this feels like a living, breathing city, even though the teks themselves aren’t. Without revealing plot details, the tension starts to ramp up towards the end of the journey and will keep you engaged. You’ll reach that fairly quickly, as Subsurface Circular is quite a short game that leaves the player wanting more. Given this, and its modest asking price on the eShop, it’s worth picking up and experiencing.

Detention is a psychological thriller, point-and-click game, taking place amidst the political tension which characterised 1950s Taiwan. You’ll play as Fang Ray-xin, a student trapped in her high school and forced to unravel the trauma experienced in her adolescent years. Overall, I found the narrative to be immensely gripping and intelligent from start to finish, and there are enough twists and turns to keep you hooked. The gameplay itself isn’t going to revolutionise the genre by any means, and is in fact quite simplistic, but given the game’s short runtime this isn’t a major issue. The game’s scenery is beautifully brought to life through hand-drawn illustrations which are consistently captivating. Horror fans going in for a good scare will be disappointed - the game is more so creepy and disturbing than outright bone-chilling. However, the atmosphere conjured by Red Candle Games will surely stay with you for a long time after you’ve seen the credits. Detention is an engaging little point-and-click game, that despite its shallow gameplay, possesses a story well worth experiencing.

Just breathe. These are the first words shown in Celeste’s opening cutscene, and a central refrain throughout its story. These are also words that you’ll want to utter as a means of self-soothing; during the gripping puzzle-platforming of Celeste, you will die many, many times. This is because once you start to experience this devastatingly beautiful journey, you will be utterly compelled to see it through to the end.

Protagonist Madeline seeks to reach the summit of Celeste mountain (based on a real-world location by the same name). While Madeline’s exact motive isn’t immediately clear, the player comes to understand that she is grappling with profound personal struggles. Through the interactions between Madeline and an engaging cast of characters, you’ll come to understand more about Madeline’s mental health difficulties, her strained relationship with her loved ones, and what has fuelled her ascension atop Celeste mountain. The storytelling in Celeste is among the finest examples in contemporary video gaming; poignant and elegant in a way that feels like it transcends the medium and makes a direct connection with the player.

Celeste’s platforming is deeply satisfying; for the majority of the time, each chapter is divided into a series of screens, and in each screen, you must get from point A to point B. The way in which you achieve this will test your abilities to the absolute limit, but when you get there, it’s deeply rewarding. Mechanics are kept to simple directional movements, jump, and a dash which often serves as a double-jump. As mentioned, clearing a screen can take more than a few attempts; it’s not uncommon to finish a chapter with several hundred deaths racked up. However, this never feels unfair; when I failed, it was expressly my fault – not the product of opaque level design (a common pitfall among many of Celeste’s contemporaries).
For those who might otherwise be put off by the game’s difficulty, but are keen on experiencing the story, Celeste does offer an assist mode, which alleviates the challenge considerably. By contrast, players can ramp up the challenge by seeking out collectible strawberries which are peppered throughout each stage, which is no small feat. While there’s no reward for collecting these items, finding and completing a rhythm-based screen will unlock a ‘B-Side’ for each chapter. These B-Sides elevate the difficulty level further, and require weapons-grade precision to clear. In this way, Celeste caters to all play styles and backgrounds.

The art style and soundtrack are both beautiful. There are some stunning mountain vistas throughout the game’s 7 chapters, which are astoundingly portrayed through the game’s pixel art style. Furthermore, there is a satisfying level of variety in the game’s backdrops, with scenery adopting a supernatural tone in later chapters.

All told, Celeste is a magnificent game that everyone should experience. It has a fantastic challenge to offer for those looking for one, and the accessibility options open the door to all. This game has a beautiful story to tell – I came to empathise with Madeline’s journey profoundly, and her tale will surely stay with me for a very long time.