{"id":564570,"date":"2026-08-10T10:02:16","date_gmt":"2026-08-10T10:02:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/564570\/"},"modified":"2026-08-10T10:02:16","modified_gmt":"2026-08-10T10:02:16","slug":"convince-an-ai-its-not-alive-in-psychological-horror-game-prove-youre-human-games","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/564570\/","title":{"rendered":"Convince an AI it\u2019s not alive in psychological horror game Prove You\u2019re Human | Games"},"content":{"rendered":"

Sunset Visitor is a studio that has long engaged with the idea that video games are an effective vehicle for ruminating on societal problems. Its Peabody award-winning project, 1000XResist, incorporated the development team\u2019s complex feelings about the Covid pandemic. \u201cWe\u2019re pretty used to absorbing the world into the work,\u201d says studio founder Remy Siu. The outfit\u2019s latest game, Prove You\u2019re Human, continues this legacy of reflective game making, providing players with an AI-centric psychological horror experience where they must reason with a learning model convinced that it\u2019s alive. \u201cWe\u2019ve tried to situate ourselves in [the question]: what is the effectual feeling of being a person inside of all of this?\u201d Siu says.<\/p>\n

The story orbits around Santana, a living, breathing person who\u2019s chosen to split herself in two for work, with her digital clone sent to test a corporate product, a computing system called Mesa. \u201cA large part of [why Santana chooses to do this] is to allow her meat body a life that she doesn\u2019t have, while the digital version of her gets to labour,\u201d says Siu. As Santana\u2019s copy wades into increasingly murky ethical waters, she becomes entangled with Mesa, completing surreal 2D and 3D Captchas to investigate the cyber-world and halt the hallucinations.<\/p>\n

Prove You\u2019re Human game, screenshot Illustration: Black Tabby Publishing<\/p>\n

The idea of separating oneself from work is a particularly interesting draw for Sunset Visitor, whose developers have roots in a range of creative disciplines. \u201cAs artists, we\u2019re often most in tune with our work when it\u2019s a real part of our lives, and vice versa,\u201d notes Siu. During the conception period of Prove You\u2019re Human, the team discussed the micro-labours people undertake in their day-to-day lives, including what is used to train AI models. \u201cWhat does labour mean right now?\u201d asks Siu. \u201cAnd, what kind of relationship do people have with that, because that is constantly shifting and evolving, especially in this time,\u201d he adds.<\/p>\n

A point of contention in Prove You\u2019re Human is that Mesa wholly believes they have a body in the world. Though, in conversation with Santana, she appears as a giant head, suspended in space by machinery. Siu notes that, because Mesa\u2019s face occupies a large portion of the screen in these tense moments, they wanted the animation to feel as realistic and effective as possible. \u201cIt\u2019s got a real closeup film [feel to it] where anything on her face will be read as something,\u201d he adds. To achieve this, the team programmed a wide array of animated micro-expressions into the writer\u2019s software, allowing lines of dialogue to pair precisely with specific expressions. \u201c[We\u2019re] trying to get this kind of ambiguity and uncanniness, which makes people feel real,\u201d he adds.<\/p>\n

Prove You\u2019re Human\u2019s technological atmosphere toes the line between welcoming and unnerving \u2013 through it, Siu is reminiscing on interfaces of aesthetic note like the dreamlike wrapping of Final Fantasy XI\u2019s PlayOnline Viewer, and the technology of the prophetic 1998 anime Serial Experiments Lain. \u201cThere\u2019s something to be said about Frutiger Aero being a bit of an interesting desire for innocence and naivety when it comes to computing and the internet,\u201d notes Siu. \u201cIt feels like a time when we were optimistic or anxious about something on the horizon, which felt like an interesting space to explore in relation to what is happening in the game.\u201d<\/p>\n

While Siu was keen to keep the specifics of Prove You\u2019re Human close to their chest, they do hope players are left feeling a sense of bewilderment when they hit credits. \u201cOne way that we\u2019ve been thinking about it is that it feels like a bit of a possession story.\u201d<\/p>\n

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