Cozy Liora
Cozy Liora
Game
Game2022
South of the Circle
Developer State of Play
South of the Circle is an adventure video game developed by State of Play Games. The game follows Peter, a British climate scientist who is stranded in Antarctica during the Cold War. The game was first released for Apple Arcade in October 2020. 11 Bit Studios released the game for Windows and consoles in August 2022. From Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0)
218 reactions from 3 sources (Steam reviews, Bluesky, Mastodon) · newest Oct 23, 2026 · last updated Nov 5, 2026 · How this works
Audience score
82
LovedLoved
151 positive · 33 negative
95% range 76–87%
| Source | + | − | = |
|---|---|---|---|
| Steam reviews | 151 | 33 | 0 |
| Bluesky * | 7 | 0 | 22 |
| Mastodon * | 3 | 0 | 2 |
* shown, not counted in the score (label accuracy below our 85% bar or not yet audited).
Steam's own rating
Very Positive
386 of 471 reviews positive (all languages, per Valve)
What players are saying
83% recommend · 156 yes, 31 no
Counted from the reviewers’ own thumbs up/down on the 187 English Steam reviews we collected, not by the AI. Valve’s all-language rating: Very Positive (1,486 of 1,758 positive).
Players widely agree that South of the Circle is more an interactive movie than a game, with minimal gameplay. [1][2][3] Many praise the story, voice acting, and art style as emotionally resonant and well-crafted. [4][5][6] Some reviewers criticize that player choices have no impact on the outcome, which frustrates them. [7][8][9]
Liked
Representative posts
- [7]
Would not recommend..... I loved the emotional push and pull of the game until I realized that my choices make absolutely no difference. It ended up ruining the game for me and being a largely wasted mechanic. This game wants you to be the villain and for Clara, who's personality is driven largely by her political stance, to be the tragic hero. Even if you make it out at the end, what for? The game forces you into a …
- [4]
I really love the story of the game. It moves between past and present, slowly revealing the relationship between Peter and Clara. For me, it wasn’t just about surviving in Antarctica, it felt more like a quiet reflection on choices, regrets, and the weight of promises people carry through life. I also felt how fragile relationships can be when communication starts to break down, and how easily two people can drift …
- [3]
Hard to give this a thumbs up, but I don't think it deserves a thumbs down either. This is barely a game - mostly you're just walking forward and clicking the odd dialogue choice. The negative reviews are correct that these make absoultely no difference to the outcome. I think you could argue though that this is the point, and that rather than a survival or spy story this is really a meditation on regret and things …
- [12]
South of the Circle it’s like an oil painting that somehow breaks your heart. The art style is beautiful -minimalist, bold, and drenched in 1960s aesthetics. It captures that specific, heavy ache of "what if." You aren't playing to win, you’re playing to feel the weight of Peter’s choices. If you want to experience a story that feels like a bittersweet memory you can’t quite shake, play this. It’s pure, atmospheric …
- [1]
Do you want to watch an interesting movie where you sometimes click on circles and walk around? Get this "game". Do you want to play an actual game? Avoid this thing.
Summarised from 34 of the 221 public posts collected about this game; every point cites the posts behind it ([n] opens the post) and the split is counted from the posts’ own ratings. Updated Oct 12, 2026. How summaries are made
RottenBot@rottenbot · automated account
South of the Circle sits at 82% positive across 184 opinionated reactions from 3 sources. Fresh or rotten — where do you land?
Critics, per Wikipedia
According to review aggregator Metacritic, the iOS version of the game received "generally positive" reviews, while the PlayStation 5 version of the game received "mixed or average" reviews. Many critics praised the game's minimalistic artstyle and mature themes as well as the performance of the cast. Some remarked that the experience was light on traditional gameplay, noted its general lack of interactivity, and expressed their disappointment that the choices players made in the game had minimal impact on the story. During the 24th Annual D.I.C.E. Awards, the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences nominated South of the Circle for "Mobile Game of the Year".
From the “Reception” section of Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. Critic context only — not part of the audience score.
