Quantum Conundrum
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''Quantum Conundrum'' is a
puzzle-platform game A platform game (often simplified as platformer and sometimes called a jump 'n' run game) is a sub-genre of action video games in which the core objective is to move the player character between points in an environment. Platform games are charac ...
developed by
Airtight Games Airtight Games was an American independent video game developer based in Redmond founded in 2004 that was made up of former members of FASA Studio, Will Vinton Studios and Microsoft, as well as several other studios. The key members included pres ...
and published by
Square Enix is a Japanese Multinational corporation, multinational holding company, production enterprise and entertainment conglomerate, best known for its ''Final Fantasy'', ''Dragon Quest'', ''Star Ocean'' and ''Kingdom Hearts'' role-playing video game ...
. It was directed by
Kim Swift Kimberly Swift (born ) is an American video game designer best known for her work at Valve with games such as ''Portal'' and ''Left 4 Dead''. Swift was featured by ''Fortune'' as one of "30 Under 30" influential figures in the video game industr ...
, who formerly worked at
Valve A valve is a device or natural object that regulates, directs or controls the flow of a fluid (gases, liquids, fluidized solids, or slurries) by opening, closing, or partially obstructing various passageways. Valves are technically fittings ...
as a lead designer on ''
Portal Portal often refers to: * Portal (architecture), an opening in a wall of a building, gate or fortification, or the extremities (ends) of a tunnel Portal may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Gaming * ''Portal'' (series), two video games ...
''. The game was released for
Microsoft Windows Windows is a group of several proprietary graphical operating system families developed and marketed by Microsoft. Each family caters to a certain sector of the computing industry. For example, Windows NT for consumers, Windows Server for serv ...
via
Steam Steam is a substance containing water in the gas phase, and sometimes also an aerosol of liquid water droplets, or air. This may occur due to evaporation or due to boiling, where heat is applied until water reaches the enthalpy of vaporization ...
in June 2012, and for
PlayStation 3 The PlayStation 3 (PS3) is a home video game console developed by Sony Interactive Entertainment, Sony Computer Entertainment. The successor to the PlayStation 2, it is part of the PlayStation brand of consoles. It was first released on Novemb ...
via
PlayStation Network PlayStation Network (PSN) is a digital media entertainment service provided by Sony Interactive Entertainment. Launched in November 2006, PSN was originally conceived for the PlayStation video game consoles, but soon extended to encompass smartp ...
, and
Xbox 360 The Xbox 360 is a home video game console developed by Microsoft. As the successor to the original Xbox, it is the second console in the Xbox series. It competed with Sony's PlayStation 3 and Nintendo's Wii as part of the seventh generation ...
via
Xbox Live Arcade Xbox Live Arcade (XBLA) is a digital video game download service available through the Xbox Games Store, Microsoft's digital distribution network for the Xbox 360. It focuses on smaller downloadable games from both major publishers and independent ...
in July 2012.


Plot

The silent player-protagonist is the twelve-year-old nephew of the brilliant but peculiar Professor Fitz Quadwrangle (voiced by
John de Lancie John Sherwood de Lancie, Jr. (born March 20, 1948) is an American actor, television director, director, film producer, producer, writer, and comedian, best known for his role as Q (Star Trek), Q in various ''Star Trek'' series (1987–present); ...
). He is sent to stay with Quadwrangle, who is unprepared for his arrival as he is presently working on an experiment. The experiment goes awry, causing Quadwrangle to become trapped in a pocket dimension with a loss of memory of what went wrong before, but able to watch and communicate to the protagonist. The results of the experiment leave portions of the Quadwrangle mansion in flux between four dimensions with alternate properties. Quadwrangle guides the protagonist to acquire a glove that can tame these fluxes through which he can then safely travel through the labyrinth of rooms to reach three separate power generators and restart each, which Quadwrangle believes will allow him to escape the pocket dimension. The protagonist also gains help from IKE (Interdimensional Kinetic Entity), a small alien creature that Quadwrangle had adopted as a pet during his travels. As Quadwrangle guides his nephew, he tries to recall the exact events leading to the current situation. After starting the three generators, the house begins to shake, and Quadwrangle realizes that a fourth generator must be started. The protagonist begins to activate the device, but Quadwrangle remembers too late that restarting the device had nearly killed him before and he had escaped to the pocket dimension for safety. With the device started, the house begins to shake violently, and Quadwrangle instructs his nephew to the safety of the pocket dimension, where he will be safe, while Quadwrangle can now work out how to resolve the problems of the half-ruined mansion, which is now affecting the entire planet.


