South of the Circle

I absolutely love discovering gems like this. I've never heard about the game, and don't even remember how I got it. But it was a great short story on Steam Deck.

above ok

This is a beautiful story focused game with simple controls and about a 3 hours of gameplay. Only textures are sometimes glitching thru each other during some scenes but that is just a minority. End of the story was a bit of let down compared to its rest but I would definetly recommend this game and enjoyed my playthrough

South of the Circle has, to me, the story of a very good movie—one I would never have imagined as a game. And after finishing it, I’m still not sure what being a game adds to the experience. The writing is strong, and I particularly liked the focus on connection and empathy between people whom the world tells should be against each other. However, choices clearly do not matter, and the interactivity feels largely superfluous. I would still recommend South of the Circle as a worthwhile story-rich experience, particularly for players who enjoy slow, sober dramas, but as a game it can be underwhelming. I also disliked choosing between dialogue symbols rather than written dialogue options. Even though the choices ultimately do not matter, I often felt I was selecting responses without really knowing what my character was going to say. Story: 8–9/10. Gameplay: 1/10.

** No Spoilers ** Quite an in-depth game when it comes to styling and even the gameplay machanics involved in making decisions are unique. The characters are well built in their own way that you can almost imagine them being real and that this is a game based off a real-world scenario that took place. Without giving too much away, sit down with a friend, girlfriend or someone that's intrested in story based games and watch everything unfold. In the end, you would have made memories of your own.

I haven't been on such an emotional rollercoaster in a while. This game gave me goosebumps every minute. Even though the gameplay is super simple, the narrative and music are so compelling! South of the Circle definitely won a special place in my heart.