[Interview] Nikki Jay | The Plot Thickens with PLOTFORMER Quantum Witch

A Quantum Leap of Faith with Quantum Witch!

We recently had the chance to head to London ExCeL for MCM Comic Con x EGX, where we witnessed many cosplays, attended panels, purchased autographs and played various games. Having shortlisted several upcoming titles worth keeping an eye out for, we’ve since been catching up with the development teams behind said games and it is our pleasure to share these interviews with you.

In today’s interview, we are speaking with Nikki Jay, discussing all things Quantum Witch:

Nikki Jay | The Plot Thickens with PLOTFORMER Quantum Witch:

Miketendo64: Can you tell us a bit about yourself and your role with Bool Studios?

Nikki Jay: I got into gaming on the ZX Spectrum, playing classics like Jet Pac and Manic Miner. It was a great source of escapism, as my family was in a religion that taught I would be killed in the most horrible ways imaginable for being a lesbian, which was something I couldn’t do anything about! So I got into games, and one in particular – Trashman – captured my imagination because it created a self contained little world in the computer. From that point, that’s all I really wanted to do: create worlds in the computer for other folk to experience and explore!

Miketendo64: In what capacity are you involved with Quantum Witch?

Nikki Jay: I’m a solo developer, so I’m responsible for all of the things! I’ve had some consulting from professional (BAFTA nominated, no less!) writer Paul Rose, and Jerden Cooke translated my ukulele plinkerings to actual electronic music, but I maintain control and direction over it all.

Miketendo64: When did the development of Quantum Witch first begin and what inspired its creation?

Nikki Jay: It began in 2020 as an attempt to write a novel with a story that spanned time space death and reality, mainly because a friend was starting her writing career and I thought I’d offer moral support by writing alongside her. Then I figured out I hate writing novels. Definitely not my thing.

Miketendo64: Can you give us a brief overview of Quantum Witch? What kind of game is it and what is it about?

Nikki Jay: I mean technically it’s a retro styled platformer, but the platforming is incidental, it’s only a way to explore the world. It’s really a plotformer. The engine allows me to write multiple intertwining plot lines, where choice really matters. So there are multiple endings for the main story and side quests. Choice, consequence, and character growth are at the center of it. It’s very difficult to keep track of it all. I have many flow charts and spreadsheets!

Miketendo64: Being as though Quantum Witch started as a novel, what was it about the novel writing process that you disliked, leading you to make it a point-and-click game instead?

Nikki Jay: I needed a visual component, and I still felt that urge to create worlds in the computer, simple as that. But then I remembered I get frustrated with point-and-clicks too, its so easy to have them descend into “hunt the pixel” and “try every item with every other item”. So that turned into the platforming style it is now.

Miketendo64: At what point during Quantum Witch’s development did Paul Rose and what contributions did he make to the script?

Nikki Jay: I had the story mapped out with character profiles, plot beats, locations, etc. etc. but found it very difficult to get well paced progression and structure to it. Paul took all my notes and put together a screenplay from them, and showed me how to structure things. Without him, I’d never have got off the starting blocks. Now I treat every interaction as a miniature screenplay, and I developed a way of scripting them where I can write (almost) plain english, and the game engine makes it all happen in-game.

Miketendo64: Also helping out with Quantum Witch’s development, is Christopher Jerden-Cooke. With both yourself and Christopher creating the music, how did you find working with each other?

Nikki Jay: He is amazing. It’s very much a collaborative process, with us getting together to work out basic song structures and me saying “yes, now put a chiptune style arpeggio in the background”. Most of the music started on my ukulele, but there are a couple of tracks – most notably the Skeleton’s theme and the Battle theme – that are pure Jerden-Cooke and they’re INSTANT earworm classics.

Miketendo64: Described as being a PLOTFORMER over a PLATFORMER, in your own words, what defines a PLOTFORMER and who among your development team, coined the phrase?

Nikki Jay: Plotformer: a game that uses platforms as a way of exploring a world, but is driven by player choice so that the story is shaped by the consequences of those choices instead of a linear plot progressed by collecting enough trinkets to unlock cutscenes. Multiple, intertwining plotlines are essential for a plotformer! It was actually my friend Taz who came up with it as a joke because I couldn’t think of a short way of describing the gameplay!

Miketendo64: Who is Ren, and what motivates her?