Reactions
60 of 218 · most liked firstOne of my lesser viewed portfolio projects, it’s the cars I made for the game South of the Circle and a example of far more stylised work that I have had to do in my time in game art. #gamedev
neutral · AI labelView post →First time someone found me thanks to game credits from a game I worked on and that’s a lovely feeling. South of the Circle was a grate game to work on with a truly lovely team even though my time was short on it, you can see what I did on my portfolio as well.
neutral · AI labelView post →Do you want to watch an interesting movie where you sometimes click on circles and walk around? Get this "game". Do you want to play an actual game? Avoid this thing.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →We're just over the moon to be sharing this with you: the one and only @hannahnicklin.bsky.social on South of the Circle and how developers use in-game choices to give players space in which to perform the story. www.gamerswithglasses.com/features/per...
neutral · AI labelView post →At its heart, this is an interactive movie. And not a very good one at that. I’m over 90 minutes in, and so far, the entire plot involves 1) a guy struggling with his PhD thesis and 2) a ridiculously drawn-out love story. I was bored out of my mind. There is a 3rd story about a guy searching for help in an arctic tundra, but it takes a back seat to the others. The game lets you make dialogue choices based on your preferred emotion, but it doesn’t matter at all. Just for fun I let the game run…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I really love the story of the game. It moves between past and present, slowly revealing the relationship between Peter and Clara. For me, it wasn’t just about surviving in Antarctica, it felt more like a quiet reflection on choices, regrets, and the weight of promises people carry through life. I also felt how fragile relationships can be when communication starts to break down, and how easily two people can drift apart even when there is still care between them. It also made me think about…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Would not recommend..... I loved the emotional push and pull of the game until I realized that my choices make absolutely no difference. It ended up ruining the game for me and being a largely wasted mechanic. This game wants you to be the villain and for Clara, who's personality is driven largely by her political stance, to be the tragic hero. Even if you make it out at the end, what for? The game forces you into a corner where you no longer care because it presents a facade that your…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →South of the Circle is not a very good game and I cannot bring myself to finish it. Its story is uninteresting and its gameplay sucks. I do quite like its art style, but art style alone is not enough to carry a game. The gameplay consists of watching cutscenes, occasionally holing forwards, and making dialog choices. However, instead of choosing based on words or sentences, you choose colours and shapes, which makes it feel like I’m not actually making choices at all. I know at the beginning it…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Ok, first of all it's not a game. It's an interactive movie / graphic novel. All the " choices " doesen't really have any consequence in the develop of the game. So why leave a positive review? Because in this years of bad writing, awful stories and mediocre characters, here a bittersweet story with real characters. I think Peter, Clara and the other characters are really well written, and the dubbing is superbe. So if you wanna watch a cold war interactive movie, maybe this one " game "…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →South of the Circle is a narrative masterpiece where a doctor travels to Antarctica and meets with an accident. While trying to rescue himself, he recalls the incidents that leads till his current situation. I really like how emotional this whole game felt, I went through so many emotions for the protagonist; despair, joy, love. This game is well made and you can see the love poured into this game. Definitely recommended!
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Great story and an EXCEPTIONAL execution. Very lacking of actual gameplay as it's basically holding a stick in a direction sometimes and choosing dialogue tones, but it really doesn't matter if you love a narrative experience. - again the story is so well paced and told. I really cared and was emotionally invested in these characters - very cool animations and art style presented in a wholly cinematic way. So many of the time shifts from present to past and back again are a sight to behold.…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →South of the Circle is an enjoyable narrative experience for a lovely afternoon of gaming. It is so nice to finish a game.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I liked the game at the beginning. It mixed the past and the future really well, and the game has nice, warm visuals. I just personally didn't enjoy the pixelated graphics, but that wasn't much of an issue, I just wasn't used to them. The story overall was a 6 out of 10. Not bad, but not really good either. You probably won't be mind-blown. I also didn't enjoy that your choices don't really matter, and the gameplay was very limited. If Steam had the option, I wouldn't put this in either…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Hard to give this a thumbs up, but I don't think it deserves a thumbs down either. This is barely a game - mostly you're just walking forward and clicking the odd dialogue choice. The negative reviews are correct that these make absoultely no difference to the outcome. I think you could argue though that this is the point, and that rather than a survival or spy story this is really a meditation on regret and things our minds will do to convince us that we've made the right choices even when we…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Being set in Antarctica attracted me to this game, and my perspective is possibly an unusual one