We all know what the ‘Turing Test’ is by this point. A test designed to see if an AI can think and act like a human, pretty crazy right? So you’d imagine a game named after this same concept would be certainly something unique. Well, The Turing Test aims to prove that this is the case. To give it credit, it does a fairly good job of taking this idea and spinning it into an entertaining and thought-provoking game. All complete with a brilliantly wicked ending, no spoilers though, you’ll have to experience that yourself!

I am a big fan of both science fiction and science fantasy, so The Turing Test caught my eye when I initially saw its reveal for the Switch. You are placed into the shoes of Ava Turing, an engineer who is cryogenically unfrozen to investigate some strange occurrences on the moon of Europa. The ground crew are missing, and you’re plunged to the moons cold surface to enter a labyrinth and find out why…

Hello Ava, I’m T.O.M

The Turing Test does a brilliant job of not only setting up this mysterious and dangerous atmosphere but maintaining it throughout the 5/6 hour playtime. Each puzzle you complete rewards you with small interactions between Ava and T.O.M, the A.I programme who acts as your guide and companion through the adventure.

Welcome to Europa! Today we give you the ‘Turing Test’ package!

Through these snippets of conversation, the narrative unwinds around you as you come to terms with what happened to the missing crew, as well as minor discussion of larger concepts of humanity, morality, and of course the nature of A.I. The Turing Test was able to keep me gripped right until the end, and it left me asking many questions. Not just about the game itself, but the issues it raises, and human nature itself. It concludes with a choice of two endings which are as grey as they come. No spoilers, of course, but I was definitely shocked, and sat in silence as the credits roll.

For the ending The Turing Test gives players isn’t bombastic or full of explosions. You make one of two, very difficult choices, and then the screen fades to black and the credits roll. Now you may wonder why I discussed the ending of the game at the start of the review, it’s an odd choice for sure. I guess I think it is worth discussing the narrative straight away because even though I enjoyed the gameplay, the story will stay with me. The choice I made, in the end, told me something about myself which I didn’t expect to learn, and when a game does that, well I find myself very impressed.

I’ve seen some people downgrade The Turing Test to a Portal ‘clone’ or ‘copy’ and all those other buzz words. This is a disrespectful way to talk about this game though, and I encourage people to view this as a completely independent product. Portal didn’t invent puzzle games after all…

Probably the weirdest staircase I’ve ever climbed…

It’s dangerous to go alone… Take this!

When it isn’t making you question the ways of life and the nature of computer sentience, The Turing Test has some game going on too. As I said previously, the immediate comparison, albeit a lazy one is the Portal series. I fully understand why, but The Turing Test stands on its own as a great game so I dislike this idea. After you descend to the surface of Europa, you are given the Energy Manipulation Tool (EMT for short), which acts as your window into all of the game’s puzzles going forward.

Now don’t get me wrong, I definitely felt a sense of familiarity after a couple of rooms. 99% of the puzzles revolve around opening doors, transferring energy balls, although these, in particular, are used cleverly in later stages, and moving power cubes to power various devices. Plus you’ll be working through movable bridges, platforms to elevate and so on. Mechanically, The Turing Test doesn’t add much new to the genre, although it doesn’t do it in a bad way either. It kinda feels like painting an old car and giving it a new engine, it has the same foundations but it still feels fresh enough to get by.

Fine margins indeed…

Hey T.O.M, when do things get hard?

The difficulty curve in the puzzles is incredibly gentle, too much in fact. This is one of the biggest issues I had by the time I finished The Turing Test. I wasn’t prepared for the epilogue, in part because I didn’t feel it was the end of the potential the game had. By the time you’ve completed a quarter of the puzzles, you’ll have understood 95% of the mechanics the entire game throws at you. For example, the core mechanics of shooting and extracting energy, carrying power cubes and sprinting are quickly acquired within the first 10 levels. At which point, the only mechanics you learn which are crucial to success past this point are the cameras and controlling robots.

There were occasions at which point I was stumped, but no puzzles took me longer than 10 minutes, even at the end of the game. Which is definitely disappointing, especially because of how fun they are to work out. The Turing Test is a great example of a game which doesn’t overstay its welcome, but it left me wanting just 10/15 more levels which scaled the difficulty up considerably. Don’t let this detract from the puzzles themselves though, because they definitely have that satisfaction of ‘Aha’ moments that is so crucial to this style of game, just they often came too quick in my opinion.

You’ll ask many questions in this game.

I mentioned the use of cameras and robots in puzzles later on in the game. Now, the narrative reason you’re able to use these new abilities is an amazing twist so again, I won’t spoil it. It definitely led to a greater variety in puzzle mechanics, which was much needed, however, I again felt that it isn’t pushed enough. A couple of puzzles which took me a fair while to complete were surrounded by rather basic companions, a massive let down.

I definitely come across as rather negative, but that isn’t to say I think The Turing Test is a bad puzzle game. In fact, it is one of the most enjoyable ones I have played in the past few years. My entire 6 hours was incredibly fun, I finished it in two sittings purely because I struggled to put it down. It is a good game, no doubt, just not a great one. The gameplay is incredibly solid, it just doesn’t expand as much as it could!

Jupiter never looked so good!

So sterile. Almost too clean isn’t it, rather unsettling…

The Turing Test is undoubtedly one of the best looking games on the Switch, especially for an indie game. It is visually stunning, particularly when you get to head into the outdoor environments of Europa. The fidelity on textures is impressive too, and the overall package is a great showcase for the ability of the Switch to handle games with life-like visuals.

All of this is complete with near flawless performance too. Up until the last act of the game, I encountered no performance issues at all. Until I hit the last chapter and was met with constant issues for the rest of the game, around another 45 minutes. I have no explanation for this, it seems similar to other games wherein upon resetting it completely disappeared though. It was a bizarre ending to an otherwise flawless experience.

The audio design too is rather impressive. A simple, non-intrusive soundtrack accompanies you as you play through The Turing Test and it further pushes the brilliant atmosphere of the game. T.O.M, your A.I companion isn’t as iconic as Glados for sure but is assertive and increasingly manipulative wisdom acts as a fantastic narrative tool and by the end, it makes the choice you are given even harder…

Congratulations… You beat the Turing Test

As an entire experience, The Turing Test is a really solid game, and one people who like this style of game will definitely enjoy. It is let down most by the lack of true difficulty but even so, it will leave your head scratching enough to be a worthy investment of both time and money. Luckily, the brilliant narration and story make up somewhat for the lack of edge in puzzles, and the ending will leave you genuinely shocked and reeling from what you just did, whichever decision you make.

Visually, it is seriously impressive, and the overall atmosphere is perfect for a late-night session. Plug your headphones in, turn off the lights and jump into the world of The Turing Test. This quest into finding out the fate of your fellow crew members will grip you until the very end, and likely leave you thinking about it days after.

The Turing Test is certainly a unique experience, but it isn’t the only one on the Switch! For another great title, I recommend our review of Super Lucky’s Tale, a fantastically fun 3D platformer! Be sure to keep the convo going on our Twitter and join our Discord. Thank you, as always for checking out our content, we appreciate everyone who helps keep indies alive!