diff --git a/boilerplate/test/contract_spec.js b/boilerplate/test/contract_spec.js
index e0a6a9dc3..51518358f 100644
--- a/boilerplate/test/contract_spec.js
+++ b/boilerplate/test/contract_spec.js
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 var assert = require('assert');
-var EmbarkSpec = require('embark/lib/core/test.js');
-
+var Embark = require('embark');
+var EmbarkSpec = Embark.initTests();
+var web3 = EmbarkSpec.web3;
 
 // describe("SimpleStorage", function() {
 //  before(function(done) {
@@ -29,4 +30,4 @@ var EmbarkSpec = require('embark/lib/core/test.js');
 //    });
 //  });
 //
-// });
\ No newline at end of file
+// });
diff --git a/lib/core/engine.js b/lib/core/engine.js
index aecee563a..1b00b4ec3 100644
--- a/lib/core/engine.js
+++ b/lib/core/engine.js
@@ -22,7 +22,7 @@ class Engine {
     let self = this;
     let options = _options || {};
     this.events = new Events();
-    this.logger = options.logger || new Logger({logLevel: 'debug'});
+    this.logger = options.logger || new Logger({logLevel: options.logLevel || 'debug'});
     this.config = new Config({env: this.env, logger: this.logger, events: this.events});
     this.config.loadConfigFiles({embarkConfig: this.embarkConfig, interceptLogs: this.interceptLogs});
     this.plugins = this.config.plugins;
diff --git a/lib/core/runCode.js b/lib/core/runCode.js
index 765bd2658..6c89be039 100644
--- a/lib/core/runCode.js
+++ b/lib/core/runCode.js
@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@ let web3;
 // ======================
 function doEval(code, _web3) {
   if (_web3) {
-    let web3 = _web3;
+    web3 = _web3;
   }
   return eval(code); // jshint ignore:line
 }
diff --git a/lib/core/test.js b/lib/core/test.js
index 1c32120d2..39346762e 100644
--- a/lib/core/test.js
+++ b/lib/core/test.js
@@ -1,6 +1,23 @@
-let getSimulator = function () {
+var async = require('async');
+var Web3 = require('web3');
+
+var Embark = require('../index.js');
+
+var Engine = require('./engine.js');
+
+var ABIGenerator = require('../contracts/abi.js');
+var ContractsManager = require('../contracts/contracts.js');
+var Deploy = require('../contracts/deploy.js');
+
+var Config = require('./config.js');
+var RunCode = require('./runCode.js');
+var TestLogger = require('./test_logger.js');
+var web3;
+
+var getSimulator = function() {
   try {
-    return require('ethereumjs-testrpc');
+    var sim = require('ethereumjs-testrpc');
+    return sim;
   } catch (e) {
     if (e.code === 'MODULE_NOT_FOUND') {
       console.log('Simulator not found; Please install it with "npm install ethereumjs-testrpc --save"');
@@ -17,25 +34,70 @@ let getSimulator = function () {
   }
 };
 
+var Test = function(options) {
+  this.options = options || {};
+  var simOptions = this.options.simulatorOptions || {};
 
-class Test {
-  constructor(options) {
-    this.opts = options === undefined ? {} : options;
-    this.opts.logLevel = this.opts.hasOwnProperty('logLevel') ? this.opts.logLevel : 'debug';
-    this.opts.simulatorOptions = this.opts.hasOwnProperty('simulatorOptions') ? this.opts.simulatorOptions : {};
-    this.sim = getSimulator();
-  }
+  this.engine = new Engine({
+    env: this.options.env || 'test',
+    // TODO: confi will need to detect if this is a obj
+    embarkConfig: this.options.embarkConfig || 'embark.json',
+    interceptLogs: false
+  });
 
-  newWebThree() {
-    try {
-      let Web3 = require('web3');
-      let web3 = new Web3();
-      web3.setProvider(this.sim.provider(this.opts.simulatorOptions));
-      return web3;
-    } catch (e) {
-      throw new Error(e);
+  this.engine.init({
+    logger: new TestLogger({logLevel: 'debug'})
+  });
+
+  this.sim = getSimulator();
+  this.web3 = new Web3();
+  this.web3.setProvider(this.sim.provider(simOptions));
+};
+
+Test.prototype.deployAll = function(contractsConfig, cb) {
+  var self = this;
+
+  async.waterfall([
+      function getConfig(callback) {
+        self.engine.config.contractsConfig = {contracts: contractsConfig};
+        callback();
+      },
+      function startServices(callback) {
+        //{abiType: 'contracts', embarkJS: false}
+        self.engine.startService("abi");
+        self.engine.startService("deployment", {
+          web3: self.web3,
+          trackContracts: false
+        });
+        callback();
+      },
+      function deploy(callback) {
+        self.engine.events.on('abi-contracts-vanila', function(vanillaABI) {
+          callback(null, vanillaABI);
+        });
+        self.engine.deployManager.deployContracts(function(err, result) {
+          if (err) {
+            console.log(err);
+            callback(err);
+          }
+        });
+      }
+  ], function(err, result) {
+    if (err) {
+      console.log("got error");
+      process.exit();
     }
-  }
-}
+    // this should be part of the waterfall and not just something done at the
+    // end
+    self.web3.eth.getAccounts(function(err, accounts) { 
+      if (err) {
+        throw new Error(err);
+      }
+      self.web3.eth.defaultAccount = accounts[0];
+      RunCode.doEval(result, self.web3); // jshint ignore:line
+      cb();
+    });
+  });
+};
 
 module.exports = Test;
diff --git a/lib/index.js b/lib/index.js
index cc12a1303..109a532fe 100644
--- a/lib/index.js
+++ b/lib/index.js
@@ -197,4 +197,10 @@ class Embark {
 
 }
 
+// temporary until next refactor
+Embark.initTests = function(options) {
+  let Test = require('./core/test.js');
+  return new Test(options);
+}
+
 module.exports = Embark;
diff --git a/test_app/test/another_storage_spec.js b/test_app/test/another_storage_spec.js
index b60297b57..d0e90c60d 100644
--- a/test_app/test/another_storage_spec.js
+++ b/test_app/test/another_storage_spec.js
@@ -1,5 +1,7 @@
 var assert = require('assert');
-var EmbarkSpec = require('embark/lib/core/test.js');
+var Embark = require('embark');
+var EmbarkSpec = Embark.initTests();
+var web3 = EmbarkSpec.web3;
 
 describe("AnotherStorage", function() {
   before(function(done) {
diff --git a/test_app/test/simple_storage_spec.js b/test_app/test/simple_storage_spec.js
index b330ced62..b2d3cb178 100644
--- a/test_app/test/simple_storage_spec.js
+++ b/test_app/test/simple_storage_spec.js
@@ -1,5 +1,7 @@
 var assert = require('assert');
-var EmbarkSpec = require('embark/lib/core/test.js');
+var Embark = require('embark');
+var EmbarkSpec = Embark.initTests();
+var web3 = EmbarkSpec.web3;
 
 describe("SimpleStorage", function() {
   before(function(done) {
diff --git a/test_app/test/token_spec.js b/test_app/test/token_spec.js
index 93eb28b5f..362ce058b 100644
--- a/test_app/test/token_spec.js
+++ b/test_app/test/token_spec.js
@@ -1,5 +1,7 @@
 var assert = require('assert');
-var EmbarkSpec = require('embark/lib/core/test.js');
+var Embark = require('embark');
+var EmbarkSpec = Embark.initTests();
+var web3 = EmbarkSpec.web3;
 
 describe("Token", function() {
   before(function(done) {