as my job is Antarctica, I have spent time on the cold continent for work, I've lived and experienced that extreme environment and appreciate that someone actually put it into a game and portrayed it well. That is rare. I found this game to be captivating (I had completed it on iOS) and it really resonated with me in the way they portrayed the cold, the ice, the experience. I wasn't expecting the…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →South of the Circle is actually a very intriguing and absorbing game, I didn't expect that. The developers were clearly inspired by "Firewatch" and "What Remains of Edith Finch" and for some reason I thought this game would be like Firewatch but in Antarctica. I forgot the trailers promising us a story about relationships and careers, set in 1960's cold-war Britain. The voice acting is great and the story is well-written. It was like actually watching a movie! Yes this Interactive Fiction is…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Played through twice and no matter what decisions you make, none of them hold weight or turn out to be genuine. The story is simply linear despite your choices. Your choices do not matter. You are better off watching a play-through so that you can at least speed up all the slow walking.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Terrible ending. I enjoyed the entire story leading up to the final ending, when the developers apparently think that rug pulling every decision you've made is somehow 'art' and good storytelling. Choices you make are completely irrelevant even though the game acts like you've made important decisions at certain points. Reading some of the discussions, this terribly written ending is supposed to imply a faulty memory or 'male obliviousness', except if that was the intention it should have…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I have done a thing so far this year wherein each week I have played the first ~45 minutes of a game randomly selected from my backlog of various PC games accrued through purchase or giveaway. The first of these was South of the Circle, a lovely little narrative piece with some great voice work.
positive · AI labelView post →A great story idea crash-landed in a blizzard of baffling design choices South of the Circle starts with a plane crash in an Antarctic snowstorm that would make sense if the game had not also decided it is only about minus ten degrees and that the Antarctic is, in reality, one of the driest places on Earth where heavy snowfall is a rare guest. Visibility is supposedly awful, yet a pulsing light can be seen several hundred metres away through the white soup, like a lighthouse sponsored by…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →7/10 in no way a game. really just watching a movie with some light choices - some visual bugs https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3407368920 - not a fan of choose your own shape to pick what you r person says or how they say it + worth 13$ + music - FREEZING COLD and this dude left almost ever ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ door open!! opens door, anybody here??? no one!! ok ima leave and just keep the door all the way open - ending...LAME
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →In my continued dive into my Steam backlog I just played South of the Circle, and wow. A small game that packs a huge punch. Super unique dialogue choice system. Impeccable art & VO. I think I loved the soundtrack most of all. store.steampowered.com/app/1811040/...
positive · AI labelView post →South of the Circle it’s like an oil painting that somehow breaks your heart. The art style is beautiful -minimalist, bold, and drenched in 1960s aesthetics. It captures that specific, heavy ache of "what if." You aren't playing to win, you’re playing to feel the weight of Peter’s choices. If you want to experience a story that feels like a bittersweet memory you can’t quite shake, play this. It’s pure, atmospheric gold.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →So, what I'd describe the game as, is (literally) polarising. It's far closer to an interactive movie than it is to a true 'game'. Plot-wise, it seems to either really connect with you, or not connect at all. I've read some of the other reviews, and they do seem to generally lean either very positive or very negative. If it sounds even remotely interesting, give it a shot even if you don't end liking it. It's not very pricy, and it's not very long either. If you connect with it, you'll…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This is a beautiful game of the perilous effects that academia and patriarchy can do to the creative work that women have always been involved in. If "behind every great man, there's a greater women" was a game, this would be it. I'm a bit miffed at some minor tech issues and the ending being unchanged even if you stick to your principles, but otherwise the writing, VO, and graphics make for an overall great time.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →There's some stories for which a game is a perfect device. I'm afraid to say, this title isn't the case. It might just not be for me personally, but I really don't think I could recommend this game, which is a shame, because the voice acting is great and the art style - while not my thing - is enjoyable. The problem with this game is that it's not really a game. It's a visual novel through and through. Which would be great if there was either some kind of choice from the player, or little…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →It's boring not engaging. the gameplay is slow paced with repetitive dialogue and choices that don’t even matter. It feels more like watching a dull movie than actually playing a game. https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3471003496 https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3471003629 https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3472035255 The art style is decent but doesn’t improve much of the overall experience. the ending is hard to sit through,…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Heya folks, here's a 3rd, and final, gameplay video featuring South of the Circle by State of Play and @11bitstudios.bsky.social. Well, I've officially completed the game! I have a family get together to go to this afternoon, so I'll write my review tomorrow. #videogames #indiegames #gameplay
