Things I Played: The Talos Principle - A Game Where An Android Ponders The Meaning of Life

I once read a quote by one of the writers of The Talos Principle which said something about how video games are a great medium for tackling philosophical topics. While I've never been able to find the quote every time I've looked for it, I do remember the reason being something about games and philosophy requiring the same type of thinking. Obviously, that isn't always true; some games are simply about blowing things up for fun, but not all of them deal in the vicarious thrill of destruction. One example being said writer's game, The Talos Principle which works both as a puzzler and a rumination on the self-sustaining nature of technology.

The core experience of The Talos Principle is a puzzle game. It plays a bit like Portal or Antichamber but rather than charming anti-heroes or eclectic aesthetics, the game offers more by way of philosophical conundrums. In the beginning, there are words and these words come from Elohim, the game's central Deity figure who presides over a kingdom for which you are the only inhabitant. He's convincing speaker and wants us to solve puzzles to prove ourselves worthy. But do we abide by His plans? Or do we defy him to strike an essence of free will? And if we do does that mean our actions are the result of our desire or that of pre-determined Universe? Oh, and why is life so hard?

Okay, I added that last one in because life is hard but The Talos Principle is all about these types of rhetorical questions. Aside from a cacophony of puzzles involving electrical jammers, light refractors, and time-travel, it also engages on subjects involving knowledge, reason, and self-doubt. Topics range as far and wide as the ethics of artificial intelligence, Ancient Egyptian concepts of soul-body dualism, and twentieth-century neuroscience and the story provides a non-self-effacing yet non-pretentious look at the manner in which we can feasibly say to know our reality. It also features a snarky, critical piece of AI named the Milton Library Assistant, named after one of the game's chief influencers, John Milton, whose letters crop up a fair bit throughout.

While I admit I became a bit bored of the puzzles towards the end, preferring instead to ponder over the thrilling text logs, the majority of the game proved overwhelmingly positive. It's easily one of the best I've played in the past few years and it's convinced me that video games and philosophy can indeed go hand in glove. I noted too that it required a strong scientific approach to solving puzzles - hypothesise; take action; etc - and thus, in its own way, provides a way for science and philosophy to co-exist peacefully. Of course, we shouldn't tell the internet about that but it's largely the addition of Tom Jubert's and Jonas Kryatzes' writing that gives The Talos Principle its edge and proves Kryatzes' point that video games can indeed be used to do a spot of philosophy from time to time.

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