Sentient is an experimental psychological horror game about the dark sides of technology and consciousness. It belongs to a bigger world still being developed by FORMA. You play the role of a test subject at one of Sentient Corp’s Facilities. It’s quite a mystery what goes on at these places.
You wake up in a small gray room. Although the ceiling is bright and blinding, the room still seems dark somehow. A voice in Japanese speaks to you, and a digital text displays on the wall.
Here’s where the questions start. Where are you, and how did you get here? Why are you doing these tasks, and what for? You’ll have even more of these questions as the tasks go on. Look at home many there are! How long has it been that you’ve completed over 4000 of them?
You’re only choice is to finish the tasks. Whatever this room and voice is, you’re powerless to it. The only thing it lets you look forward to are the cookies it rewards you with after you complete a few series of tasks. It even tries to make you think the tennis ball it gives to you is somehow fun and thrilling.
You never see if you have arms or legs, and some of the prompts make you wonder whether or not you’re even human. My best guess is that you’re an AI program trapped in the experiment described by the creator.
The Sentient Experiment
Sentient is a dark and grim experience that’ll keep you asking questions. It reminds me of some of the evils of technology that are used in Black Mirror. We’re witnessing many similarities about a conscious AI being subjected to psychological torture not possible in the real world. It goes far beyond the limits of the worst torture methods ever.
Since it’s release, no updates or further games have been made. I really liked the theme of this game so I hope to see more. Psychological AI horror is truly one of the most terrifying things to experience. It’s photo-realistic graphics make it seem like it’s something that could actually be happening.
