Escape artistry
How developer NikkiJay created a game by channelling her difficult upbringing within a cult
For many of us, videogames represent an escape. But that’s rarely as true as it has been for the developer of Quantum Witch, who grew up in a religious cult in northeast England. NikkiJay (who chooses not to use her real name because she doesn’t want her abusive father to find her) describes the cult as being obsessed with the end of the world, and discouraging questioning or criticism of its doctrines.
“I remember sitting in sermons where they said how great it would be when all the lesbians are dead,” she recalls. The cult was also against certain medical procedures, which made for a terrifying conversation when NikkiJay was ten and needed her tonsils removed. “My parents took me aside and said, ‘You have to be prepared to die’.” It didn’t come to that, but one of her friends wasn’t as fortunate, dying after refusing treatment following an accident.