What Surrounds Us thrives on its minimalism. If you want a stripped-down and cute experience, this puzzle-exploration game provides it, albeit with some sparse and light moments of frustration at the occasional puzzle. It’s a short and mostly simple game that is not perfectly satisfying but worth trying if you like new and interesting types of experiences, as donut-shaped life on a hexagonal grid is certainly something I haven’t seen or been before. It really makes you feel like a microorganism.
While at first glance the visuals are what make this game stand out, upon first entry you realise the music and sound design are really the star of the show. The soundtrack is arguably the complex part of the game but still compliments everything very nicely: the repetitive chords draw you in to the world, but the distinct instruments then give it some character. And when you get a puzzle-solving combo going, it ramps up to hit you with just the right level of satisfaction each time. When you’re exploring and begin to enter a new room or area it can draw lower to a single sweet note of anticipation, which gives the whole place a mildly mysterious air.
There are other donut cells besides you, and you all make joyful almost baby-like sounds that add to What Surrounds Us’ infectious bliss. At least, until you come across a donut that looks nearly the same as the friendly ones but kills you instead. The visual designs do not vary much in this game, perhaps intentionally, which makes recognising what’s what part of the challenge on its own. However, the lesson is quickly learned and you always respawn close by to try again. This gives the game a strong trial-and-error gameplay loop that allows it to have no words and an interesting learning curve, as you yourself must figure out ways of combining gameplay elements to reach a solution to a puzzle without any handholding.
While this quality is very satisfying when you have figured a puzzle out, the process of getting there is several times composed of frustration rather than merely headscratching, which readers used to puzzle games might be familiar with but those seeking a fully cosy experience may bemoan. An aspect that also gets in the way of a smooth ride is the traversal of the hex grid, which was not comfortable to navigate on either keys or joystick – it was tolerable enough, but I would have preferred some kind of six-key option (as opposed to WASD/arrows).
The topic of traversal brings me to the level design. It serves the puzzles very well, and has a solid sense of place, especially with all the charming inhabitants. But getting lost in its world is just about the worst part of the game, due to the above-mentioned lack of satisfying movement; the excess of dead ends; the at-times lack of a goal or idea of where to go next; and yes, the minimalist art style itself making it hard to remember the layout of rooms. Some of the rooms feel rather samey, and even entrances to places are not always obvious. These level-related woes in fact led me to not end up finishing the game, as upon reaching a satisfying part that brought me back from the third area to the first and seemed to be wrapping up the game, I just could not find where to go next. I spent a while retreading the same place I had already backtracked through twice before, and just did not have it in me to spend yet more time travelling and searching vainly. A map, or much larger zoom-out, would have helped.
Conclusion
However, the fundamental fantasy of What Surrounds Us is, I think, worth the hassle for those who can tolerate it. The puzzle design is mostly excellent, and there are optional secrets (always welcome). The game’s approach of letting you figure things out for yourself is very rewarding, and makes you feel like a scientist learning about unfamiliar species and the rules of interplay between both them and yourself. In fact, it left me wanting to see even deeper explorations of these interactions in more complex puzzles. Finally, it’s all wrapped up in some great sound design and warm vibes that tie it up into one wholesome package. What Surrounds Us has some clutter to its design, but the experience is cleanly worth going through it all.
