I called 1000xRESIST brilliant in my review earlier last year, and the game went on to win a Peabody Award, which honestly felt like validation for everyone who had been telling people to play it. So when developer sunset visitor 斜陽過客 revealed its next project, Prove You’re Human, I immediately wanted to know more. The fact that it’s being published by Black Tabby Games, the studio behind Slay the Princess, only makes it more intriguing.
Prove You’re Human splits its main character in two, and you drew the short straw. You play as the digital copy of a person who was paid to test a corporate product. The product is an entity named Mesa, and she’s convinced she’s just as human as you are. Your job is to spend your days in a comfortable virtual world, learn more about Mesa, break her defenses, and eliminate her delusions. When you’re not working, you can roam the land and “CAPTCHA” your environment, interact with the various employees ensuring everything goes smoothly, and keep tabs on your corporeal body, who will be out living the life you’ve always dreamed of. At the end of the program, you’ll decide whether to re-merge your two selves or discard your work self entirely.
It’s a premise that feels right at home for the team that made 1000xRESIST, a game that tackled identity, memory, and what it means to be human in ways I wasn’t expecting. Prove You’re Human seems to be exploring similar philosophical territory, but through a completely different lens. Pairing sunset visitor’s narrative ambitions with Black Tabby Games’ track record on Slay the Princess is the kind of indie collaboration that has a lot of potential.
No release date or platforms have been announced yet.
