Jacob Aron, technology reporter
The many-worlds interpretation of quantum mechanics loosely suggests there are an infinite number of universes existing alongside our own, in which anything can and will happen. In the puzzle game Quantum Conundrum, you play the 12-year-old nephew of Professor Fitz Quadwrangle, a scientist who had invented a way to shift between these universes before becoming trapped in one after an experiment went awry. It is up to you to explore your uncle?s vast mansion using his inter-dimensional shift device in the hope of getting him back.
The setup rightly sounds like something out of a children?s cartoon, but the game?s bright and cheerful aesthetic doesn?t quite jibe with its difficult puzzles, which often require both mental and manual dexterity to solve.
Players must traverse each room in the mansion by switching between four different universes, or dimensions, plus our normal reality. At the start of the game you can only access the Fluffy dimension, in which the world turns a soft, squishy blue and objects are 10 times lighter, and then the Heavy dimension, which is red, metallic and 10 times heavier. Later, you will shift to a dimension in which time is drastically slowed down, and another in which gravity is reversed. Which dimensions you can access vary from room to room, depending on whether you can find a colour-coded battery to power your dimension-shifting device.
Solving puzzles means interacting with boxes and other objects, avoiding hazards and navigating the room, all while switching between dimensions. For example, a simple starting puzzle has you switch to the Fluffy dimension in order to pick up a heavy safe and throw it at a window before switching back to the regular dimension so that it smashes through the glass. Crucially, your body and your normal movements are unaffected by dimension switches.
It quickly gets more complicated. Later puzzles involve using the Time dimension to play catch with yourself, or the Gravity dimension to ride an object across a room. Figuring out which dimensions to use is very satisfying, but actually executing a solution is much more frustrating. The game is played from a first-person perspective but relies heavily on precision jumping, which is difficult when you can?t see your feet, and rapidly switching dimensions while grabbing objects, which requires some pretty quick fingers. Numerous times I found myself having to play certain sections over and over again just to get the split-second timing right.
This repetition also highlighted another failing - the game?s paper thin-story. You, as protagonist, never speak, leaving the narrative heavy lifting to Quadwrangle, (voiced by John de Lancie, known for playing Q in Star Trek) who never appears but speaks to you through the mansion?s speaker system throughout the game. His jokes are sometimes funny, but grate after multiple hearings, and I didn?t appreciate his hints for solving a room when I already knew the solution but was unable to execute it due to the game?s loose controls.
It is a real shame that the game falls down at these points, because some of the puzzles are truly excellent and will really stretch your brain as you try to think across multiple dimensions. Perhaps, somewhere out in the multiverse, there is a universe in which Quantum Conundrum is a little more polished and a lot more fun.
Quantum Conundrum was released 21 June on PC, and is out 11 July on Xbox Live Arcade and PlayStation Network
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