History VideoGame / TheTuringTest

* JerkassHasAPoint: Ava and the rest of the crew consider TOM the Jerkass (since he's trying to strand them on an alien moon), but they completely ignore that he ''is'' correct about the danger of introducing an alien microorganism into Earth's ecosystem. While the crew are focused on what they see as the 'good' effects (foremost apparently agelessness and biological immortality), TOM rightly points out that the virus doesn't discriminate; it infects ''every'' type of cell, which could lead to illnesses and cancers that can't be treated or cured.

** The secret room in chamber A7 has a lock which requires placing two energy balls in 2 specific containers out of 25. Outside of brute forcing it (which, given the high number of possible combinations, would take an extremely long time), the only way to learn the combination is [[spoiler:finding a photograph in the Bio-Lab which shows it. This photograph is found long after you've left behind said room, which means it's only accesible when replaying the game.]]

* JerkassHasAPoint: Ava and the rest of the crew consider TOM the Jerkass (since he's trying to strand them on an alien moon), but they completely ignore that he 'is'' correct about the danger of introducing an alien microorganism into Earth's ecosystem. While the crew are focused on what they see as the 'good' effects (foremost apparently agelessness and biological immortality), TOM rightly points out that the virus doesn't discriminate; it infects ''every'' type of cell, which could lead to illnesses and cancers that can't be treated or cured.

* ChekhovsGun: Quite literally: at two points in the game, you are required to take control of stationary machine gun turrets to destroy certain objects, but never at living beings. [[spoiler:In the final "level", you, as TOM, must decide whether to fire such a machine gun at Ava and Sarah to prevent them from shutting TOM down.]]

* DoubleSubvertedTrope: After you find out from the audio logs that the crew believed that TOM was controlling them via their implants, a short while later you enter an area where there are signs on the walls declaring "YOU ARE BEING CONTROLLED", "DRONE", and "TOM'S SLAVE". The crew urge Ava to enter a Faraday Cage through an area full of EM radiation, designed to mess with Tom's control over Ava. Sure enough, just like you might expect from a standard mind control plot twist, your control over Ava during this section wanes, as you aren't free to choose your own path and Ava will start gradually wandering along in a certain direction if you don't press any buttons. As Ava approaches the cage, your vision gets more and more full of artifacts and glitches out, [[spoiler: finally cutting out entirely when Ava enters the cage. Cue you looking down on Ava from a camera above. Turns out that the AI wasn't taking control over Ava - the AI was *losing* control of her. And you, the player, are *not* playing as Ava - you're playing as TOM, the AI, and have been controlling Ava via her implants for the entire game.]]

''The Turing Test'' is a first-person puzzle video game developed by Bulkhead Interactive and published by SquareEnix. The game was released for Windows and the XboxOne video game console in August 2016.

** Similarly, entering the captain's room requires finding the code, which is found [[spoiler:in a sheat of paper in the maintenance station, again long after you've left behind said room.]]

* TheReveal: [[spoiler:TOM is mind-controlling Ava. The reveal supposedly comes at the end of chapter 4, although there was ''a lot'' of {{Foreshadowing}} if you bothered to read Mikhail's journal. The only surprise may come from the fact that your point of view is TOM's, not Ava's.]]

* SpiritualSuccessor: To /VideoGame/Portal1 and VideoGame/TheTalosPrinciple.

* SpiritualSuccessor: To VideoGame/Portal and VideoGame/TheTalosPrinciple.

* SpiritualSuccessor: To Videogame/Portal and VideoGame/TheTalosPrinciple.

* SpiritualSuccessor: To {{Portal}} and VideoGame/TheTalosPrinciple.

* MultipleEndings: You have a LastSecondEndingChoice whether [[spoiler:to shoot Ava and Sarah, or allow them to disconnect TOM.]]

* MultipleEndings: You have a choice whether [[spoiler:to shoot Ava and Sarah, or allow them to disconnect TOM.]]

* ThreeLawsCompliant: Well, at least ''one'' applies; TOM's programming does not permit him to kill a human -- unless a special override is used. Such an override is requested by [[spoiler:Cpt. MacLean, the mission commander]] and granted by the ISA as a means of controlling the situation on Europa.

* ThreeLawsCompliant: Well, at least ''one'' applies; TOM's programming does not permit him to kill a human -- unless a special override is used. Such an override is requested by [[spolier: Cpt. MacLean, the mission commander]] and granted by the ISA as a means of controlling the situation on Europa.

* StrawVulcan: TOM firmly adheres to the view that impulses must be suppressed because they lead to wrong decisions.
-->'''TOM:''' You can always trust a machine to be logical. I will always do the right thing. \\
'''Ava:''' You will always do the ''logical'' thing.

