What are quests and how do I use them?

A quest is a grouped, multi-level objective for your event. Instead of showing every challenge at once, quests let you organize challenges into stages that teams unlock as they progress.

Quests are especially useful for scavenger hunts, checkpoint-based activities, sponsor passports, onboarding games, campus tours, conventions, team-building events, and any event where you want players to follow a path instead of choosing from one large challenge list.

How Quests Work

Each quest contains one or more levels. Each level contains one or more challenges and has a completion requirement.

For example, you could create a quest with:

Level 1: 5 starting challenges, requiring teams to complete any 3
Level 2: 4 checkpoint challenges, requiring teams to complete any 2
Level 3: 1 final challenge, requiring teams to complete 1

When a team completes enough challenges in its current level, the next level unlocks for that team. Other teams keep progressing at their own pace.

The challenges from an unlocked level appear in the team’s quest view and challenge list. This keeps the event focused while still giving teams a satisfying sense of progression.

When to Use Quests

Use quests when challenge order, pacing, or progression matters.

Good use cases include:

Scavenger hunts: Reveal clues, locations, or tasks as teams complete each stage.
Checkpoint routes: Guide teams from one area, booth, or landmark to the next.
Conference sponsor passports: Group sponsor visits into themed levels and unlock bonus rounds after enough booths are completed.
Team-building activities: Start with easy icebreakers, then unlock more collaborative or competitive tasks.
Campus or office onboarding: Walk new students or employees through key locations and culture prompts.
Multi-phase parties or retreats: Release morning, afternoon, evening, or bonus quests at the right time.

If you want every challenge visible from the start, a normal challenge list may be simpler. If you want discovery, structure, and staged unlocks, use quests.

Before You Build a Quest

Quests use challenges that already exist in your event. Create the challenges first, then organize them into quest levels.

Before opening the quest builder, decide:

What the quest is about
How many stages or levels it should have
Which challenges belong in each level
How many challenges teams must complete to advance
Whether the quest should be visible now, hidden for later, or scheduled to unlock

It helps to sketch the player journey first. For a scavenger hunt, that might be “Start at the lobby, solve a clue, visit two sponsor booths, find the hidden photo spot, then complete the finale.”

Create a Quest

Open your event in Thrillify Backstage.
Switch to Edit mode.
Open Quests.
Click Add.
Enter a quest Name and optional Description.
Choose the quest visibility.
Save the quest.

After you create a quest, Backstage opens the quest’s level list so you can start adding levels.

Choose Quest Visibility

When creating or editing a quest, choose how players should receive it.

Visible now: The quest is available to players immediately. Teams can start Level 1 as soon as they see it.
Disabled: The quest is hidden from players. Use this while building, testing, or holding a quest in reserve.
Scheduled: The quest stays hidden until a future Scheduled Quest Unlock timeline entry starts.

For scheduled quests, create a future Scheduled Quest Unlock entry in the Schedule tab first. Then return to Quests, edit the quest, choose Scheduled, and select that timeline entry.

A Scheduled Quest Unlock has no duration. Once the quest unlocks, it stays available unless you later disable it.

For more detail, see How do I schedule quests at a specific time?.

Add Quest Levels

Inside a quest, click Add Level to create the first level.

For each level, you can set:

Name: Optional, but useful for labels like “Checkpoint 1” or “Sponsor Sprint.”
Description: Optional instructions, context, or hints for this level.
Challenges required to complete this level: The number of challenges a team must complete before the next level unlocks.
Challenges in this level: The event challenges teams can choose from while working on the level.

Add levels in the order teams should encounter them. Level 1 is the starting level. Level 2 unlocks after Level 1 is complete, and so on.

Set the Completion Requirement

The completion requirement controls how strict the level is.

If a level has 5 challenges and requires 3, teams can complete any 3 of those 5 to unlock the next level. This gives players choice and helps prevent teams from getting stuck.

If a level has 3 challenges and requires 3, teams must complete all 3 before advancing. This is better for required checkpoints, clue chains, safety instructions, or activities where every task matters.

A few practical patterns:

Use 1 of 1 for a single required checkpoint or final challenge.
Use 2 of 4 or 3 of 5 when you want teams to choose their own path.
Use all challenges required when the level is part of a strict sequence.

Be sure to add at least as many challenges as the completion requirement.

Add Challenges to Levels

When adding challenges to a level, search for existing event challenges and select the ones you want included.

A challenge can belong to one quest level at a time. If a challenge does not appear as available, it may already be assigned to another quest level or otherwise unavailable for quest assignment.

Use a mix of challenge types to keep the quest interesting:

Photo or video challenges for proof, creativity, and shared memories
GPS challenges for real-world checkpoints and location-based scavenger hunts
Trivia challenges for clues, knowledge checks, and puzzle steps
Text challenges for codes, answers, or short responses
Survey challenges for votes, ratings, or feedback during the event

For general challenge setup, see Create Challenges.

How Players Experience Quests

Players see available quests in the app’s Challenges -> Quests tab.

When a player opens a quest, they can see:

The quest levels
The team’s current progress
The challenges currently available for that quest
How other teams are progressing

Teams advance independently. If Team A completes Level 1 before Team B, Team A can unlock Level 2 while Team B is still working through Level 1.

Newly unlocked quest challenges can also appear in the main challenge list, helping players notice the next objective without needing to hunt through the app.

For the player-facing version, see What are quests and how do I complete them?.

Quest Design Examples

Checkpoint scavenger hunt

Level 1: Find the starting location and complete 1 required GPS challenge.
Level 2: Complete any 3 of 5 photo, trivia, or text challenges nearby.
Level 3: Unlock the next destination clue.
Level 4: Complete the final team photo.

Conference sponsor passport

Level 1: Visit any 3 participating sponsor booths.
Level 2: Answer trivia or submit photos from 2 featured booths.
Level 3: Unlock a bonus challenge near the main stage.

Team-building progression

Level 1: Easy icebreakers that get teams moving.
Level 2: Collaborative challenges that require teammates to work together.
Level 3: High-value finale challenges or bonus tasks.

Best Practices

Keep Level 1 easy so teams understand how the quest works.
Use clear level names and descriptions when players need hints or context.
Avoid making every level “all challenges required” unless the sequence really needs it.
Put more choices than required in levels where you want strategy and flexibility.
Use scheduled quests for event phases, breaks, surprise rounds, or time-based reveals.
Keep disabled quests as backup content if you may need to adjust the event live.
Test the quest before the event so you can confirm the first level, unlock flow, and challenge wording feel right.