Nikki Jay: Ren is a shepherdess in her mid twenties, who has an idyllic life with her wife Tyra, looking after her animals and generally being happy and enjoying the sunshine. Her empathy is what gets her embroiled in the story, she has a deep seated need for justice and a desire to help people. That’s what sends her down the rabbit hole of discovering the truth behind her world.

Miketendo64: With many instances of fourth wall breaking occurring in Quantum Witch, can you give us an example of one instance?

Nikki Jay: Difficult to pick one! Either trying to get Ren to take something that can’t be moved, and her responding “I don’t know why ‘take’ was an option there” or the traumatised “similar to but legally distinct from” Pac Man in the marketplace who has a stash of pills she wants to unload.

Miketendo64: Since Quantum Witch also features a “dancing skeleton who can see through time,” what other delightful characters can players expect to encounter in Quantum Witch?

Nikki Jay: So many! The Great Lampshaded One (an Old God who lets you feed good about yourself by directly pointing out your flaws), The God Of Loose Ends (the challenge here is to end the conversation with him – there’s always just one more thing), Inga and Tove (innuendo obsessed jokers in the pool temple), Clippers (the spherical comic relief robot that everyone hates)… I could go on but I don’t want to give too much away!

Miketendo64: Compared to your first draft of Quantum Witch, and the version you have now, have you been able to bring to life everything you wanted to implement, or have certain storylines and ideas been left on the wayside, saved for another day?

Nikki Jay: Originally I’d planned to have Golden Axe style combat sections, but it didn’t really fit. Instead they stayed flat 2D and more puzzle focused than combat focused.

Miketendo64: Since we’re told not to ask, why should we stay away from the forest? What will happen?

Nikki Jay: You’ll discover terrible suffering beneath the happy surface of the village… what happens from that point is up to you!

Miketendo64: And on the subject of unanswered questions, “why does everything pseudo-mystic have Quantum in the title?”

Nikki Jay: Because it sounds cool. Like, “Mystery Science”.

Miketendo64: Once development for Quantum Witch is finished and the game is released, what comes next for you?

Nikki Jay: I’d love to do a comedy bullet hell shooter. Sexy Parodius is a favourite of mine!

Miketendo64: How was fan feedback to those who played the Quantum Witch demo at MCM London Comic Con x EGX?

Nikki Jay: They loved the humour and the story! The most repeated question was “Will this get a switch release too?”

Miketendo64: If you had to compare Quantum Witch to any other game in terms of gameplay, overall theme or story, what would be its closest match?

Nikki Jay: Thematically, I’d say Celeste. Gameplay is a tricky one to match because of how it’s a mashup of different styles, but Darkside Detective was a big inspiration, especially the art style, and Sam and Max dry humour too. Oh, and of course, the Dizzy games! 

Miketendo64: Lastly, could you list all the platforms on which you hope to release Quantum Witch on?

Nikki Jay: It’ll be on Steam and itch.io to start with. I would love it to be on Switch too, so any publishers out there want to help with that? Call me!

For more MCM Comic Con x EGX (October 2024) content, click here.

About Quantum Witch:

Wake up lovely, you’ve got things to do! First, find your lost flock of faer. Then find your wife, she’d look so cute wearing that flower you found. And if you have time, attack and dethrone god. Ok? Don’t worry about that portal. I’m sure it’s nothing. Now be careful. Every choice matters.

It’s a straightforwardly lovely day in Hus — It’s always a lovely day in Hus. That’s not suspicious at all! The bovey is grazing in the field, the faer are roaming around town causing chaos, the shadies are out preaching (they’re not a cult!), and a giant stone portal to another dimension has appeared in the woods.

I hope nothing goes hideously wrong and results in an adventure.

So what is it?

• Narrative and choice driven platform adventure. Imagine choose your own adventure meets point and click meets platformer. Yes, you’ve got it! It’s that. Not a platformer: a PLOTformer
• Hand crafted retro resolution pixel art in a cute style that definitely doesn’t unexpectedly turn creepy.
• Not a cult.
• Choices matter. Convince a character to wear something? They’ll wear it for the rest of the game. Save a character? They’ll be there as part of your story.

This is the journey of Ren, a twenty-something shepardess who gets thrown into a multiversal conflict while on a fetch quest to find her lost flock. She’ll have the fates of her friends in her hands, and YOU will have to help her make the difficult choices.

Will she prevail? Will anyone survive? Why does everything pseudo-mystic have Quantum in the title? These questions and more, or fewer, may or may not be answered!

Characters and story original creations of NikkiJay, developed with BAFTA nominated writer Paul Rose.

Also you can pet the kitty.