Reader reviews for The Turing Test

People classify games like this one as being akin to “Portal,” “Talos,” “Witness,” and a few others. Those comparisons are valid, but we like to compare all such games to the sliding block puzzle marketed as “Rush Hour.” You have to shove 1x2, 1x3, and sometimes 1x4 “cars,” “trucks,” and “buses” along a cartesian grid, trying to figure out how to get one of them out of an opening on one side of a square game board. In “Talos,” the process came to be called “juggling.” Once you get the idea, “juggling” is both recognizable, and a relevant skill, in a lot of games. This is one of them, and it is a great deal of fun (if, of course, you like that kind of thing).

The story here is adequate, but the purpose of the game is the puzzles. One wonders how much difference story makes to the fun overall. Well, included with the game proper is a prototype level that is as bare-bones as it can be. The puzzles in that level are identical in how you play/solve them to what’s in the game. At first, it seemed a little austere. But, once you get immersed in the problem, you tend to forget that there’s no story, nor decorations. So… the story helps, but it’s really just a starting point.

Indeed, the title of the game does suggest that there’s an overarching question about the nature of thought and existence. Thus, as the game plays out and the story unfolds, you expect an answer. Like a lot of games where the emphasis is on the journey, and not the arrival, this one fails to provide a fully satisfying ending. But when you get there and see how it does end, ask yourself what could have been any better. The play’s the thing, after all, as it always is.

So we loved this one because we love “Rush Hour” games, and this is a very good “Rush Hour” game. It is strictly linear. You go from Puzzle N to Puzzle N+1, with no turning back, ever. That, again, might bother those who want more dramatic depth, but we thought it was a good way to deliver a sense of progress. Returning to places you’ve already visited to solve previously unsolvable puzzles can work (as in “Talos”), but it isn’t necessary and, unless done with precision, leads to a lot of tedious running around for no reason. The decision not to include that amount of complexity was a good one here. You get your puzzles, one after the other, and that’s good enough.

If you like the “Rush Hour” family, this is for you.

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Time Played: 10-20 hours
Difficulty: Just Right

I really liked this puzzle game. It’s pretty similar to games like “MIND: Path to Thalamus” or “Talos Principle: The Road to Gehenna”. Sound, voice acting and music fits perfectly to the game and story. The story behind the puzzles is great, but not very original though. I don’t want to spoil it, but the story is very similar to a very well know Sci-Fi movie from 1968.
The game runs very smooth and the puzzles are fun to do. I didn’t see a single glitch or bug. The puzzles are a lot of fun and not to difficult. You have very easy ones to hard ones. They are pretty straight forward, but sometimes you really need to think outside the box. When you figure those out, it will give you a great feel of satisfaction.

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Time Played: 5-10 hours
Difficulty: Just Right