The first time I saw Quantum Conundrum (last week at the Game Developers Conference) I wondered why the game's colors were so soft and pastel, why it had this silly tone, and who on earth was this goofy narrator? At first sight, the whole game looked like a 16-bit throwback. I kinda dismissed it.
Then I sat down and played the puzzle-based first-person shooter. It was then I realized I had a subconscious bias against it. That it wasn't a humans-versus-aliens battle game based on a stoic, bald space marine bothered me, even though I was admittedly tired of said games.
My second bias, I soon discovered, was that I expected this to play just like Portal, Kim Swift's first game. Two puzzles into Quantum Conundrum I learned that it had its very own mood, playstyle, and most importantly, its own unique puzzle types that were entirely independent of Portal or Portal 2. That was the first moment I learned I really liked it.
Here's our interview with Kim Swift, Airtight Games' creative director, who tells us how the game came to be, her favorite parts, what the different dimensions are, and why it stands on its own.
