Quantum Conundrum “Game Show” Isn’t a Game Show

The first episode of iam8bit’s new web show is not the puzzle series we expected. At all.

Last week a teaser trailer came out for The Super Dimensional Quantum Learning’s Problems and Solutions Gametime Spectacular (or as I prefer to call it, TSDQLPASGS), a Quantum Conundrum inspired web series produced by iam8bit and hosted by Kevin Pereira with the blessing of Square-Enix. From all appearances, the series would be a game show that converted the puzzle-based principles of the original title into a live-action competitive format. Now the first episode of TSDQLPASGS has been released and it turns out there are more than a few problems with that assessment. Specifically, that it would be actually be a game show, or reflect Quantum Conundrum‘s gameplay at all.

To begin with the obvious: the web series is actually a sketch comedy series, which doesn’t sound too bad. We like gaming comedy. But a bigger problem is that the show doesn’t seem to reflect the game it’s supposed to be advertising either. The first episode is set in the Fluffy Dimension, which Quantum Conundrum used to transform heavy objects (like metal safes and bulky furniture) into items that could be picked up and moved to solve puzzles. In the world of TSDQLPASGS, the Fluffy Dimension is where Kevin Pereira hands a contestant three bundles of fluff and tells him to make valuable art while competing against a puppet version of the dimension-hopping furball, Ike. And… that’s it.

While a project like this was almost certainly designed to market the Quantum Conundrum brand, this video has none of the actual gameplay elements that made it so unique. The producers seem to have taken the game’s most tangible and marketable concepts and built a video around them in the hopes of sparking a viral hit. Quantum Conundrum is a critically acclaimed game featuring a multi-dimensional concept that could easily have been included in the series. Why couldn’t contestants pick up fluffy objects and throw them around the room to solve a puzzle? And what exactly does TSDQLPASGS have lined up for Conundrum‘s other three dimensions if this is how the series treats the easiest one to portray?