Quantum Conundrum

Especially not when the flow of time is slowing down and speeding up at regular intervals. Then again most people who had a go with Quantum Conundrum suffered the same problem as they tried to keep both their wits and reflexes on high alert.

Quantum Conundrum is a charming physics puzzle adventure from Airtight Games (Dark Void) and creative force Kim Swift (Portal). Don't let the cutesy graphics fool you, this is a game that will test both your reflexes and your wits.

The basics of Quantum Conundrum are simple. You solve a variety of puzzles by switching between various dimensions that change the world around you (they don't affect you, but all the objects).

The first dimension I run into is the fluffy one. The fluffy dimension, as the name implies, makes things lighter and you can now lift heavy object and toss them with ease. Ideal for the simplest of tasks like lifting objects and placing them on switches, then turning on the normal dimension to activate. You can throw an object in the fluffy dimension, switch over to normal, and see the now considerably heavier object crash through a glass window. And this is where Quantum Conundrum becomes both more challenging and more entertaining than most other physics based platformers. You're forced to switch quickly between dimensions, and combine this with your platforming skills and reflexes to overcome some of the more complex challenges.

You may now be wondering: But what about the setting? Is there a story? Yes, there is. It's a quirky light-hearted tale of you being stuck in a mansion having to figure out puzzles with the help of your uncle Professor Quadwrangle's curious device. It's fun and lighthearted, and I'm sure it will make the game feel less daunting for a younger audience than say Portal, but to me it comes across as rather forgettable. This game is all about the puzzles.

The next dimension we're introduced to in the demo is heavy. Not simply the opposite of fluffy, this also lets us interrupt laser beams with objects that would otherwise be turned into piles of smoking ash. We're faced with a rather delicate puzzle where you have to turn four stacks of blocks into a staircase by alternating heavy and normal dimensions, and it takes me a good number of tries before I get it done. I see folks around me struggling with the same puzzle, and I realise that there is the casual look of the game is somewhat deceptive. This game is going to challenge you, and this is especially true if you're one of those gamers who like to find every little secret.

As the demo progresses we stumble upon a dimension that slows time, and in this area you're not really in control of the dimension as it flicks on and off. Basically, I'm trying to time jumps on to objects that are either flying by me in slow motion or full speed. It's very stressful, and I don't handle it very well; falling to my death quite a few times. There are moments of inadvertent comedy as well.

I jump out towards a couch in mid-air just for time to speed up at that exact moment. The couch just accelerates away as I fall to my death. I had to put the controller down for a bit as I laughed at my own misfortune, as it looked absolutely hilarious. Of course, had I only timed it right I would have been able to make my way across the flying couch and table section in one swift pass, but alas it was not to be.

This was the final section of the demo Airtight Games showed off. The final dimension that will be there in the full game is one that reverses the direction of gravity. And then of course we combine all of these dimensions in real-time to solve the puzzles. I'm sure that final dimension is going to tie knots with my synaptic nerve ends, but I think I'm up for it.

I had no idea what to think of this game before I sat down with it, but I was pleasantly surprised. It's different from Portal, but should appeal to the same crowd, while the aesthetics could allow for some younger gamers to try their luck with physics based puzzle platforming.

The demo we played consisted of the same demo or trial version you will be able to download this summer when Quantum Conundrum hits digital platforms like Steam, PSN and XBLA.