Quest Master Allows You To Build Your Own 16-Bit Adventure

Written by Brandon Hofer on June 07, 2023

News: The community will no doubt try to recreate some of the classics from the 16-bit era and we are excited to see them.

Quest Master, the dungeon-designing sandbox adventure from publisher Apogee Entertainment and developer Skydevilpalm, will deliver a robust toolset to build retro top-down dungeons on PC via Steam Early Access in Q3 2023, before arriving on Nintendo Switch alongside the 1.0 release, as revealed in the Guerrilla Collective showcase. Construct custom adventures in the upcoming demo coming soon to Steam for PC.

In Quest Master you will get to craft a legendary journey from scratch with an intuitive level creator to make simple dungeons and overworld-connected quests in this faithful pixel art love letter to top-down action JRPG classics of yesteryear. You can drag-and-drop dozens of themed design tiles onto a blank canvas to create lava-filled caverns, mountainous overworlds, grassy forests, desert dunes, and more. Provide instructions for the quest ahead or design an epic narrative full of placeable NPCs and customizable signs with a plethora of dialogue options.

When the masterpiece is complete, fearlessly charge into the world, ready to face belligerent bats, surly snakes, and nefarious skeletons. Keep enemies at a safe distance with a bow or bring them in for combat close with a precisely aimed hookshot. Master weapons and powerful magic, navigate user-created labyrinths, unlock doors and solve puzzles while defending against the dangers that lurk within. Guide progression with bodies of water and boulders that can only be traversed with a hammer or flippers.

The journey is as easy or as difficult as the creator wishes. Invent patience-testing experiences or entire quests with multiple biomes, bosses, and side missions. Place enemy spawn points in strategic locations to create challenging dungeons (that can lock upon entry!) before concocting the perfect puzzle with the ideal amount of flaming traps, levers, timed switches, and invisible chests.

You will be able to venture through bespoke labyrinths solo, or dungeon-crawl cooperatively with up to 3-player multiplayer sessions. Share created quests with others and try out worlds made by fellow designers online. Recreate classic levels from famous top-down action games of old, and craft adventures reminiscent of the 16-bit classics.

“Quest Master hands over the controls to the players to make whatever they want,” said Julian Creutz, Lead Developer of Quest Master. “The possibilities are endless, and we can’t wait to see all kinds of wacky dungeons and full-blown adventures players are able to come up with.”

Check out the trailer so that you can see this game in action and then tell us what you think. Will you be picking up Quest Master?