Mike Bithell (originally of Thomas Is Alone fame) clearly likes his surprise launches. His previous game, the short-but-sweet sci-fi mystery adventure Subsurface Circular launched onto Steam with zero fanfare or warning, but racked up no shortage of praise and awards. Today, its successor - Quarantine Circular - quietly released onto Steam, and it looks similarly great. It's not quite a sequel, though, more a spiritual successor sharing many of the mechanics and themes of the original, but telling its own, entirely new sci-fi tale.
Wheras Subsurface Circular had you descending underground to interview robots on a transit line to solve a mystery, Quarantine Circular seems a tale on a smaller, more personal scale but with much higher stakes. Humanity is dying of an all-consuming plague. You're part of a scientific team trying to save the species, but things take a complicated turn when a hulking great armoured alien turns up, and says that they've been watching humanity for some time. Guess who drew the short straw as mankind's first interspecies diplomat?
Quarantine Circular - Launch Trailer Watch on YouTube
The 'circular' part of the title remains for a more literal reason. The alien is being restrained with a shock collar, preventing him from leaving a helipad on the surface of your ocean research base. It's interesting to see the elements taken so literally, and wonder if Bithell & co have any more similarly related short stories planned for the future. I could definitely stand to see an entire season's worth of these delivered in episodic format. I've not watched nearly enough TV in the past few years, and I kinda miss one-shot sci-fi shows. These games might be the next best thing.
Quarantine Circular is out now on Steam for £4.79/$6, minus a generous 20% for its first week on sale, and if its predecessor is any indication, it should be just a couple hours long.
