What Surrounds Us lives up to its name in a direct way. You control a circle that has a hole at its center, resembling a donut topped with frosting. You team up with other living moving circles, at times assisting them in meeting up happily with their peers. Exploration covers a broad area built only from circles. Yet these shapes serve more than style, as they reinforce ideas about cooperating with the world and nearby elements.

Even with its unusual visuals, What Surrounds Us follows a known structure. Echoes of The Legend of Zelda came to mind while crossing three separate zones and handling simple puzzles to advance. Throughout the experience new abilities appear, such as charging a large jump to cross openings. Later stages require finding routes past a faulty material that often winds through the area and stops progress.

Image: Florent “Salty” Martinais

The Zelda influence made it easier to adjust to a title with minimal guidance. Almost no text appears and only a handful of screen prompts show the controls. This led to most playtime spent wandering the setting, discovering new spots, and testing the few tools available to observe results. Such efforts often brought pleasant finds, including how a ping near a dark circle could reveal fresh routes. At other moments it caused issues, such as nearing a hostile circle that would consume the player.

Absent the usual aids like clear clues or talkative companions, the rules had to be learned through trial. Similar to many Zelda titles, attempting an action to check if it works and seeing success proved rewarding. This process also clarified connections between game elements.

Just as actions in the game require interpretation, so does its message. With all content formed from circles, players must decide what each stands for, such as recognizing dark red circles that block paths as barriers. Bringing a solitary circle companion to a cluster of friendly ones made it spin and chirp in a joyful manner. The audio also fits the theme by surrounding the player in an ambient style that stays subtle yet present during exploration.

What Surrounds Us achieves many engaging results in both its ideas and mechanics, all within a compact three-hour session. It is surprising how much substance a simple donut shape can hold.

What Surrounds Us is now available on PC via Steam.

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Jay Peters