Turing Machine is a game in which players race to solve logic puzzles. For each puzzle, each player tries to identify a three digit number, with the digits ranging from1 to 5. The game provides four to six facts about the number against which a player’s supposition can be tested. For example, a player can test whether the middle digit is less than, equal to, or greater than 4; whether the first digit is less than, equal to, or greater than the third digit; or whether there are a pair of digits in the answer.
Of course, I played it solo. All of the reviews I’ve seen say it is best as a solo game. I would agree. In a gaming group, one player is likely to be much better than others at logic puzzles. This game is purely skill based. There is no randomness. There is no catchup mechanism. A single game only lasts a few minutes, so there is little option for players to change strategy to catch up to the leader. The person best at logic puzzles would almost always win. That is no fun for the rest of the players. Let the players that enjoy the game, whether they are good at it or not, play by themselves. For those who want a taste of competition, the Turing Machine website can offer a problem to solve. Once the player has solved it, it will tell them how many turns it should have taken them, as in Sherlock Holmes: Consulting Detective.
There is little gameplay to be described beyond the summary in the first paragraph. Providing an example might be easier than giving details. Say that the number the player is trying to deduce is 523. The middle digit is less than 4. If the player checks whether that digit is less than, equal to, or greater than 4, the game would return true for any tested number with that digit less than 4 (e.g., 123, 435, 222). It would return false for any other number (e.g., 345, 153). If all of the checks come up true, the player has found the right number. The player can only perform three checks each turn.
That is the Classic difficulty mode. Turing Machine has two modes of greater difficulty. Extreme mode shows two logic statements applicable to each check, only one of which is actually being checked. Nightmare mode shows the right number of logic statements but does not match them up with the cards used to make each check.
Components are pretty good. The cardstock is of decent but not fantastic quality. The cards are not linen finished. This is all fine. The cards sit on the table, displaying information. They are never shuffled. They do not need to be too extravagant.
I solved four of the 20 problems provided in the instruction manual - two at the easiest level and two at the most difficult level. The only problem I had was figuring out the terminology used for some of the logic statements, especially for the harder problems. Once I figured all of that out, even the hardest problems were not too difficult. I figured out the last three-star (hard) problem I did in four turns. I have not tried Extreme or Nightmare modes. They would certainly require more turns. After a player has solved a few problems in those modes, I expect they would have developed techniques to address the hurdles set up by those modes.
The instruction manual only has twenty problems. To get more, a player needs to go to the Turing Machine website. This is fine, as long as the company remains in business and supports the game. Game companies can close down at any time. As with any app or website supported game, it could become unplayable with no notice.
Conclusion: Turing Machine only takes a few minutes to set up and to play. If I have ten, twenty, or thirty minutes to spare and want to solve a few puzzles, I can pull out Turing Machine. I’m not sure I would want to, though. None of the puzzles I’ve tried have been satisfyingly difficult. I’ll have to try some of those on the website and also try Extreme mode before deciding whether I’ll keep it around.
Den of the Red Wolf 