Quantum Witch Review

Resist, Rebel, Repeat.

All of us have some trauma to work through, in some way or another. Major events that shape the course of our lives or even micro-trauma that seeps into our souls, accumulating over time to poison our well-being — all valid experiences that mold us into the people we are today. For many, those traumas can be debilitating — a specter that looms over every action and inaction, haunting and taunting those afflicted. But it doesn’t have to be that way. Some are able to use these traumas or experiences to build something personal and beautiful. To draw from the wellspring of life and say, ‘this is not everything I am.’ Working though those monuments of cruelty and creating art is a triumph unto itself. 

That’s what developer Nikki Jay has done with Quantum Witch, a pixel art adventure game set in the land of Hus. Leaning on her past experience of growing up in a religious cult, Quantum Witch puts you in the shoes of Ren, a lesbian woman living an idyllic life with her bonded partner Tyra. The story starts out simple, with your faer (sheep-like creatures) having gone missing — leaving you to find them through simple platforming and puzzle-solving. Things quickly turn when Ren finds herself caught up in dark, mysterious, and magical happenings that threaten to turn her world upside out and inside out. 

Publisher: NikkiJay

Developer: NikkiJay

Platform: Played on PC (Steam)

Availability: Released on June 24, 2025 for Windows PC (Steam)

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It is very quickly apparent that Quantum Witch is more than just a silly pixel adventure game — it's a tale of emancipation and autonomy; A proclamation that we are not our circumstances, that we can make a better life or, at the very least, there is hope enough to try. This is borne out in the gameplay, as well, with many branching decisions and outcomes available to the player. In fact, I was quite surprised at both the breadth and depth of the effects of decisions I had made throughout the course of the game.

There are an untold number of “choice and consequence” games out on the market, but this may be the first time I have been surprised by what matters (or doesn’t matter) in terms of those choices and their effects. While many of the game’s dialogue options feel like they may be inconsequential, they can have massive ramifications on the outcome of a quest later down the line, ensuring your failure or success. Everything you do matters. All of your decisions have led you to your end point, and that’s a true rarity. Naturally, the game is quite short to compensate for this, running only a few hours on any individual playthrough. Even still, having done three full playthroughs trying to make different choices along the way, I’m still missing some waveforms (the game’s checklist of events to see), and there are bits of the narrative that I feel like I’m missing. 

That last bit feels intentional, however, with obtuse threads for the player to pull on just to see what happens. After all, we rarely have all of the information ourselves in our day-to-day decisions; we simply act according to the information we have on-hand. Ren, ever the skeptic, is all about pulling on those threads, using what she knows to guide her decisions and actions. The metatextual nature of all of this is not lost on me or the game itself. On repeated playthroughs we obviously retain the knowledge we gained on prior runs, and the characters themselves are aware of their digitized limitations. There are even bootleg versions of massively popular characters from other franchises, such as a Princess Peach look-alike and a Lara Croft stand-in.

Quantum Witch features a large number of branching paths to take, but remains mechanically simple.

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Those references aren’t just cheeky little Easter eggs — they mean something to so many of us, including NikkiJay. Whether it's an escape from real-world problems or something to pass the time, gaming takes many shapes and shapes us in return. There’s a real love of video games and their power to shape our hearts and minds, and by extension the world, in the title that is hard to describe, but is immediately felt. Beyond the character cameos, the old-school graphics and gameplay are reminiscent of NES adventure titles. Simple controls, a distinct lack of explicit guidance or quest markers, and minimalist HUD all evoke pleasant memories of a shared past — the ties that bind those of us from this specific time period.

While the overarching narrative may deal with serious themes, the text of the dialogue is often quite light-hearted, with some of the characters simply acting as vehicles of simple quips or one-liners to flesh out the world or bounce off of Ren. Keeping the text humorous even through the face of the adversity the characters are put through does more than just keep the game moving, it says something about characters like Ren, whose ability to stay joyful through traumatic circumstances means she never breaks under the weight of her choices. I can’t help but see some of myself there, too. Humor works wonders in terms of weathering the blows of life, allowing us to keep moving forward or put things into perspective. It can also act as a shield, deflecting away from and safeguarding old wounds.

Quantum Witch is an undeniably queer tale, with the cast and imagery running the full spectrum of LGBTQ+ representation. Perhaps hearing about it from me — a cis, white, male from midwest U.S.A. — is not what’s needed to adequately represent what lies here in the game. Maybe there’s just some things I will never understand, having never had the requisite personal experiences to fully relate to those within that community. But I think it is a testament to Quantum Witch, to both its writing and the sincerity with which it has been made, that it has reached me all the same — to reveal a piece of my own heart and see myself and my experiences in these characters. 

Verdict

Quantum Witch might be a simple and short adventure upon first glance, but that brevity belies the depth of the narrative and messaging. Part manifesto and part meditation, it is a monument to both NikkiJay’s personal experiences and to our shared understanding and navigation of life — and all of the trials and tribulations we face along the way. The gameplay mechanics may be simple, but the number of truly impactful, consequential choices offer a lot to engage with and think about.

Image Credits: NikkiJay

Disclosure: We received a free review copy of this product from the publisher.