Distant Circular World Demo Launches on Steam After Review Issue
The demo's release after a content review rejection highlights Steam's evolving moderation standards for indie adventure games.
Reporting from 3 sources: 4Gamer.net, Denfaminicogamer, Game Spark.
TABINOMICHI released a demo of "Distant Circular World" on Steam on June 21, 2026. The game is the sequel to the 2020 adventure "Return to Shironagasu Island" and can be played standalone. It follows two stories set in New York and a regional city in Japan, connected by a forbidden time-rewinding device. Players switch between perspectives using a zapping system. The New York chapter follows private detective Ikeda Sen after a mysterious woman named Lira barges into his office, pursued by an illegal organization called Babylon. The Japan chapter centers on high school student Neneko Izumozaki, who hides a special ability and discovers a skeleton in the Horikawa River on her way to school. The demo covers the early parts of both chapters. Developer Hyogo Onimushi had previously faced a Steam review rejection over a black screen scene showing a girl borrowing a shower after falling into a river. Onimushi cut that scene and resubmitted, passing review.
The demo's release followed a rejection from Steam over a scene that showed a black screen while a girl borrowed a shower after falling into a river. Developer Hyogo Onimushi cut the scene and resubmitted, passing review. It is unclear if the cut applies only to the demo or also to the full game.
The game is a mystery adventure that follows two scenarios set in New York and a regional city in Japan using a zapping system. The stories of a detective and a girl become connected through a "time-rewinding device." In the New York chapter, a client named Walton entrusts detective Ikeda Sen with a mysterious device. In the Japan chapter, high school student Neneko Izumozaki discovers a skeleton in the Horikawa River on her way to school. She is joined by her sister Kisara and friends Niwa and Torako as she pursues the truth, eventually arriving at three suspects.
The game is the sequel to "Return to Shironagasu Island," which was released on PC in 2020 and on Nintendo Switch in 2022. The demo covers the early parts of both chapters.
Synthesized by Yomimono from the 3 cited sources below, including Japanese-language reporting where cited, then editorially reviewed before publishing.