Shift Quantum

Developed by Belgium studio Fishing Cactus and published by Red Panda Interactive, Shift Quantum is a puzzle platformer that will challenge your perception. Shift your world and change your perspective to overcome the game’s challenges and find your way to happiness in Axon Vertigo’s program. But is a computer program enough to bring some joy to your character? Or is there something missing in his life that made him look for Vertigo’s? Let’s find out while exploring this interesting game. But first, take a look at our review for it.

THE GOOD

• In Shift Quantum, your character, Subject 32763, can run, climb, pull and push cubes to solve puzzles. His main ability (Giving the name for the game) is to shift the world upside-down, transforming walls the blocked your path in escape routes or platforms that will take you to the exit of the level. The puzzle elements consist in using your shifting mechanic to find a way to reach the exit of each room, usually moving some blocks or special elements in the stage while avoiding spikes and traps
• Shift Quantum has a pleasant noir atmosphere with beautiful graphics. In your backgrounds, although a little confusing, you can notice a very detailed futuristic city with a lot of things shining at the screen. Sometimes I found myself shifting the world between light and dark only to see it better and identify things in that curious scenario. It’s worth mentioning Subject 32763 has some good animations in his movement throughout the game.
• Music in Shift Quantum is great! While the first levels have some slower and not that exciting tracks, soon you’ll be listening to some good quality songs that will accompany you in your journey and stick to your ears after playing.
• Besides the campaign/story mode, you can also try levels created by the community with a good and easy-to-use level editor. A nice add-on to the level-editor is the possibility to tag your levels with labels such as “short”, “spiky” and “platform” which help players to search for a specific kind of level. And I promise you’ll find some very imaginative creations.
• Since most of its stages are small and take only a few minutes (or tries) to be solved, you can enjoy the game in short or long play sessions. It’s all up to you.

MIXED FEELINGS

• If you’re not a player who uses to play many puzzle games, maybe you can find interest in Shift Quantum’s platform aspects. They’re simple but can pose a good challenge for you.

THE BAD

• While reviewing the game, I ran into some small bugs like falling from platforms and some animations not completing (especially when I was climbing platforms). This problem happened both in games original stages and in stages created by the community. None of them were game-breaking since I could easily restart the stage, but when it happened near the end of more complicated stages, I got really upset. I believe the dev may patch the game soon to solve this issue, so it isn’t a big deal.

Shift Quantum [Score: 70/100] With good gameplay and a great atmosphere, Shift Quantum is a good option for puzzle fans. The game has an interesting mechanic in its platform gameplay that makes it stand out in the genre. But to know more about what Axon Vertigo’s program is, what is Subject 32763 looking for and who is that mysterious girl with a yellow scarf that aids you during your journey, you’ll have to try it for yourself. Be prepared for a challenging journey through your own mind!