Page - 153 - in Limina - Grazer theologische Perspektiven, Volume 3:2

153 | www.limina-graz.eu Frank G. Bosman | The turning of Turing’s tables The philosopher Stefano Gualeni (2015) has already argued that the exist- ence of virtual worlds, such as digital games, are very useful as materi- alizations of thought experiments in the first place. Usually, however, the traditional narrative utilization of the Turing test is a limited or “passive” one. That means that a fictional character, either human or artificial in na- ture, tests or is tested on its ability to pass as a human. The viewer of films, or gamer in most instances, is left passive with regard to the test: he or she is not able to participate in the test itself. In some rare digital game cases, however, the narrative utilization of the Turing test is an “active” one, subjecting the gamer him- or herself to the test in question. Games are not only capable of “passive” storytelling – as other media like films and novels can – but also of “active” or “immersive” narrativity, due to their inherent interactive quality (Bosman 2019, 41–42). As Chris Crawford has argued: a video game “mandates choice for the user. Every interactive application must give its user a reasonable amount of choice. No choice, no interactivity. This is not a rule of thumb, it is an absolute, uncompromising principle” (Craw- ford 2003, 191). In this article, I want to identify and analyse two digital games that utilize one or more “active” (reversed) Turing tests in order to engage the gamer in the narrative-cum-thought experiment on the notion of “humanity”: The Turing Test (2016) and The Talos Principle (2014). Both games have re- ceived critical acclaim from both gamers and (professional) game critics. The Turing Test is a first person puzzle game developed by Bulkhead Inter- active and published by Japan-based Square Enix for Windows, Xbox One (all in 2016), PlayStation 4 (2017), Nintendo Switch, and Stadia (both in 2020). The Talos Principle is also a first person puzzle game, but is created by the Croatian developer Croteam and published by Texas-based Devolver Digital for Windows, OSX, Linux (all in 2014), Android, PlayStation 4 (both in 2015), iOS (2017), Xbox One (2018), and Switch (2019). At the end of this article, I will discuss some theological consequences of these “active” or reversed Turing tests. In some digital game cases, the narrative utilization of the Turing test is an “active” one, subjecting the gamer him- or herself to the test.