I think almost everyone knows how it feels if quests suddenly turn into chores. Go there, get this, do that, repeat. It’s a recurring problem where games seem to just copy-paste their quests in order to fill the world instead of creating captivating quests for their players. Of course they give them a new and shiny skin to make it look different, but somehow it still feels the same. We’re going to show you ways to avoid this and how to make quests for video games fun while also saving you a lot of time & resources.
Captivating Quests – Keeping Players Entertained
Quests are what drive the players through the game. They give them purpose and a goal to work towards. But there is a thin line between fun & work when it comes to designing quests. Give them too little and they get bored, give them too many and they feel overwhelmed. Like in almost every aspect of game design it’s the balance that counts. So let’s take a look at the most important aspects of how to make quests fun for a player.
Provide The Player With A Clear Goal
Properly communicating a task is the key to a successful quest. If players don’t know where to go or if the task is rather confusing, it can easily lead to frustration among the players. Giving them clear directions and good instructions can avoid a lot of trouble along the way, so you should try to avoid lengthy descriptions or complicated explanations if possible.
Use highlights to help them navigate through the world, utilize the UI to give them an overview of their tasks and lead them towards their goals inconspicuously. Especially in tutorial quests you shouldn’t shy away from using visual clues to teach your player how to navigate your world.
Give Your Quests A Purpose
Time is the most valuable resource we have in life so don’t make your players waste it on something useless. Each quest should be there for a reason and not just to artificially lengthen the playtime. No matter if it’s for gaining experience, unlocking new features, getting a certain item or creating a better relationship with a character. The possibilities are endless.
A quest’s purpose is to serve the overall goal of the game, to teach the players new things or to give them an advantage over their opponents. There is no reason to constantly reward the player with money if they have no way of spending it. So always try to think about why your audience has to complete the task and what they gain from it in the end.
High Risk, High Reward
Don’t forget to reward your player properly after completing a task. It could be money, experience, equipment, some kind of skin, a weapon, new features… It could be everything that comes to your mind. Either way, the reward should always be worth the effort the player has put in.
There is nothing more frustrating than having spent hours in a single quest only to be left with a useless item at the end. One of the most prominent examples is probably the collection quests from the ‘Assassin’s Creed’ series where you spent hours collecting feathers (without a guide probably days) only to be rewarded with a simple skin.
On the other hand you also shouldn’t shower your player with one good item after another if it’s just a simple task. Doing so not only makes the player overpowered very quickly but it also lowers the worth of those items over time.
Give Variety To Your Quests
Let’s continue with one of the most obvious points on how to make quests fun: Variety. The more diversity you have in your pool of quests, the less repetitive they get. There are plenty of different types of quests out there you can use and you shouldn’t shy away from creating your own variations. But no matter how many different kinds of quests you want to add to your game, make sure the mechanics for it are polished, purposeful and can be reused if necessary.
Regularly switching between different tasks like fighting, puzzle solving, gathering, stealth etc. keeps the player entertained for hours and they’ll never know what kind of quest they can expect next.
Challenge Your Players
The longer a game goes on, the more difficult the quest should get. At the beginning, your players’ experience level is rather low but the longer they play, the better they get. The difficulty curve should rise alongside the player’s skill curve. This way you give the players an opportunity to prove themselves while also keeping the boredom at bay. Most of the time if a game seems to be too easy, players often lose interest in it after a while.
If you’re too afraid that certain challenges might frustrate players because they are too hard, then you can easily turn them into optional side quests. This gives the player the choice if they want to do it or not. They can also give it a simple try and if they fail, they can still always come back later on when they’ve become stronger.
Use Quest Chains
Nobody ever said that a quest can only be made out of a single task. Breaking down interesting side stories into multiple quests not only provides you with more content for your game, but it also makes side quests more interesting for players. You can even spread them over a longer period of time by adding certain conditions that have to be fulfilled first to unlock the next one. Quest chains always give the feeling of familiarity and it is a wonderful way to create a more in-depth story for your side character with little effort.
Combine Quests
Combining quests can also be a very effective way to give the player a feeling of success. For example, you could give the player the task to craft a specific sword that needs a very rare item the player hasn’t found yet. A different NPCs could give him a job where he has to hunt a bunch of monsters that have a chance for that item to drop. This means if a player kills the monster and it simultaneously drops the item they need, they have ticked off two quests at once.
Reuse Quest Elements
While this can lead to a lot of repetition if you’re not careful, it’s also a great opportunity to add more depth to your game. After all, it’s very common in video games to reuse certain elements to save resources. But if you want to reuse your quests, don’t just copy-paste them. Rather than that, break them up into elements and piece them together differently when you want to build a new questline. Just like with any other building block system.
Using different kinds of stories also re-works a quest very effectively. This way you can give the same task a completely different purpose. After all, it’s very different if someone sends you to deliver a message to their neighbor or if you have to give the message to someone that lives on the other side of the country.
Add Interesting Story & Characters
A good story often drives people to progress further which is why most players prefer the main quests over side quests. Adding interesting characters or storylines to a quest not only spices things up but it also creates an emotional connection with the player.
Use quests to expand on the lore, lighten the mood or to help the player get to know their favorite character better. Stories always make things more memorable and relatable for people, so make sure to include them whenever you can.
Use The Element Of Surprise
Catching the player off guard is going to leave quite the impression on them. Be it through an unexpected twist, a sudden jump scare or a different kind of surprise. Things that shock people stay in their minds longer, be it positive or negative.
It also provides a change of pace and spices things up quite a bit, but don’t overdo it! If you constantly bombarded the player with one thing after another, they are going to get bored of it after a while. So be mindful of where you want to add an element of surprise.
This should cover the most important elements of how you can design quests to be more interesting and captivating. Of course great game design, controls and visuals also play a huge part in it but covering each of them in a single article won’t do them justice. You can use this guide as a checklist for your own game to make sure your quests are going to be fun and appealing to your target audience.
If you’re interested in creating your own quest you might also be interested in how to write and structure them properly:
Between Goals & Rewards: How to Write Quests For Games
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