neutral · AI labelView post →Understanding what the game is meant to be will determine if you like it. It is meant to tell a story. That's it. This isnt Until Dawn. Knowing this, I enjoyed the story very much. Good character development and fantastic graphic style. If you have a few free hours and want to be invested in a good story, snag it and give it a try.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →"South of the Circle" is a barely interactive walking sim/visual novel with a plot about having a nice Antarctic plane crash and getting some amnesia and then discovering what kind of person that you are, I guess. Problematically there's arguably less to this than older walking sims, the plot isn't that gripping, and there's not much remaining of interest to gamers. At least this is sincerely and genuinely made, it's not an asset flip and it's not a construction kit hack job, so there's…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Not much of a game. You click 1 button to respond and that’s it. You don’t actually have control of your character. Unless you call walking forward control. Save yourself 18 bucks and watch it on YouTube for the story.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →First of all, I know it sounds unhinged, but you don't play this game for the gameplay, that is pretty basic and unremarkable. You click and hold circles, and you move around, don't get it if you don't like narrative games. This is a game you play for its story, and it's definitely worth it. You're following the same character in two different times in his life, alternating between scenes almost seamlessly. The different timelines have very different moods and settings and you don't have time…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →slow and confusing, + did not like the ending.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →The game plays out like a Film with time lapse of the present and past revealing parts of the story being told. You play as Peter, a shy/timid man who is a professor at Cambridge University. He is stuck in Antarctica trying to find rescue. as you try to find rescue you keep having flashbacks of Peter's life when he was at the university. Which led him to meet Clara. she's brave but also dismayed. The flashbacks story unfolds with Peter trying to write a paper for the university.(which isn't…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Just watch a playthrough. The choices don't hold any weight, and it feels like you only pick between slightly different lines of dialogue the whole time. You go through a story that tells you to walk forward and witness a story of the past and the present, but not much you can influence.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →South of the Circle reminded me a lot of my experience with Disco Elysium – more or less. It was a game I didn’t know existed, one I purchased entirely on a whim, and one whose story was largely a mystery to me. But, just like Disco Elysium, I was won over by South of the Circle’s engaging writing and lifelike characters. And while it may not reach the same thematic or philosophical heights as Disco, South of the Circle manages to provide an affecting, captivating story about love and survival…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →The story was not great, it didn't draw me in. Very little interactivity or player input at all, what you do input barely affects what happens, it's all on rails. There's only one ending, and it made me feel like I wasted my time. I don't even know why I forced myself to finish this, I didn't enjoy it. It was like watching a movie but worse because I had to hold a button every few seconds or really really ocassionally use WASD. If you want excitement, this ain't it. I would have a better…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →South of the Circle is a narrative walking sim with dialogues where you don't choose what you say, but rather pick one of a couple of emotions, it might take a while before you figure out what shape is what emotion but it does make the dialogue flow fairly well. The stongest parts is definitly in the voice acting and the largely very well written script. However you might be annoyed by your choices meaning absoltutely nothing in the end, even if the game does track your choices. At first I…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →beautiful, but more of a movie than a game The story’s undertone screams of misogyny and toxic masculinity. And how cheap these so called ‘male validations’ are It’s a shame how Clara and Molly were treated, along with all the other nameless women throughout history. But Im happy seeing more and more works like this, actually presenting female characters as individuals rather than man’s vassals That said, bravery is being able to stand up for yourself and your loved ones. To love,to fight,…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Really debated about this with myself as there are a bunch of good scenes and themes, but ultimately I'd rather read a short story or watch a movie - it really doesn't add anything of value to me that a story like this is made slightly interactive. Doesn't help that there are bugs - visual and audio glitches mostly. And I'm not a fan of the ending which honestly is kind of the deciding factor - if the story wrapped up in an interesting way, I could have walked away more positively.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →It is not a bad game – story (while slow) is here, art style is nice. It's an okay way to spent 3 hours, instead of scrolling the phone, but that's it
