You are sent to investigate an outbreak of radiation sickness aboard the space station Icarus, but once aboard, you realize your primary objective is the least of your worries. The captain has been murdered, an assassin threatens a visiting senior Senator, and a power struggle arises as the station careens toward the sun. Save yourself, or save the ship?

Sentient's main feature is the artificial intelligence controlling multiple individual crew members aboard the station, each with their own assignments and behaviors. You interact with the AI characters through an elaborate parser interface, which allows you to ask them everything from the location of a vital piece of equipment, to their opinion of another member of the crew. To succeed, you must take advantage of the crew's help through this social system.