The quintessential philosophical puzzle adventure. For once, the gameplay has made a proper connection to the narrative, in a way that could rival Portal. It is very on-the-nose, but actually supported by its setting for once. And the puzzle-to-story ratio is also good - there's the obvious final indie game choice though. While it came out later than I remembered, I think it is a very good template for puzzle adventures - just the right balance and nothing overly flashy, standing right between involved non-standard adventures like Outer Wilds and very rigid games like most of The Talos Principle.

Any game attempting to ape Portal has one simple test to pass: Is it better than playing fan levels for Portal 2 for the same length of time? You'd think the test would be "is this game better than or on par with Portal 1 or 2?", but time has only shown just how pointless a question is when the answer is always "no". So instead I think it's fairer to compare to the fan content built in the actual skeleton of Portal. And honestly, the Turing Test fails that test entirely.

What's here is pretty weak honestly. The puzzles are adequate enough, but do nothing that hasn't been done a thousand times before. Many mechanics are cribbed directly from Portal with often no changes at all, such as weighted boxes and ligtbridges. The only time I found myself stuck for any amount of time was in one optional puzzle, the reward for which was so pointless that I almost wished I hadn't bothered. The big issue with the Turing Test is it has too many mechanics, and none of them are fleshed out or interesting enough to be considered central. The game consistently introduces new puzzle tools every few levels right to its very end, meaning that most of the puzzles feel like tutorials rather than genuine headscratchers.

But the puzzles aren't awful. They're passable, on the level of your fairly mindless newspaper faire, with some lateral thinking occasionally required. What of the story then? Sadly, it's no better. A nonsensical sandwich of exposition philosophy 101 thought experiments humorlessly discussed with a dull AI. All building up to a final moral quandary that feels like someone thought the trolley problem was too balanced and needed to be easier.

Again, I want to say I don't hate the Turing Test, it's a decent enough first effort, but it's copying its homework from one of the best games of all time and as a result fails to bring anything interesting to the table. Play any other Portal clone, or hell, just replay Portal for the fiftieth time and ignore the Turing Test.

The puzzles are pretty easy until you reach the last chapter. I was somewhat disappointed.

The story and background are pretty generic, though it touches on some interesting topics with a serious tone to it. But I must say, it's well-written and the atmosphere is quite awesome.

If you're looking for some drama and not a funny story like Portal or Quantum Conundrum, this is for you.

I'd recommend getting it on sale.

Played on PS5
Playtime: 5 Hours
Play Status: Completed
Completion Date: January 22nd 2023
No Spoilers

Human and the Machine
The Turing Test is an indie puzzle game with an interesting story. I am usually not a puzzle guy, when I get puzzle after puzzle, I get bored. But Turing Test hooked me with it's easy and fun puzzles as well as an interesting story.

The story begins when our character Ava is awakened by the AI called TOM. Ava and a few more astronauts were on a space mission and while Ava stayed at the space shuttle, other astronauts went to Europa and TOM says he isn't getting anything from them for some time. Ava and TOM goes to Europa as well but finds themselves in a huge Turing Test. Which is a test made to separate human from machine. The duo tries to finish the tests to learn what happened to the other astronauts.

The story has an interesting setup and it continues to evolve throughout the game. There are 7 sectors in the game and each has 10 levels. Ava and TOM speaks in the start of every level talking about different topics. While at the beginning of every new sector there is a more narrative focused section.

Each sector also has a side level you can try to solve and those gives some lore as well. The midpoint of the game is fantastic with some huge story developments and the ending of the game is also something to discuss deeply. But don't worry because I said this, the story is easy and understandable. By the end you will get everything. If you are interested in the story but afraid of the puzzles, don't be. The puzzles of The Turing Test are mostly very easy. There were some longer and harder puzzles at the final sector but other sectors were mostly very easy. You usually don't have too many tools so that makes it easier as well. You can eventually find the solution.

But this doesn't mean that you only have one mechanic here. Of course that's not the case. You start the game with a gun shaped tool. You can use this to pick up energy balls and put them elsewhere. You mainly do this to open up doors or power up platforms.

As you continue though, new things are added to make the puzzles more interesting. Technically, the game is not too bad but not too good either.

Graphics are fine. They are ok for an indie game. But the performance of the game on PS5 was a bit shocking because yes, there are frame drops. At least I did not encounter any bugs or glitches. But here is a nice tip if you will play the game. Sometimes you can get stuck in puzzles. There is no way to move forward because of a mistake you did. Don't worry, you can pause the game and there will be an option to restart that area.

The Turing Test is not the greatest puzzle game ever made but it doesn't need to be. It has an interesting story with a solid ending and it has puzzles that are easy but still challenging at some points. Puzzles are also varied and they evolve through the game. While you won't miss anything if you don't play this game, if you play it, I think you will have a great experience.