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Quantum Conundrum now arriving in 'Summer 2012'
Kim Swift and Airtight Games' upcoming first-person puzzler, Quantum Conundrum, will arrive this summer. Publisher Square Enix announced the new Summer 2012 launch window, reducing the quantum flux variation emanating from the previous launch window of "2012." Quantum Conundrum will be available on PC, Xbox Live Arcade and PlayStation Network.We recently cornered Swift for chat on Quantum Conundrum and its new "fluffy dimension." You can read it right here.
Quantum Conundrum's Kim Swift gives us some cold, hard fluff
It's Saturday morning. You have a giant bowl of sugar-coated cereal, the comfiest slippers on your feet, and an entire day to spend watching talkative cartoon animals get comically mutilated in some of the most sadistic ways known to man. Quantum Conundrum is kind of like that -- sweet and fun, but with an inherent and surprising darkness, creative director Kim Swift told Joystiq in an exclusive interview."It has this very cartoony, dynamic feel to it with the gameplay," Swift said. "Tonality-wise, it came naturally that this game be slightly more lighthearted, slightly more on the slapstick, Looney Toons kind of a feel. But even Looney Toons has a darker element to it -- you're looking at these cartoon characters getting squished and all that stuff, so it's definitely not like we're watching PBS on a Saturday morning. More like Cartoon Network on a Saturday morning."Swift, known for her work on Portal and its student-project predecessor, Narbacular Drop, has been developing Quantum Conundrum for Airtight Games since 2009. While the title features the same first-person physics puzzle-style of her previous work, Swift said Quantum Conundrum operates in a completely separate universe and has a starkly different feel than anything she's done."With Quantum Conundrum, we're a little bit more slapstick and off the wall than Portal," Swift said. "And Narbacular Drop is Narbacular Drop."%Gallery-147497%
Let Kim Swift walk you through some Quantum Conundrum gameplay
Hit the play button on this video and have ex-Portal lead Kim Swift walk you through some of her new downloadable game, Quantum Conundrum. If you want a few more details, read through our preview.
Airtight Games' Kim Swift discusses Portal comparisons and the democratic origin of Quantum Conundrum
"All I care about is, 'Is the game fun? Are players gonna pick it up and have a good time?' That, first and foremost, is my job," ex-Valve developer (Portal, Left 4 Dead) and current Airtight Games creative lead Kim Swift declared to me in a pre-NY Comic Con interview last week. She was referring to her current project, Quantum Conundrum, and its similarity to her past work on Portal. I was wondering if she worried that her first big game might color perceptions about her latest, similarly-sized game -- is it just more of the same? "Making first-person puzzle games is what I like to do," Swift said. "And there aren't a whole lot of games ... there's Portal, and that's about it. So, to me, this is the kind of game that I want to play myself." She told me that the idea for QC had come about before arriving at Airtight, and when the opportunity came to head up a team as creative lead, she jumped at the chance. But she also didn't want to be a totalitarian monster. "Once I had gotten my team together, I didn't just wanna say, 'Hey, we're making this game, dammit! It's gonna be the way I say it's gonna be!'" Swift explained. Rather, the team members created individual "one-sheets" which would then be voted on by the whole group. As it turns out, Quantum Conundrum won out. "It just happens that this one came out on top just because it was really easy to implement right away and test," she added. The game's room-based puzzles and play on dimensional mechanics make it "modular" -- as in, individual components can be easily swapped out for others and quickly tested. This kind of development structure allows for quick iteration, a value prized among game developers. It also makes things like DLC all the more possible, which already makes sense for a game like Quantum Conundrum. Whether gamers will be demanding more after the game ships "early" next year remains to be seen, but what I saw had a lot of promise. %Gallery-131812%
Kim Swift fills us in on Airtight Games' silent 2010
After Airtight Games' last project, Dark Void, failed to succeed with critics and at retail, the studio crept back into relative quiet for the majority of 2010. Aside from a job listing popping up late in the year for "several AAA titles," and the high-profile hire of Portal lead Kim Swift just before Dark Void's launch, the studio kept mum all the way until this past summer. Just before PAX, however, Japanese publisher Square Enix teased a big reveal for Swift's promised game. Days later, Quantum Conundrum was announced -- another first-person puzzler -- leaving us to wonder what else the studio might be working on. "There are currently two projects at Airtight: ours, and another unannounced project," Swift told me during a pre-New York Comic Con preview for Square's titles. "I can't speak to what the game is," she added (unsurprisingly). The Airtight Games site offers only a bit more assistance in divining the studio's other project, calling it, "another ambitious AAA title in a genre that is both unique and refreshingly unexplored," and teasing the image above. Swift did tell me that 16 folks at Airtight out of approximately 50 are currently head-down on Quantum Conundrum, leaving a sizable team for other things. And those 35 or so people have had plenty of time to get started, if development of the studio's other, "mid-sized" project is any indication. "We've technically been working on [Quantum Conundrum] for a year, but we didn't really go into production until maybe like, six, seven months ago. Not long," Swift explained with a laugh. "You'd be surprised at how many things 16 folks can make." AG's official site also promises "more news and announcements in the near future," so perhaps the studio is ready to fully awake from its year-long silence.
