Everyone's heard of Quake. In 1996 it popularized "true 3D" level design, team multiplayer, the rocket jump, and even mouse look. Nine Inch Nails' subtle in-game soundtrack is still a high point in video game music. Source Engine games like Apex Legends use fancy upgrades of Quake's original movement code, and the internet recently shat itself when it realized Half-Life: Alyx still uses Quake's light flickering presets.

Quake is everywhere. Everyone's heard of Quake. But does anyone care?

A couple years ago, I sure didn't. I thought it was just a more boring, less colorful Doom. But then I learned about its difficult history, a fascinating mess of cursed magic. Despite its success and influence, Quake couldn't escape Doom's shadow, just barely held together, and eventually caused half of id Software to leave.

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