Quest Design Case Study Template

Project Overview

Project:
Quest Name:
Role: Quest Designer
Team Size: (optional but recommended)
Duration:
Engine / Tools:

One-sentence summary:
A concise description of what this quest is and its narrative or gameplay purpose.

Example:
“The opening main story quest of Year 2, designed to reintroduce players to the world state while establishing a new antagonist and setting the narrative tone for the season.”

Design Goals & Constraints

Briefly outline what the quest needed to achieve and what limitations existed.

Primary goals

  • What experience should the player have?

  • What narrative or gameplay role does this quest serve?

Constraints

  • Technical (engine, tools, systems)

  • Narrative continuity

  • Production scope or timeline

Keep this short — this sets context, not excuses.

Design Intent

Explain how you translated goals into player experience.

  • What emotions or pacing did you want to establish?

  • What kind of quest flow felt appropriate for this point in the story?

  • What did you intentionally avoid?

This section shows intentionality, which hiring managers look for.

Quest Structure & Flow

This is the core of the breakdown.

High-Level Quest Beats

Outline the quest in beats rather than objectives:

  1. Opening setup / reorientation

  2. First engagement or reveal

  3. Escalation or complication

  4. Narrative or gameplay pivot

  5. Resolution or handoff to next quest

Use bullets or short paragraphs — clarity over drama.

Locations & Transitions

Explain how movement through space supports pacing.

  • Why these locations?

  • How travel time, combat density, or downtime were used intentionally

  • Where the player gets space to absorb story

You can include a simple flow diagram or annotated map here.

Pacing & Player Experience

Discuss rhythm, not mechanics.

  • How tension rises and falls

  • Where the quest slows down intentionally

  • How long sections were designed to last

If cutscenes were used:

  • Why a cutscene instead of gameplay?

  • What pacing problem did it solve?

Implementation

Briefly explain how the quest was built.

  • Tools or scripting approach

  • How beats were translated into in-engine objectives

  • Any systems the quest relied on

Avoid technical deep dives unless they directly affected design decisions.

Playtesting & Iteration

Show that the quest improved through feedback.

What testing revealed

  • Confusing transitions

  • Pacing issues

  • Narrative overload or gaps

Key changes made

  • Reordered beats

  • Added / removed steps

  • Adjusted cutscene timing or objective clarity

This section is extremely valuable to studios.

Design Highlights & Learnings

Focus on what you learned, not just what went well.

Highlights

  • A design risk you attempted (e.g. cipher puzzle)

  • A pacing improvement that meaningfully changed player experience

Learnings

  • What you’d do differently next time

  • Insights gained about quest pacing or structure

This shows growth and self-awareness.

Outcome

Close with impact.

  • How the quest performed (qualitative is fine)

  • How it set up future content

  • Why it was effective as an opening quest

Keep it grounded and honest.