Quantum Witch is a narrative of spiritual oppression, queer emancipation, and a dancing skeleton that hopes to popularise the ‘plotformer’ style Players Enviornment

You may not 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 ought 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+ identification, and looking for 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 doubt see themselves in – with humour and satisfaction.

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 essentially knowledgeable by your personal 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 either side had been third technology. Age 10, I wanted my tonsils out and I needed to inform the surgeon that I’d reasonably die than settle for sure medical therapies. As a 10-year-old, it is one of many questions they ask if you go for CPTSD prognosis: “did you at any level truthfully actually consider you had been going to die?” Yeah, I used to be advised 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 remedy that God stated I could not have or die. I had to decide on dying. This cult actually kills youngsters for God.

Lots of people stayed as a result of the choice was to lose your whole assist construction and social community. You had 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 the character God desires you to have. Spiritual 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 believe if folks have been by related issues, it should resonate with them.

VG247: Through the demo, I received the impression that Ren is essentially 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 chances. A skeptic who is not open to prospects isn’t a skeptic. They are a cynic, and Ren may be very a lot a skeptic. Nearly all 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 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 unquestionably that a part of me who would love 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 commonly 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 really like Undertale. What I cherished about Undertale is the combination of all these kinds and you then’d be speaking to a personality and immediately you must play a extremely quick response recreation. I am unable to try this. I am too outdated. However it was a giant inspiration within the fashion 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 cherished placing in my alternate takes on who these characters had been. You may 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 so much. He did a script remedy and among the dialogue within the market is immediately from him; [one of the characters you meet is] speaking about capsules and I used to be like, ‘that that simply suits in completely as a result of there’s a character afterward who may want that tablet’. It’s additionally a little bit of a cue for me to have the characters discuss treatment. .

I additionally wished 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 and so they prefer to roleplay kidnapping. I didn’t got down to make a queer recreation. It is turned out that method as a result of I am unable to assist it, but it surely’s not all these characters are.

VG247: I do know you’re a solo developer and this can be a largely solo venture, however I’m conscious you’ve acquired some assist with the entire endeavour. You talked about Paul Rose. So might you inform me extra concerning 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 plenty 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 received some incredible 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 received speaking on Twitter at some point and met up. He is a terrific man and issues happened fairly naturally as a result of it was when Covid hit and plenty of TV work received 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 must be paying for this. I will probably be your first buyer, and so I used to be! With out his assist, this could 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, need to write a chapter of this recreation? It is received a dancing skeleton in it.” She stated, “Yeah, I am in.” She stated that when she began to do it, she wasn’t fully certain whether or not it might be the fitting 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 sort of what I need to say to indie builders who’re solo. You are not alone. You may simply need one identify on the credit score, but it surely takes a village to boost a toddler.

VG247: I used to be greatly surprised by simply how cosy the sport is. Admittedly, even with the subject material, I didn’t anticipate – largely given the artwork fashion – 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 Set off and Paper Mario: Thousand-Yr Door are my three most performed video games. I really like the fashion of Stardew Valley and I really like that there is some darkness hidden in Stardew Valley. I actually favored 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 major coping mechanism is humor. I am not saying it is a wholesome coping mechanism, but it surely sort of works. And I imply, I used to be closely influenced by studying plenty of Douglas Adams. and he was capable of finding humor in essentially the most bleak conditions.

And the graphical fashion… After 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 major influences had been Stardew Valley and The Darkside Detective. I cherished the low-resolution fashion artwork, however there was a lot character in them. So, I took a pixel artwork course on Udemy and a colour principle 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 beautiful quote of yours from The Guardian: “A number of faith is about giving up autonomy to some mystical energy that you simply’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.” Might you develop on this?

Nikki: The consequence of being your self in a gaggle that claims ‘no, being your self is fallacious’ is that you simply 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 comprehend it was a special writer. The spiritual oppression of queer folks is similar wherever you go.

I am actually hoping simply that I’ve received that steadiness 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 which means and that message that you simply take again management.

Lots of people would have a look at this and suppose ‘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 received religion or not, no one desires any person else’s religion pressured on you. You possibly can’t have freedom of faith with out freedom from faith.

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 major endings being totally different relying in your selections.

Nikki: I watched a tester play from starting to finish. It took him about three and a half hours, and he received my second favourite ending. He had questions concerning the lore and I stated, “play it once more and make totally different decisions, and you will get a special 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 sort of get a bittersweet ending, after which there’s the tremendous comfortable 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 clear up which may improve the comfortable ending. It is sort 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 attempting to find it. I believe 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: Certainly one of my buddies was doing the Nationwide Novel Writing November. I assumed, I’ve received 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 fallacious and I actually didn’t get pleasure from writing it.

I made a decision, considering again on my childhood, I need to make this right into a recreation. I need to make this interactive. Selection is a giant theme. I need to give the participant a selection. And it did find yourself as some extent and click on [game] for some time, reasonably 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 if 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 search out out all of its secrets and techniques. NikkiJay stresses that there’s a lot to find for many who are desperate to discover the sport and uncover all of its varied paths, endings, and dialogue.

For many who need to attempt Quantum Witch out, you’ll find a demo for the sport on Steam, and it’ll even be collaborating in Steam’s Subsequent Fest throughout June.