Second Thoughts is not a game, per say, but rather a psychological experiment designed to determine how knowledge, and the lack of it, affects a person's decision making process. It uses the imagery of an old computer terminal and ambient background noise to convey a sense of uneasiness and isolation, yet at the same time the fact you are directly addressed also gives you the feeling of being watched. Observed. Documented.

The premise is simple: you have been tasked by some mysterious group to participate in an experiment. They show you information about a variety of people, which they refer to as subjects, charged with a variety of crimes of differing levels of severity. Each day, you are given additional information about each person organised into distinctive categories. Each day, you must decide who to execute based on the knowledge you have on a given day. After the final day, the surviving person is allowed to go free.

As their stories unfold, you find that each person has their own life, their own hopes and dreams, their own trials and tribulations. Their own secrets. There is a certain thrill I found in trying to outsmart the nebulous group that put me in this situation, trying to predict where everyone's stories will go, trying to predict who is truly innocent and guilty; although the line between the two can blur heavily depending on the person, making it more complicated to make what I felt were the "right" choices. I like to think I saved the right person, in the end. I am curious if others feel the same.

In addition to the stories of each person, and the questions they raise, there's also the questions raised about the group that's set this up to begin with. Who are they? How much power and influence do they possess that they are able to gather all of these people together and find out even their deepest secrets? What is the exact purpose of this experiment they are conducting? Are they even telling you the whole truth about everything? What kind of world is this that they are able to pull all of this off? It's quite fascinating to think about.

Due to the nature of Second Thoughts, there's not much else I can say about it without spoiling things and it is best experienced when you don't know anything about what's going to happen. For only £1.69, it's well worth the price. I look forward to seeing the results of others' participations.