The Turing Test is a first-person puzzler about life and morality, in space

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The Turing Test, from the makers of Pneuma: Breath of Life, is a first-person puzzle game set on Jupiter's moon Europa that begins with a simple question—Does it contain life?—but quickly moves into deeper and meatier musings. It's science fiction, but as writer and designer David Jones says in the video released today, “it's based in an underling reality, of wanting to tell a story that could actually be true.”

The gameplay seen in the video has echoes of games like The Talos Principle, Portal, and Magrunner: Dark Pulse, and like those games, the “who” and “why” of the story promise to be at least as important to the experience as the “what” and “how” of the puzzles on which it's built. “We present the player with a linear story that they can progress through,” Jones says. “But as well as this linear story, there's also elements underneath that, that will change the meaning of the story for the player as they experience it.”

The title itself hints at hidden meanings and, hopefully, depth: The Turing test was developed in 1950 by Alan Turing as a method of determining whether or not an AI has actually achieved intelligence—one measure, perhaps, of determining “life.” It's also the name of the lead character, Ava Turing, an engineer with the International Space Agency who's determined to discover the truth behind the research station on Europa.

The Turing Test is slated for release in August. Find out more at theturingtestgame.com.

Andy has been gaming on PCs from the very beginning, starting as a youngster with text adventures and primitive action games on a cassette-based TRS80. From there he graduated to the glory days of Sierra Online adventures and Microprose sims, ran a local BBS, learned how to build PCs, and developed a longstanding love of RPGs, immersive sims, and shooters. He began writing videogame news in 2007 for The Escapist and somehow managed to avoid getting fired until 2014, when he joined the storied ranks of PC Gamer. He covers all aspects of the industry, from new game announcements and patch notes to legal disputes, Twitch beefs, esports, and Henry Cavill. Lots of Henry Cavill.