Quantum Conundrum puzzling PC, PS3, 360

Earlier this week, Square Enix teased a Penny Arcade Expo unveiling for the latest project from Portal lead developer Kim Swift and Airtight Games. While the show doesn't kick off until tomorrow, the publisher dropped the first details to GameSpot today.

Set for downloadable release on the PC (via Steam), PlayStation 3, and Xbox 360 next year, Quantum Conundrum is a first-person puzzle platformer. In the game, players will play as the 12-year-old nephew of an eccentric professor who has gone missing. As they explore the absent academic's mansion, players will use an interdimensional shift device to bend some of the basic rules of reality and progress through rooms.

For example, by entering the "fluffy dimension," players will make objects in the room light, allowing them to push around once-immovable objects to clear a path forward. There will also be a dimension that slows down time, one that reverses gravity, and a fourth that has not yet been detailed.

Beyond Portal, Swift has previously worked on Left 4 Dead and Left 4 Dead 2. Airtight Games is best known for Capcom's jetpack-powered third-person shooter Dark Void.

The Square Enix-Airtight panel is set for 7 p.m. Saturday in the Pegasus Room at the Washington State Convention and Trade Center. The Penny Arcade Expo, also commonly known as PAX Prime, will run August 26 through August 28. Although the show is generally open to the public, badges to attend the show sold out in May.

For more on Quantum Conundrum, check out GameSpot's first look at the title.