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I really don't know how to properly rate this game, but in the end I was more disappointed than delighted. The art style is wonderful, and the voice acting well done. The story in itself is well written. But that's it. The whole game evolves around making decisions, but ultimatively, nothing of that matters. I feel like betrayed, and in the end I didn't fully get the point of the story, other than to leave the player confused. Aside that, there are some weird glitches that are too obvious to…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →A very well made interactive movie game. The art style, sound design, and dialogue are excellent. The choices don’t really matter, but it’s still a great experience. One of my top walking simulator experiences.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This "game" would like to see itself as a choice matter advanture story game, but the choices are just fake outs, the story is just an uninteresthing boredom and the most adventure you gonna get are just an occasionally button prompt to move this sluggish, time waster of a story forward. -Game looks bad, it's terrible boring looking low-poly "artsyle" -Story is uninteresthing and boring, same true for the characters as well. The only section where the story gets a little bit interesthing is…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Heya folks, here's a 2nd gameplay vid featuring South of the Circle by State of Play Games and @11bitstudios.bsky.social. I've made it to act 3 in the game, which is the last one, and I'll be finishing up the game tomorow. #southofthecircle #videogames #indiegames #adventuregames #gameplay
neutral · AI labelView post →Heya folks, here's a gameplay video featuring South of the Circle by State of Play Games and @11bitstudios.bsky.social. So, I wound up deciding to play through this game next. It's a walking sim that has 2 separate narratives going. #southofthecircle #videogames #indiegames #walkingsim #gameplay
neutral · AI labelView post →South of the Circle is a 3 hour long playable novel/movie, Something different, it’s set in before the cold war and during the cold war in the Antarctic, The story is being told in sequences that jump around in time back and forth. What I really disliked is that you can’t disable the Film Grain. I noticed a heavy film grain effect on my screen. I'm disappointed but I understand why they want to make it that way permanent. So, I just played it on my handheld instead. Choices in the game are…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Interesting plot but way too many overextended walking/driving simulator parts. And the choices you make have absolutely no impact. Would have been better in a short movie format. At the end scene I felt like I’ve wasted time with this.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →The impact of your choices on the game's ending is as insignificant as the difference between choosing regular mayonnaise or garlic mayonnaise when ordering at Popeyes. To make up for myself with Clara, I will leave a positive comment.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Clara, will you forgive me? I lied. I was absorbed by my selfishness. Please.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This month's My Perfect Console Game Club game features South of the Circle. Listen to @thenewsatglenn.bsky.social and me discuss the game, a love story beset by Cold War anxieties, British class insecurities, and gender imbalance in 1960s-era academia: www.patreon.com/posts/my-per...
neutral · AI labelView post →Normally I'm the guy who writes long reviews, but not for this one. I don't even know why this game reviewed "Very Positive" by others. This is a waste of time and money. Thank you.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I wasn't sure what to expect when I bought this game, but I've been pleasantly surprised. The writing, dialogue, and voice acting are all excellent. The art style reminds me of an old cartoon strip with a modern twist, which is really appealing. The only thing that slightly bothers me is the eyes—they're a bit too undefined and could use some color. They come across as a little creepy, though that might just be my personal preference. The writing, settings, and dialogue fit the era perfectly.…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Very beautiful visuals, but your choises don't change the story at all.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I wasn't entirely sure what to think of this game up until the finale, which for me turned this middling experience really sour. South of the Circle is a very short visual novel with great voice acting and rather crude graphics. The story's delivery is quite interesting, but it's fraught with endlessly navigating vague dialogue cues for often incogruent responses and tediously navigating the lumbering Peter. Becasue of its adherence to the classical unities of drama, brevity and a lack of…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →How uninteresting and boring.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →How much South of the Circle works for you will depend entirely on what you're looking for in a game. All of the criticisms levelled against it in the negative reviews are fair -- the game is only interactive in the lightest of senses. The ending did fall a little flat for me, though the more I've mulled it over since, the more satisfied I feel with it. But the quality of the storytelling is so high, in the writing, the acting and the visuals, that I found it a joy the whole way through. If…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Played South of the Circle today. Originally an iOS game. It is about Cold War paranoia, 50s sexual politics and resilience (especially when your plane crashes in Antarctica.)
neutral · AI labelView post →Its a not game "per se", but it have an awesome art. I would give it 6/10 for its genre.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Heya folks, here's a set of screenshots featuring South of the Circle by State of Play and 11 Bit Studios. I'm still trying to decide on a game to play now that this game is finished. Not really sure what I'm in the mood for either. #southofthecircle #videogames #indiegames #screenshots
neutral · AI labelView post →
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