Gameplay

''Quantum Conundrum'' is a puzzle-platformer viewed from the first-person perspective. As the boy protagonist, the player can run and jump, interact with various switches, and lift light objects. The player can die by falling into toxic liquids, bottomless pits, or falling from too great a height, and if hit by destructive lasers; this will restart the player at the start of a puzzle or a checkpoint if passed. The goal of each room is to reach its exit door, though it may be necessary to activate certain switches or other devices before the exit can become available. Most puzzles require the player to manipulate the room and objects within it using four different dimensions which impart unique physical properties to the world. The four dimensions are the Fluffy dimension, where objects are ten times lighter than normal, allowing the character to pick up most non-fixed objects, the Heavy dimension, where objects are ten times heavier than normal; the player cannot pick up any objects, but their new density allows them to avoid destruction by laser beams, the Slow dimension, where time crawls to ten times slower than normal, though the player moves at normal speed, and the Reverse Gravity dimension, where gravity is reversed, though the player is unaffected by this. Only one dimension can be accessed at a time (including the normal dimension); when dimensions are switched, all objects retain their existing position and velocity, the latter becoming a critical factor in solving many of the game's puzzles. For example, with access to the Fluffy and Slow dimensions, the player can pick up a heavy safe in the Fluffy dimension, toss it towards a distant platform, and then immediately switch to the Slow dimension, giving themselves enough time to jump onto the safe as it crosses the gap to the platform. Initially, the player does not have control of when the dimensions are shifted, but later gains access to the Interdimensional Shift Device glove where they can switch to any dimension so long as a battery for that dimension is placed in a power receptacle for that room. In some puzzles, the players must find and locate these batteries; in other cases, the player may have to choose which batteries to insert into place to solve a puzzle.


Development

Kim Swift Kimberly Swift (born ) is an American video game designer best known for her work at Valve with games such as ''Portal'' and ''Left 4 Dead''. Swift was featured by ''Fortune'' as one of "30 Under 30" influential figures in the video game industr ...
was one of the developers of
Valve A valve is a device or natural object that regulates, directs or controls the flow of a fluid (gases, liquids, fluidized solids, or slurries) by opening, closing, or partially obstructing various passageways. Valves are technically fittings ...
's 2007 ''
Portal Portal often refers to: * Portal (architecture), an opening in a wall of a building, gate or fortification, or the extremities (ends) of a tunnel Portal may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Gaming * ''Portal'' (series), two video games ...
'' video game, an extension of her student team project ''
Narbacular Drop ''Narbacular Drop'' is a 2005 puzzle-platform game developed by Nuclear Monkey Software. It was the senior game project of students attending DigiPen Institute of Technology. The gameplay consists of navigating a dungeon using an innovative port ...
'' from the
DigiPen Institute of Technology DigiPen Institute of Technology is a private, for-profit university in Redmond, Washington. It also has campuses in Singapore and Bilbao, Spain. DigiPen offers bachelor's and master's degree programs in Computer Science, Animation, Video Game D ...
. She also spent time helping to develop ''
Left 4 Dead 2 ''Left 4 Dead 2'' is a 2009 first-person shooter game developed and published by Valve. The sequel to Turtle Rock Studios's ''Left 4 Dead'' (2008) and the second game in the ''Left 4 Dead'' series, it was released for Microsoft Windows and Xbox ...
'' after ''Portal''s release. During that period, she came up with the general concept of ''Quantum Conundrum'' during a trip to a local bakery. During the initial states of the development of '' Portal 2'', she had approached
Airtight Games Airtight Games was an American independent video game developer based in Redmond founded in 2004 that was made up of former members of FASA Studio, Will Vinton Studios and Microsoft, as well as several other studios. The key members included pres ...
with the idea, who saw Swift's game concept as a means of expanding their own portfolio of games for a broader audience, and offered her a position there. Swift departed Valve for Airtight in late 2009, stating that with "the opportunity to work on innovative titles with my friends over at Airtight", she "couldn't pass it up". She initially worked with the team on a project that was later cancelled after about eight months; work on ''Quantum Conundrum'' began in the second quarter of 2010, while efforts to secure a publisher started in the following months. Swift's goal with ''Quantum Conundrum'' was to create a title that would have broad appeal to a wide audience but still be challenging to hardcore players. She wanted to make a game like ''Portal'' in the puzzle genre, but worked to distance the concept from ''Portal'' to avoid direct comparisons. At Airtight, she worked in a democratic style with their small team of about sixteen people to offer ideas for their first game, similar to the nature of the smaller teams used on individual projects at Valve; though other ideas were offered, they fell back on her original concepts for ''Quantum Conundrum''. This was in part due to the limited time and budget they would have for the game, and the ability for the team to quickly prototype the game within a few weeks and assure its playability. Swift started with her broader concept for the game, a means of having several dimensions and the ability to switch between them to solve puzzles, but did not have any specific dimensions in mind, and used the development process to figure out which ones worked best and offered the most interesting combinations with other dimensions. The first two dimensions to be programmed were the Fluffy and Slow dimensions, upon which they brainstormed and tested other dimensions before narrowing on the final selection. They would also play-test puzzle concepts using open rooms with random objects within the various dimensions as to come up with puzzle mechanics; one such mechanic that came from this was to enter and exit the Reverse Gravity dimension to "ride" an object across a long gap. Swift made sure that puzzles that helped teach the player of the effects and potential tricks of each dimension were highlighted prior to moving on to more complex puzzles. Weekly playtests were done at Airtight to assure playability throughout the development process, in conjunction with tests performed by Square Enix. The art style used throughout the game was aimed specifically to help guide the player towards specific features of each room, such as exits, switches, or the like. The use of skewed angled and curved surfaces helped to guide the player's eye, while also giving a "quirky and fun" look to the environments. Lighting and shadows were critical towards this aspect, using both to highlight features of rooms and point players towards specific elements. The game's soundtrack was composed and performed by
Chris Ballew Christopher Ballew (born May 28, 1965) is an American musician best known as the lead singer and bassist of the alternative rock group The Presidents of the United States of America (band), the Presidents of the United States of America. He als ...
of The Presidents of the United States of America. Two downloadable content packs have been announced for the game. Both add new rooms through a previously unexplored section of the mansion. The first, "The Desmond Debacle", was released across the various platforms in July and August 2012, while the second, "IKE-aramba!", was released a month later.


