You won’t have heard of Quantum Witch, however should you’ve an affinity for pixel-art platformers with participating story-beats, meta-narratives, and an array of kooky characters, then you have to be throughout it. To simply name Quantum Witch a vibrant platformer with a powerful narrative (learn: ‘plotformer’) is to do it a disservice, although.
Quantum Witch is a lot greater than its vibrant pixels; it’s NikkiJay’s private story of fleeing a non secular cult, embracing her LGBTQ+ id, and in search of solace in video video games. There’s a darkish undercurrent, however finally, Nikki chooses to inform her story – and a narrative that many others will little question see themselves in – with humour and delight.
To get a greater thought of precisely what knowledgeable Quantum Witch and the way the indie ‘plotformer’ got here collectively, VG247 sat down with NikkiJay to ask how rising up in a non secular cult led to the event of the sport and what she hopes audiences will get from it.
The beneath interview discusses spiritual trauma, coercive management, and the abuse of energy.
VG247: I’m conscious that Quantum Witch is basically knowledgeable by your individual private experiences of fleeing a non secular cult; would you thoughts sharing some extra about your expertise, and the way it has knowledgeable Quantum Witch’s story and characters?
Nikki: I used to be born into the group and my household on each side had been third era. Age 10, I wanted my tonsils out and I needed to inform the surgeon that I’d quite die than settle for sure medical therapies. As a 10-year-old, it is one of many questions they ask while you go for CPTSD analysis: “did you at any level truthfully actually consider you had been going to die?” Yeah, I used to be instructed I needed to be ready for that. I needed to die for God if that was the choice that was offered to me. Both take this medical therapy that God stated I could not have or die. I had to decide on dying. This cult actually kills children for God.
Lots of people stayed as a result of the choice was to lose your complete assist construction and social community. You had been actually by your self with nothing, which was the choice I selected ultimately. It’s excessive coercive management. This manner, they are saying that you’ve got the character God desires you to have. Spiritual management and abuse of that energy is the most important theme that made it into Quantum Witch. It is vitally a lot once more about urgency and selection: I feel if folks have been by related issues, it’ll resonate with them.
VG247: Through the demo, I acquired the impression that Ren is basically not within the spiritual beliefs shared along with her by others in Quantum Witch, however she nonetheless seems to have a fascination with the Outdated Gods. I’ve two questions on this: is Ren on the fence, so to talk, about her beliefs? Does this align with any of your ideas and emotions about faith now?
Nikki: Yeah, I’m agnostic. I’m a skeptic. I’ve to be open to the probabilities. A skeptic who is not open to potentialities isn’t a skeptic. They seem to be a cynic, and Ren could be very a lot a skeptic. The vast majority of the characters within the recreation are simply facets of me that I’ve made into a personality, it is just a bit piece of me that I’ve enhanced with out turning it right into a stereotype so far as I can.
Tyra [Ren’s partner] is extra cynical: ‘come on, it is nonsense’. And Ren’s like, ‘no, let’s go discover out’. Her want to go discover goes to steer her into issues that she should not have explored in the way in which that she’s going to. However yeah, she is unquestionably that a part of me who would really like for there to be magic.
VG247: Quantum Witch’s market – which options unnamed characters that bear uncanny resemblances to some iconic online game mascots – is what I assume to be a illustration of a few of your favorite video games. The sport itself repeatedly jogged my memory of themes and mechanics from Undertale, The Binding of Isaac, and even Stardew Valley. What different video games or items of media helped encourage Quantum Witch, and the way?
Nikki: I like Undertale. What I beloved about Undertale is the combination of all these kinds and then you definitely’d be speaking to a personality and all of a sudden you need to play a very quick response recreation. I can not do this. I am too outdated. However it was a giant inspiration within the model of recreation I wished to create.
