You may not have heard of Quantum Witch, however should you’ve an affinity for pixel-art platformers with partaking story-beats, meta-narratives, and an array of kooky characters, then try to be throughout it. To only 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 spiritual cult, embracing her LGBTQ+ id, and looking for solace in video video games. There’s a darkish undercurrent, however in the end, Nikki chooses to inform her story – and a narrative that many others will little doubt see themselves in – with humour and pleasure.
To get a greater concept 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 spiritual cult led to the event of the sport and what she hopes audiences will get from it.
The under interview discusses non secular 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 spiritual 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 have been third era. Age 10, I wanted my tonsils out and I needed to inform the surgeon that I’d fairly die than settle for sure medical remedies. As a 10-year-old, it is one of many questions they ask if you go for CPTSD analysis: “did you at any level truthfully actually consider you have 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 loss of life. This cult actually kills youngsters for God.
Lots of people stayed as a result of the choice was to lose your complete assist construction and social community. You have been actually by your self with nothing, which was the choice I selected in the long run. It’s excessive coercive management. This manner, they are saying that you’ve got the character God needs you to have. Non secular management and abuse of that energy is the largest theme that made it into Quantum Witch. It is rather a lot once more about urgency and selection: I feel if folks have been by way of comparable issues, it’ll resonate with them.
VG247: Through the demo, I bought the impression that Ren is basically not within the non secular beliefs shared together with her by others in Quantum Witch, however she nonetheless seems to have a fascination with the Previous 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 chances. A skeptic who is not open to prospects isn’t a skeptic. They seem to be a cynic, and Ren may be very a lot a skeptic. The vast majority of the characters within the sport are simply features 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 need to go discover goes to guide her into issues that she should not have explored in the way in which that she’s going to. However yeah, she is certainly 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 usually 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 liked about Undertale is the combination of all these kinds and then you definately’d be speaking to a personality and out of the blue it’s important to play a very quick response sport. I can not try this. I am too previous. But it surely was a giant inspiration within the model of sport I needed 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 liked placing in my alternate takes on who these characters have been. You would possibly know Paul Rose from Digitizer. On the very starting of the challenge, 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 so much. He did a script therapy and a number of 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 discuss remedy. .
I additionally needed so as to add some queer taste to them, so Princess Nectarine – who’s much like however legally distinct from a sure Nintendo character – is in a polycule with Bowser and Mario they usually prefer to roleplay kidnapping. I didn’t got down to make a queer sport. It is turned out that approach as a result of I can not assist it, nevertheless it’s not all these characters are.
VG247: I do know you’re a solo developer and it is a largely solo challenge, however I’m conscious you’ve obtained some assist with the entire endeavour. You talked about Paul Rose. So may you inform me extra in regards to the individuals who have helped you with creating Quantum Witch and what they did?
Nikki: I have to completely shout out Jerden Cooke for the music. We composed quite a lot of it collectively, [with] me totally on the ukulele which you’ll hear in Ren’s theme. I do not know should you’ve seen the video clip of David Lynch serving to compose Laura’s Theme from Twin Peaks. Working with him is like that. I bought some implausible music which was just like the music I may hear in my head once I began enjoying on the ukulele. He was in a position to put it down, mainly extract it from my head, and put it right into a phrase file.
And Paul Rose; I knew him by way of Digitizer meetups. We simply bought speaking on Twitter in the future and met up. He is a fantastic man and issues happened fairly naturally as a result of it was when Covid hit and quite a lot of TV work bought cancelled. I stated to him, look, it is best to get your self on Fiverr. Put your writing providers on the market as a result of folks needs to be paying for this. I might be your first buyer, and so I used to be! With out his assist, this might have nonetheless been a set of little story beats that I’d have had no concept how one can wire collectively.
And I’ve at all times needed to work with Stephanie Sterling. What if I simply ping her on Bluesky and say, “Hey, need to write a chapter of this sport? It is bought a dancing skeleton in it.” She stated, “Yeah, I am in.” She stated that when she began to do it, she wasn’t solely certain whether or not it might be the appropriate challenge 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 non secular 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 need to say to indie builders who’re solo. You are not alone. You would possibly simply need one title on the credit score, nevertheless it takes a village to lift a baby.
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VG247: I used to be greatly surprised by simply how cosy the sport is. Admittedly, even with the subject material, I didn’t count on – largely given the artwork model – for this to be all doom and gloom, however I undoubtedly didn’t count on one thing so jovial and truthfully, straight-up humorous. How did you resolve that this was the strategy you needed to take when creating Ren’s story?
Nikki: [Stardew Valley], Chrono Set off and Paper Mario: Thousand-12 months 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 needed. My essential coping mechanism is humor. I am not saying it is a wholesome coping mechanism, nevertheless it type of works. And I imply, I used to be closely influenced by studying quite a lot 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 once I began messing about with this concept and it is simply embarrassing. Objectively horrible, however my essential influences have been Stardew Valley and The Darkside Detective. I liked 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 concept course and… then simply discovered, hey, I can do that now. That is bizarre.
VG247: Whereas trying into Quantum Witch and your self, I discovered a stunning quote of yours from The Guardian: “Numerous 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 develop on this?
Nikki: The consequence of being your self in a bunch that claims ‘no, being your self is flawed’ 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 non secular oppression of queer folks is similar wherever you go.
I am actually hoping simply that I’ve bought that steadiness proper between a sport that is enjoyable and comfy and humorous, – that there’s a dancing skeleton who can see by way of time – but additionally has that deeper which means and that message that you just take again management.
Lots of people would have a look at this and suppose ‘you have to 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’ve got bought religion or not, no person needs someone else’s religion compelled on you. You may’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 numerous conclusions, in addition to the sport’s essential endings being completely 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 bought my second favourite ending. He had questions in regards to the lore and I stated, “play it once more and make completely different decisions, and you will get a unique ending, which can most likely 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 fascinating, the place you type of get a bittersweet ending, after which there’s the tremendous pleased ending, and there are variations on every of these. [These depend] on the characters you’ve got helped. There’s additionally little puzzles that you could go and remedy which might improve the pleased ending. It is type of like an open-world choose-your-own journey e book, however in pixel format.
If I’ll 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 discovered that Quantum Witch may have been a novel. It may have initially began out that approach and also you then clearly determined to show this right into a sport. How did that come about?
Nikki: Considered one of my pals was doing the Nationwide Novel Writing November. I believed, I’ve bought 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 straightforward since you simply sort… I used to be flawed and I actually didn’t get pleasure from writing it.
I made a decision, pondering again on my childhood, I need to make this right into a sport. I need to make this interactive. Alternative is a giant theme. I need to give the participant a selection. And it did find yourself as a degree and click on [game] for some time, fairly than a plotformer. It doesn’t matter what you do, it’s a legitimate selection. There aren’t any sport over screens in Quantum Witch. Something you do is simply part of the story and the sport is over if you get the credit.
Quantum Witch is a surprisingly cosy and jovial tackle matters of non secular trauma and queer identities, but when your curiosity about this sport 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 many who are wanting to discover the sport and uncover all of its numerous paths, endings, and dialogue.
For many who need to attempt Quantum Witch out, you could find a demo for the sport on Steam, and it’ll even be taking part in Steam’s Subsequent Fest throughout June.