Quantum Conundrum preview: Inter-dimensional charm
Recent Airtight Games convert Kim Swift's new downloadable title, Quantum Conundrum, is just about as charming as charming can be. You probably could have guessed that based on Swift's notably Portal-infused background, not to mention the pitch-perfect, cartoonish design aesthetic that pervades the manor home in which the game is set. But you really have to see its dimension shifting in action to fully understand it. The pitch is this: Using an "Inter-dimensional Shift Device," a young boy must traverse the sprawling mansion of his mad scientist uncle, Dr. Fitz Quadwrangle, to discover said relative's whereabouts. The device in question allows the user to shift each of the puzzle-filled rooms between four dimensions to achieve goals, changing the properties of each of the objects contained therein. It's a lot less complicated once you see it in action, until it gets a whole lot more complicated. %Gallery-131812%
Quantum Conundrum is Portal lead Kim Swift's new downloadable game
Quantum Conundrum, a new first-person puzzle game in which you gracefully shift between different dimensions and alter the physical properties of the environment, was inspired when the designer took a "stroll to the local bakery." Apparently, Kim Swift has not only moved from Valve to Airtight Games, but from America to Amsterdam. What exactly are they baking in there? Due to launch on Xbox Live Arcade, PlayStation Network and Steam in 2012, Quantum Conundrum sees you exploring the enormous manor (and eccentric manner) of your uncle, Professor Fitz Quadwrangle. Using an "interdimensional shift device," you can activate different dimensions that influence the house in unusual ways. One flips the gravity, another envelopes the world in a bubble of slow-motion (perfect for tossing items to yourself), and another renders heavy, serious safes as lightweight plush toys. That would be the "fluffy dimension," according to Gamespot's preview. Give that a look (there's a video too!) and learn how dimensional hopping helps you solve Quantum Conundrum.
Portal lead Kim Swift to debut downloadable game at PAX
After 2010's disappointing Dark Void, we'd nearly forgotten that Airtight Games had hired Portal Creative Director Kim Swift to lead development on a "new, unnamed project." Square Enix has rekindled our interest, announcing that it's picked up publishing rights to the game and will reveal the "top-secret joint project" at PAX this Saturday (7pm in the Pegasus Room for those of you in attendance). The only information we can glean from the announcement is that it's "downloadable" and "an incredibly fascinating and quirky game" so ... take that for what it's worth. Airtight Games' site says that while it's working on another "ambitious AAA title" it's also working on "a new mid-sized game with all kinds of physical possibilities." Physical possibilities, eh? That sounds like the one!
Portal lead Kim Swift heads to Airtight Games for 'new, unnamed project'
Best known for her work on Joystiq's 2007 Game of the Year, Portal, Valve's Kim Swift is reportedly leaving her current position for Dark Void developer Airtight Games. According to Develop, she'll be heading up a team of developers working on a "new, unnamed project" for the US-based company. Airtight prez Jim Deal says that he's "thrilled to work with Kim," and that "her addition to the team represents a strategic move ... into new and broader gaming markets." Swift's team will be tasked with creating "games aimed at a more diverse audience" -- a challenge Swift appears ready to handle. "I've learned so much and had some amazing experiences at Valve, but when I heard I had the opportunity to work on innovative titles with my friends over at Airtight, I couldn't pass it up." And now we wait (and hope) for the puzzle-based air combat game that's sure to come of this partnership.