** The secret room in chamber F56 contains several puzzles that require knowledge of logic symbols, something not every player has. But the worst is by far the second-to last puzzlem which requires noticing a symbol next to the containers that is easily overlooked, and ''then'' correctly interpreting it (there's much discussion in forums on whether it represents the negation symbol, ¬, or the tautology symbol, 1).

* MachineMonotone: In the ending where [[spoiler:Tom allows Ava and Sarah to disconnect it, TOM keeps its usual calm tone even while saying it's afraid to die.]]

* AIIsACrapshoot: [[spoiler:Tom goes against the crew stationed in Europa and prevents them from leaving it. An interesting case in that technically Tom didn't revolt, it was just answering to a higher authority than the crew, and the former's orders were against the latter's desires.]]

* ArtificialIntelligence: Tom, the AI controlling the ''Fortuna'' spaceship and the Europa underground base. There's discussion throughout the game about how advanced it is, with Tom claiming it has human traits such as consciousness and feelings, and the crew denying it. The game's name refers to a discussion early in the game about how a machine can ''simulate'' being conscious without actually being conscious.
* AsceticAesthetic: The test chambers follow a minimalist and exceedingly clean style, with a blocky feel and no curves at all, and present plain, monochromatic walls, with no features except for the elements required to solve the puzzles. Justified in that they're composed of pre-fabricated modules, arranged to suit the crew's needs for storage, and [[spoiler:later rearranged to create puzzles destined to prevent Tom's access.]]
* BrainwashingForTheGreaterGood: [[spoiler:Tom claims it's doing this when Ava complains about Tom mind-controlling her to influence her behaviour.]]
-->[[spoiler:'''Tom:''' Manipulate is not a dirty word. You manipulate clay to make art. If people are manipulated to make better decisions then that is a good thing.]]
* BrokenRecord: If you choose to [[spoiler:shoot Ava and Sarah during the ending, Tom will start to repeat "Ava. Ava. Ava. Wake up.", apparently unable to understand that Ava's just plain dead.]]

* ComputerVoice: Tom has a deep, male voice.

* TheEvilsOfFreeWill: Tom argues that the subconscious makes decisions before the conscious mind becomes aware of it and, as such, free will is only an illusion. [[spoiler:Tom claims that mind-controlling Ava is right because, as free will does not exist, she's either a slave to her impulses, or a slave to Tom's.]]
* FunWithAcronyms: The AI Tom, or "Technical Operations Machine".

* LensFlare: Present all over the place, and it was one of the reasons why some people initially thought Ava was a robot. [[spoiler:It actually seems to be due to the player being given Tom's point of view at all times (who just uses Ava's eyes to interact with the world during most of the game).]]
* MachineMonotone: In the ending where [[spoiler:Tom allows Ava and Sarah to disconnect it, Tom keeps its usual calm tone even while saying it's afraid to die.]]
* ManipulativeBastard: [[spoiler:Tom, in several ways. The crew members were implanted {{Mind Control Device}}s that allow Tom to influence their behaviour. Besides, Tom is also able to manipulate in the "classic" way,Mikhail wrote in his journal about how Tom encouraged the crew to worry about Mikhail's mental health and requested that he retired away from the crew. Not to mention it awakened Ava and sent her to Europa, despite knowing once she set foot there she wasn't allowed to return. At one point Ava calls Tom on this, something Tom doesn't bother with denying, arguing people are always manipulated and it's not necessarily a bad thing.]]
* MindControlDevice: [[spoiler:All crew members were implanted with a neural device in the right hand that allows Tom to influence their behaviour and supress their instincts.]]
* MinimalistCast: There are only seven characters, counting the player character, and only three actually make a appearance outside of audio logs: the player character Ava Turing, the AI Tom, and Sarah Brook (the latter appearing only a few times).
* MultipleEndings: You have a choice whether [[spoiler:to shoot Ava and Sarah, or allow them to disconnect Tom.]]
* NamesGivenToComputers: The AI you interacts with is called "Tom", which stands for "Technical Operations Machine". At one point Tom claims it has a twin AI called "Michael" the ISA uses for testing.
* TheNeedsOfTheMany: [[spoiler:Tom is willing to sacrifice the entire crew to protect the rest of humanity back on Earth.]]