As for the rationale why the online game characters are there within the plot of [Quantum Witch’s] story; they do tie into the plot and there is a little trace that they are saying. And I simply beloved placing in my alternate takes on who these characters had been. You would possibly know Paul Rose from Digitizer. On the very starting of the venture, I had all my story beats labored out. That is what is going on to occur. That is the way it’s all going to work together, however I couldn’t – for the lifetime of me – begin it.
I could not construct the bridges between these beats and Rose helped me quite a bit. He did a script therapy and among the dialogue within the market is instantly from him; [one of the characters you meet is] speaking about tablets and I used to be like, ‘that that simply matches in completely as a result of there’s a character in a while who would possibly want that capsule’. It’s additionally a little bit of a cue for me to have the characters speak about remedy. .
I additionally wished so as to add some queer taste to them, so Princess Nectarine – who’s just like however legally distinct from a sure Nintendo character – is in a polycule with Bowser and Mario they usually wish to roleplay kidnapping. I didn’t got down to make a queer recreation. It is turned out that method as a result of I can not assist it, however it’s not all these characters are.
VG247: I do know you’re a solo developer and it is a largely solo venture, however I’m conscious you’ve obtained some assist with the entire endeavour. You talked about Paul Rose. So might you inform me extra in regards to the individuals who have helped you with creating Quantum Witch and what they did?
Nikki: I need to completely shout out Jerden Cooke for the music. We composed a number of it collectively, [with] me totally on the ukulele which you’ll be able to hear in Ren’s theme. I do not know should you’ve seen the video clip of David Lynch helping compose Laura’s Theme from Twin Peaks. Working with him is like that. I acquired some improbable music which was just like the music I might hear in my head after I began enjoying on the ukulele. He was in a position to put it down, principally extract it from my head, and put it right into a phrase file.
And Paul Rose; I knew him by Digitizer meetups. We simply acquired speaking on Twitter at some point and met up. He is an excellent man and issues happened fairly naturally as a result of it was when Covid hit and a number of TV work acquired cancelled. I stated to him, look, it’s best to get your self on Fiverr. Put your writing providers on the market as a result of folks ought to be paying for this. I will probably be your first buyer, and so I used to be! With out his assist, this is able to have nonetheless been a group of little story beats that I’d have had no thought the way to wire collectively.
And I’ve at all times wished to work with Stephanie Sterling. What if I simply ping her on Bluesky and say, “Hey, wish to write a chapter of this recreation? It is acquired a dancing skeleton in it.” She stated, “Yeah, I am in.” She stated that when she began to do it, she wasn’t fully positive whether or not it might be the appropriate venture as a result of she simply noticed a [dancing] skeleton.
The extra she wrote for [Quantum Witch] and the extra she performed the sport, she went, “Yeah, that is my wheelhouse,” and he or she poured her spiritual trauma into it, which occurred to only match completely completely. It is like I couldn’t have requested for a greater group of individuals to work with, and that is type of what I wish to say to indie builders who’re solo. You are not alone. You would possibly simply need one identify on the credit score, however it takes a village to lift a toddler.
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VG247: I used to be stunned by simply how cosy the sport is. Admittedly, even with the subject material, I didn’t anticipate – largely given the artwork model – for this to be all doom and gloom, however I positively didn’t anticipate one thing so jovial and truthfully, straight-up humorous. How did you resolve that this was the method you wished to take when creating Ren’s story?
Nikki: [Stardew Valley], Chrono Trigger and Paper Mario: Thousand-Year Door are my three most performed video games. I like the model of Stardew Valley and I like that there is some darkness hidden in Stardew Valley. I actually appreciated the humor in it. I imply, should you thought I should not be laughing at this, however I’m, then that’s an achievement. That is precisely what I wished. My principal coping mechanism is humor. I am not saying it is a wholesome coping mechanism, however it type of works. And I imply, I used to be closely influenced by studying a number of Douglas Adams. and he was capable of finding humor in probably the most bleak conditions.
