South of the Circle

South of the Circle is an adventure game about the pursuit of career, love, keeping promises and the consequences of life choices. The game was developed by the award-winning State of Play studio, whose credits include a BAFTA award for Lumino City; it was published by the Polish company 11 bit studios.

Plot

South of the Circle takes us back to the 1960s, right in the middle of the Cold War. The main character of the game is Peter - climatologist and university lecturer, whose journey ends with a hard landing in Antarctica. Looking for rescue and fighting for survival, the protagonist recalls his past - from childhood, through career pursuit, to his romance with Clara, whom he met at university and with whom he became entangled in a political conflict - and analyzes his current, crisis situation.

Game mechanics

In South of the Circle we observe the action from a third-person perspective (TPP). Exploring the icy wilderness, we accompany Peter in his fight for survival. On the way we follow the story told both through flashbacks (which take us to other locations) and dialogues, as well as through the game world (environmental narration). Besides, we regularly make decisions that influence the further course of events.

Technical aspects

Graphics in South of the Circle is in a simple, but at the same time attractive and clear cartoon style. Characters were voiced by Gwilym Lee (Bohemian Rhapsody), Olivia Vinall (The Woman in White), Richard Goulding (The Crown), Anton Lesser (Game of Thrones), Adrian Rawlins (Chernobyl) and Michael Fox (Downton Abbey).