What Surrounds Us Challenges Your Perception of Circles

What Surrounds Us takes its title to heart, placing you in the role of a circle encircling a hole in the center—think of it as a donut with frosting. You’ll collaborate with other sentient circles, sometimes helping them joyfully connect with one another, all while exploring a vast map made up entirely of, you guessed it, circles. This circular design isn’t just for show; it reinforces the game’s themes of interconnectedness with the environment and the elements around us.

Despite its psychedelic visuals, What Surrounds Us follows a familiar structure. As I journeyed through three distinct regions, I couldn’t shake the feeling of echoes from The Legend of Zelda, solving light puzzles to navigate my way. Throughout the game, you’ll acquire new abilities, such as charging up for a big leap to cross gaps. Eventually, you’ll encounter a glitchy substance that slithers through the world, blocking your path and requiring creative navigation.

The Zelda influence helped me adapt to a game that offers minimal guidance. With hardly any text and just a few on-screen prompts for controls, I spent most of my time exploring, discovering new areas, and experimenting with the limited tools at my disposal. This often led to delightful surprises, like realizing that using a ping near a dark circle would unlock new routes. However, it also got me into trouble, such as when I ventured too close to an aggressive enemy circle that would devour me.

Without the usual gaming crutches like obvious hints or chatty companions, I had to learn the rules independently. Much like in many Zelda titles, trying something just to see if it works—and finding that it does—was incredibly rewarding. This experimentation also helped me understand how different elements in the game interacted with one another.

The game’s meaning is also left for you to decipher. With everything represented as circles, you’ll need to interpret their significance, such as recognizing that dark red circles blocking your path act as walls. When I brought a lonely circle friend to a group of friendly circles, it spun and chirped in a way that felt like pure joy. Even the music contributes to the atmosphere; it’s ethereal and ambient, never overwhelming, but always softly humming in the background as you explore.

What Surrounds Us accomplishes a lot thematically and gameplay-wise, all within a compact three-hour experience. Who knew a charming little donut could hold such depth? It’s now available on PC.