And the graphical model… Once I began this, I could not draw a convincing stick determine. I have a look at the artwork that I did 4 years in the past after I began messing about with this concept and it is simply embarrassing. Objectively horrible, however my principal influences had been Stardew Valley and The Darkside Detective. I beloved the low-resolution model artwork, however there was a lot character in them. So, I took a pixel artwork course on Udemy and a coloration principle course and… then simply discovered, hey, I can do that now. That is bizarre.
VG247: Whereas wanting into Quantum Witch and your self, I discovered a stunning quote of yours from The Guardian: “Lots of faith is about giving up autonomy to some mystical energy that you just’ve by no means seen, heard or met. Over the course of the sport, Ren takes that company again… It’s a queer emancipation story.” May you increase on this?
Nikki: The consequence of being your self in a bunch that claims ‘no, being your self is improper’ is that you just simply get thrown out. It is bizarre as a result of I consider my experiences as distinctive, however the themes they actually do appear to be common. Stephanie Sterling from The Jimquisition: she wrote a chapter of the later a part of the sport. I initially stated to her, are you able to write these three scenes? She got here again and stated “I could not cease writing. I simply love this universe” It is bizarre, since you would not understand it was a unique creator. The spiritual oppression of queer folks is similar wherever you go.
I am actually hoping simply that I’ve acquired that stability proper between a recreation that is enjoyable and comfortable and humorous, – that there’s a dancing skeleton who can see by time – but in addition has that deeper that means and that message that you just take again management.
Lots of people would have a look at this and assume ‘you should be anti-religion’ and I am 100% for freedom of faith, however that additionally means I am 100% for freedom from faith. Whether or not you have acquired religion or not, no one desires anyone else’s religion pressured on you. You possibly can’t have freedom of faith with out freedom from faith.
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VG247: How lengthy is Quantum Witch set to be, and what number of endings will there be? I do know you additionally talked about some facet quests having varied conclusions, in addition to the sport’s principal endings being totally different relying in your choices.
Nikki: I watched a tester play from starting to finish. It took him about three and a half hours, and he acquired my second favourite ending. He had questions in regards to the lore and I stated, “play it once more and make totally different decisions, and you will get a unique ending, which is able to in all probability reply that for you.”
It is tough to say what number of endings there are. There’s three particular classes of endings. There’s bleak. There’s attention-grabbing, the place you type of get a bittersweet ending, after which there’s the tremendous blissful ending, and there are variations on every of these. [These depend] on the characters you have helped. There’s additionally little puzzles that you may go and remedy which might improve the blissful ending. It is type of like an open-world choose-your-own journey e book, however in pixel format.
If I will do a full playthrough of all decisions and all tales, I’ll simply put apart six or seven hours to do it and I wrote it. So, I am not making an attempt to find it. I feel it is like The Stanley Parable in that sense.
VG247: I additionally realized that Quantum Witch might have been a novel. It might have initially began out that method and also you then clearly determined to show this right into a recreation. How did that come about?
Nikki: One among my pals was doing the National Novel Writing November. I assumed, I’ve acquired this story in my head which could match, so I began writing it. I do not know if anyone’s realized this, [but video games] are fairly tough to make, and novels are very simple since you simply sort… I used to be improper and I actually didn’t get pleasure from writing it.
I made a decision, pondering again on my childhood, I wish to make this right into a recreation. I wish to make this interactive. Selection is a giant theme. I wish to give the participant a selection. And it did find yourself as a degree and click on [game] for some time, quite than a plotformer. It doesn’t matter what you do, it’s a legitimate selection. There aren’t any recreation over screens in Quantum Witch. Something you do is simply part of the story and the sport is over while you get the credit.
Quantum Witch is a surprisingly cosy and jovial tackle subjects of spiritual trauma and queer identities, but when your curiosity about this recreation is piqued, it’s as much as you to seek out out all of its secrets and techniques. NikkiJay stresses that there’s a lot to find for individuals who are desirous to discover the sport and uncover all of its varied paths, endings, and dialogue.
For many who wish to strive Quantum Witch out, yow will discover a demo for the sport on Steam, and it’ll even be collaborating in Steam’s Subsequent Fest throughout June.