Reception

''Quantum Conundrum'' received generally favorable reviews from critics. Aggregating review websites
GameRankings GameRankings was a video gaming review aggregator that was founded in 1999 and owned by CBS Interactive. It indexed over 315,000 articles relating to more than 14,500 video games. GameRankings was discontinued in December 2019, with its staff bei ...
and Metacritic gave the Xbox 360 version 79.58% and 76/100, the PC version 78.15% and 77/100 and the PlayStation 3 version 76.36% and 79/100. Destructoid gave ''Quantum Conundrum'' a perfect 10/10 score, claiming that "you are an idiot if you don't buy ''Quantum Conundrum''." Game Informer gave it an 8.5/10, while praising the game saying "With its physics-warping mechanics, thoughtful brainteasers, and playful atmosphere, ''Quantum Conundrum'' should appeal to the legions of ''Portal'' fanatics." Bob Mackey of
1UP In video games, a life is a play-turn that a player character has, defined as the period between start and end of play. Lives refer to a finite number of tries before the game ends with a game over. It is sometimes called a chance, a try, rest ...
gave the game a B-, but stated: "But even in a vacuum, Conundrum's brilliant moments are hampered by an inconsistent world, an emphasis on performance rather than ingenuity, and a level of humor that wouldn't be out of place at your local pre-school." Some may complain that it's not as funny or as clever as Valve's hit series, but ''Quantum Conundrum'' is a unique experience that deserves attention nonetheless."
IGN ''IGN'' (formerly ''Imagine Games Network'') is an American video game and entertainment media website operated by IGN Entertainment Inc., a subsidiary of Ziff Davis, Inc. The company's headquarters is located in San Francisco's SoMa distri ...
gave ''Quantum Conundrum'' an 8/10, praising the clever puzzles but criticizing "lack-luster" environments and the game's ending.


Legacy

Square Enix announced in June 2012 that it was working with iam8bit to develop an advertising campaign, which is a spoof of a television game show based on the game, entitled ''The Super Dimensional Quantum Learning's Problems and Solutions Gametime Spectacular!!''. The show is hosted by G4 TV's Kevin Pereira. There are four episodes produced, each dealing with a different dimension. The shows involve putting players into scenarios based on the alternate dimensions from the game.


References

{{Reflist 2012 video games Puzzle-platform games PlayStation 3 games PlayStation Network games Science fiction video games Square Enix games Unreal Engine games Video games developed in the United States Windows games Xbox 360 Live Arcade games Xbox 360 games Airtight Games games