Introduction to Game Quest Design for Junior Planners: Why Do Players Complete Quests?

Are you only writing "Defeat 10 monsters" in your design document?

Are your design documents filled with repetitive phrases like "Defeat 10 monsters" or "Collect 3 items"?
Quests are the core mechanism that drives game progression and are designed structures that create player immersion and choice.
However, it's not easy to specifically design why players should do this quest and what players should feel.

It's okay if you don't have quest design experience.
This lecture explains the core principles of quest design in the language of designers.
You can start from here.

Narrative context, goals and tasks, motivation, choices and consequences,
and even quest flow, triggers, state and branching design that may feel a bit unfamiliar.
We'll walk you through what role each element that makes up a quest plays in an actual game,
and what designers need to consider and design one by one.

The quest design principles and examples covered in this course
can be applied immediately across all genres including action, RPG, open world, and mobile games,
and will serve as fundamental planning skills you can use right away.

Now become not a designer who writes quests as "tasks to assign,"
but a game designer who designs player actions and choices.

Here's what you'll learn

Section 1. Understanding the Basics of Game Quest Design

In games, quests are not simply a 'to-do list',
but rather a designed experience that tells players why they should take action.

How do quests guide player behavior
and connect story with gameplay?
From a designer's perspective, we'll organize the definition and role of quests,
and build the foundational skills to logically explain "Why is this quest necessary?"
We'll also examine common failure cases and the overall production workflow
to understand what role quest design plays in game development.

Section 2. Core Quest Concepts and Terminology for Beginner Designers

No more vague approaches like "Can't we just make it fun?"

We organize the core concepts you must know in quest design,
such as narrative context, goals and tasks, extrinsic and intrinsic motivation, flow, and narrative coherence,
tailored to the level of beginner designers.

You will understand that quests are not just story text,
but a system that designs the player experience.

Section 3. Quest Design That Motivates Players to Act

Why do players complete quests?
Is it for the rewards, or is it out of curiosity?

You will learn how to design the progression structure of quests based on
the player's motivation and emotional flow.
Through real examples, we explain how elements such as choice and consequence,
branching structures, and delayed outcomes affect gameplay enjoyment and immersion.

You will learn the mindset of creating
"quests players want to do themselves" rather than "quests that tell players what to do."

Section 4. Detail Design to Enhance Quest Quality

The difference between an ordinary quest and a memorable quest lies in the details.

Environmental storytelling, Show, Don't Tell,
difficulty and pacing control, and the coherence between narrative and gameplay.
We examine how small design differences can change the player experience.

We also cover the fact that sometimes
intentionally leaving things empty in the design creates stronger immersion than flashy direction.

Section 5. Quest Structure and Design Thinking for Practical Work

This is the final step to implement ideas into an actual game.

We introduce quest flow charts, trigger design, state and flag management,
and the basic structure for designing non-linear quests in a stable way.
Rather than complex implementation methods,
we focus on what planners need to clearly define.

We'll help you organize a practical mindset to become
"a designer who communicates effectively" with developers, scenario writers, and level designers.

Who This Is For

• "Junior game designers who are asked to plan quests but feel lost about what and how to write
  (Those who have ideas but can't organize them systematically)

• "Is there no other way besides killing a certain number of monsters?" - those who keep worrying without progress
  (Those who want to know why quests always end up being similar)

• Those who felt awkward because they couldn't clearly answer the question "Why should I do this quest?"

• Designers who felt intimidated in meetings because terms like narrative, motivation, and branching were unfamiliar

• Indie developers who are making a good game but struggling with feedback that the quests aren't fun

After taking the course, here's what will change

• Design with 'structure', not just 'ideas'
  Instead of vague quest ideas,
  you'll design quests using a narrative–objective–action–reward structure.

• You'll develop standards for evaluating quests
  You'll be able to explain why a quest isn't fun,
  and where player immersion breaks.

• The planner's language changes
  Instead of just saying "it's boring,"
  you'll speak logically using terms like lack of motivation, pacing issues, absence of meaningful choice.

• Collaboration becomes much easier
  You'll be able to communicate
  quest designs with clear intent to developers, scenario writers, and level designers.

• You'll be able to design quests from start to finish
  From the idea stage to flow, triggers, branching and outcomes
  You'll develop the planning mindset to complete a full quest.

Features of This Course

All lecture slides are provided as PDF files.

The slides used in the lecture are provided as PDF materials for review.
Using these materials, you can take notes directly on the PDF for key concepts or print them out for note-taking,
and refer to them frequently when designing your own projects or portfolios.

Clear explanations using AI voice and condensed delivery enable efficient learning.

Like my other courses, this course was also recorded using AI voice. Using the latest AI models, the course content is delivered with accurate pronunciation and natural explanations that rival professional voice actors.

All lectures were recorded and edited using pre-prepared lecture scripts, resulting in the most condensed lectures with not a single second wasted.

Additionally, thanks to the AI's accurate pronunciation, nearly 100% accurate automatic subtitles are generated. Therefore, improved delivery of lecture content is now possible for those who listen to classes with subtitles turned on.

And for each lecture, I've made slight variations to the AI voice tone. Therefore, you can listen without getting bored, as if each lecture is being explained by a different instructor.

Points to Note Before Enrollment