28 April 2025
When it comes to open-world games, there's a magic in wandering off the beaten path and discovering a side-quest that feels just as thrilling and rewarding as the main storyline. Side-quests can make or break a player’s experience. Get them right, and you’ll create memorable gameplay that keeps players coming back for more. Get them wrong, and they’ll hit that “skip” button faster than you can say “fetch quest.”
So, how do you design side-quests that feel meaningful and engaging in an open-world setting? Buckle in because we’re diving into the nitty-gritty of crafting compelling side-content for any RPG or open-world game.
The Purpose of Side-Quests
Let’s keep it real: side-quests aren’t just filler content. They serve a deeper purpose in games. First, they give players a chance to step away from the intensity of the main story. Second, they can enrich the game world by adding depth and lore. Lastly, they’re an excellent way to reward players with loot, experience points, or even emotional payoffs.But there’s a catch: players are smart. They can tell the difference between a thoughtfully crafted side-quest and one thrown together to pad gameplay time. Don’t insult their intelligence. Your side-quests need to feel deliberate, personal, and impactful.
1. Start with a Story Worth Telling
Nobody wants to help Generic NPC #47 find their lost cat for the 12th time unless something genuinely interesting happens along the way. Side-quests need stories just as much as main quests do. They should have stakes, twists, and characters the player actually cares about.Here’s a tip: tie the side-quest to the world around it. Maybe that lost cat belonged to a sorcerer, and retrieving it reveals a hidden dungeon. Or perhaps the cat transforms into a giant monster when reunited with its owner. Add layers! Even small stories can become memorable with a touch of creativity.
Pro Tip:
Tie side-quests into the game’s themes. If your main story is about freedom, make the side-quest reflect that. For instance, helping a rebel faction overthrow a tyrant can echo the overarching narrative while standing on its own.
2. Make Side-Quests Feel Personal
Let’s face it—players are more likely to engage with a side-quest if it pulls on their emotions or intrigues them. This is where NPCs (non-playable characters) shine. Give them personalities, quirks, and motivations.For example, instead of “Go slay 10 wolves,” introduce a weary hunter who’s struggling to feed their family. Let the player see their desperation. Or make it funny! Maybe a band of talking wolves is asking for protection from a vengeful farmer.
The more relatable or intriguing the character, the more likely players will care about their plight. Hook players with human (or inhuman) emotions, and they’ll stick around to see how the quest unfolds.
3. Offer Meaningful Rewards
Let’s be honest—rewards matter. Players need to feel like their time was well spent. But here’s the kicker: meaningful rewards aren’t always about gear or money.Sure, epic loot is great, but consider offering unique rewards that players can’t find elsewhere. Maybe completing a side-quest unlocks a new ability, a weapon with a fascinating backstory, or even a secret area. Sometimes, the reward can even be emotional—like reuniting long-lost friends or uncovering a hidden piece of lore that makes the game world feel richer.
In short: make it worth their while. If the reward is just “gold coins” for the 100th time, players are going to tune out faster than a poorly written TV ad.
4. Keep It Varied
Nothing kills excitement like repetitive tasks. You know the ones: fetch quests, kill quests, escort quests. Yawn. If your game’s side-quests are nothing but variations of “go here, do that,” players will abandon them faster than you can say “grind.”Mix things up! Throw in some puzzles, dialogue-heavy interactions, exploration challenges, or even moral dilemmas. Maybe a quest involves sneaking into a heavily guarded enemy camp instead of outright fighting. Or a scavenger hunt that cleverly uses the game’s mechanics to make players think outside the box.
Keep players on their toes. Variety is the spice of gaming life, after all.
5. Integrate Side-Quests Into the World
It’s vital that side-quests don’t feel like they exist in a vacuum. If an NPC is asking for help with a bandit problem, make sure those bandits can actually be seen wreaking havoc in the nearby area. Or if there’s talk of a cursed forest, let players stumble upon eerie remnants of the curse while exploring.Environmental storytelling is your best friend here. Use it to immerse players and make side-quests feel like natural extensions of the world. When quests feel like they’re rooted in the game’s reality, players are much more likely to take them seriously.
6. Add Unexpected Twists
Let’s face it—predictable quests can get boring. “Go here, kill the monster, come back” might have cut it five years ago, but players today expect more. So give them something unexpected!Maybe the monster you were sent to kill turns out to be misunderstood, and you have to choose whether to help it or betray it. Or perhaps the NPC who seemed innocent turns out to be manipulating you. Shake things up by flipping expectations on their head.
Twists don’t have to be huge, but they should surprise the player enough to keep them engaged. Think of it as adding some sprinkles to an already tasty cupcake.
7. Let Players Make Meaningful Choices
One of the best things about open-world games is giving players the freedom to shape their experience. Use side-quests to take that concept to the next level.For example, what if completing a side-quest for one faction locks you out of working with another faction? Or maybe helping an NPC early in the game leads to unexpected consequences hours later. When players see their choices have real impact, they’ll be more invested.
Remember, consequences don’t always have to be grand or world-altering. Sometimes, even small, personal changes can make quests feel meaningful.
8. Sprinkle in Humor
Not every side-quest needs to be serious or emotionally heavy. Sometimes players just want to have a good laugh. Clever writing, wacky scenarios, or even satirical jabs at gaming tropes can make a side-quest stand out.Take a moment to add some levity. Maybe a farmer needs your help because their scarecrow came to life and started terrorizing the village. Or an eccentric inventor’s creation has gone hilariously—and dangerously—wrong. Humor is a great way to offer a palate cleanser before diving back into the drama of the main story.
9. Keep Them Optional but Tempting
Here’s a golden rule: side-quests should never feel mandatory. Players should feel like they’re choosing to participate because they genuinely want to, not because they’re forced to.The trick is to make them enticing. Use intriguing quest names, mysterious starting points, or quirky characters to grab the player’s attention. Maybe they overhear a cryptic conversation in a bustling town square, or they stumble upon a half-buried treasure map while out exploring.
Curiosity is a powerful motivator—and in open-world gameplay, it’s your best tool.
10. Test, Iterate, and Refine
Finally, don’t assume your first draft of a side-quest is perfect. Playtest the heck out of it. Watch how players interact with it. Are they skipping dialogue? Struggling with the objectives? Losing interest halfway through?Use that feedback to make improvements. The best side-quests are a result of iteration and refinement. Good design is rarely achieved in a single attempt—it’s molded through trial and error.
In Conclusion
Crafting engaging side-quests in open-world games isn’t about reinventing the wheel—it’s about adding personality, creativity, and depth to a player’s experience. When done right, side-quests can be just as memorable (if not more) than the main storyline.So, the next time you sit down to map out your game’s content, take a moment to think about what you’d want as a player. Write quests that excite, challenge, and surprise you—and the rest will fall into place. Side-quests should make players think, “Wait, this is just a side-quest?! How is it this good?