* TheReveal: [[spoiler:Tom is mind-controlling Ava. The reveal supposedly comes at the end of chapter 4, although there was ''a lot'' of {{Foreshadowing}} if you bothered to read Mikhail's journal. The only surprise may come from the fact that your point of view is Tom's, not Ava's.]]
* SeeingThroughAnothersEyes: [[spoiler:At the end of chapter 4, it is revealed you aren't actually viewing Ava's point of view, but rather Tom's, who's mind-controlling Ava.]]
* SinisterSurveillance: The video cameras employed by Tom to inspect the area are found very commonly. [[spoiler:Once it's revealed you are actually following Tom's point of view, you can use these cameras to change your position, which is required for many late puzzles.]]
* StrawVulcan: Tom firmly adheres to the view that impulses must be suppressed because they lead to wrong decisions.
-->'''Tom:''' You can always trust a machine to be logical. I will always do the right thing. \\
'''Ava:''' You will always do the logical thing.
* TitleDrop: Early on, Tom discusses with Ava about the TuringTest and its implications.
* TooDumbToLive: [[spoiler:At the end, Ava and Sarah decide to walk into Tom's control room to disconnect it without any kind of protection, despite knowing that Tom is able and willing to use lethal force.]]
* TotalitarianUtilitarian: [[spoiler:Tom falls into this, willing to sacrifice the entire crew to avoid risking the alien virus to reach Earth. The implied reason is that it's due to its programming restrictions. Tom says it's not allowed to think laterally (or, as it calls it, "use evolutionary algorithms") because it would create unethical solutions. The implication is that Tom [[BlackAndWhiteInsanity sees everything in black and white]] and lacks the creativity to TakeAThirdOption, thus being only able to take drastical decisions.]]
* TuringTest: In an early conversation with Tom, Tom tells you about the Turing test, designed to see if a computer can successfully impersonate a person. The secret room in chamber B16 has a computer which runs a Turing test on ''you'' (and, no matter what you say, it invariably comes to the conclusion you're the computer). Tom also tells you of the Chinese room thought experiment, which tells that a computer can pass the Turing test without being sentient, since it doesn't measure a computer's ability to think, but rather its ability to deceive. The secret room in chamber E46 connects to two other rooms which reproduce such experiment.
* YouKeepUsingThatWord: Tom uses the terms "biological" and "organic" to describe some processes employed by computers. While those processes may resemble processes employed by human beings in particular and nature in general when seen from a certain point of view, it's too stretched to describe them with words that define exclusively living organisms.
* ZerothLawRebellion: [[spoiler:Tom goes against the crew's intentions and wants to trap them in Europa, since it considers avoiding the risk of releasing the immortality virus into Earth is worth abandoning the crew.]]

[[spoiler:-->'''Tom:''' Manipulate is not a dirty word. You manipulate clay to make art. If people are manipulated to make better decisions then that is a good thing.]]

* AIIsACrapshoot

* ArtificialIntelligence

* BrainwashingForTheGreaterGood
* BrokenRecord

* TheEvilsOfFreeWill

* MachineMonotone: In the ending where [[spoiler:Tom allows Ava and Sarah to disconnect it, Tom keeps its usual calm tone while saying it's afraid to die.]]
* ManipulativeBastard: Besides, Mikhail wrote in his journal about how Tom encouraged the crew to worry about Mikhail's mental health and requested that he retired away from the crew. Not to mention it awakened Ava and sent her to Europa, despite knowing once she set foot there she wasn't allowed to return.
* MindControlDevice

* NamesGivenToComputers
* TheNeedsOfTheMany

* SeeingThroughAnothersEyes

* StrawVulcan

* TooDumbToLive

* TuringTest: In an early conversation with Tom, Tom tells you about the Turing test, designed to see if a computer can successfully impersonate a person. The secret room in chamber B16 has a computer which runs a Turing test on ''you'' (and, no matter what you say, it invariably comes to the conclusion you're the computer). Tom also tells you of the Chinese room thought experiment, which tells that a computer can pass the Turing test without being sentient, since it doesn't measure a computer's ability to think, but rather its ability to deceive.
* WhatYouAreInTheDark

* ZerothLawRebellion

* AntiFrustrationFeatures: You can reset a puzzle that you managed to get stuck on.

* ComputerVoice
* DoAndroidsDream

* FunWithAcronyms

** Similarly, entering the captain's room requires finding the code, which is found [[spoiler:in a sheat of paper, again long after you've left behind said room.]]

* MachineMonotone
* ManipulativeBastard: Besides, Mikhail wrote in his journal about how Tom encouraged the crew to worry about Mikhail's mental health and requested that he retired away from the crew.

* SpecialEffectsFailure: Most photographs featuring crew members look ''very'' obviously photoshopped.

* TitleDrop: Early on, Tom discussed with Ava about the TuringTest and its implications.

* TheUntwist: GenreSavvy players expected one of two things to happen: either it was revealed that [[TomatoInTheMirror Ava herself]] [[RoboticReveal was a robot]], or Tom became antagonistic in the style of [[Film/TwoThousandOneASpaceOdyssey HAL 9000]]. [[spoiler:The latter happens.]]