Report updated Jun 17, 2026
The Quest
For fans of classic, grid-based, turn-based role playing games who prefer hand-drawn aesthetics and deep world exploration.
The Quest is a well-regarded games app that is a paid app. With a 4.3/5 rating from 149 reviews, it maintains solid user satisfaction. Users particularly appreciate deeply engaging roleplaying mechanics provide high replayability for fans of classic dungeon crawlers, though lack of clear quest markers and journal updates creates navigation friction for modern players remains a common concern.
What is The Quest?
The Quest is a hand-drawn, grid-based open world RPG for iOS and Android.
Players hire The Quest for a distraction-free, nostalgic dungeon-crawling experience that avoids the intrusive live-service grind of modern mobile MMOs.
Current Momentum
v21.0
- Released Abyssal Islands expansion content.
- Maintains stable sentiment despite technical complaints.
Active Nemesis
Black Desert Mobile
By Pearl Abyss
Other Rivals
7-Day Rank Pulse 🇺🇸
Role PlayingRating Pulse 🇺🇸
Recent User Mood
What makes this app unique?
What Does It Look Like?
Loading...
What Are The Key Features?
Old school grid-based navigation system for character movement in an open world environment
Tactical combat system requiring strategic selection of skills, weapons, and spells
Mini-game featuring three distinct decks accessible at inns within the game world
How much does it cost?
- iOS version at $7.99
- Android version free
The iOS version utilizes a $7.99 upfront purchase model, while the Android version operates as a free title.
Who Built It?
Redshift
Delivering immersive, hand-drawn, turn-based RPG experiences for fans of classic, non-linear open-world exploration.
Portfolio
13
Apps
What other apps does Redshift make?
Explore the full Redshift report
Portfolio breakdown, audience, momentum, and every app published by Redshift.
What do users think recently?
Low confidence · Latest 61 of 89 total reviews analyzed · Based on 89 reviews. Signal may be noisy.
How did the latest release land?
What is the recent mood?
Recent user voice shows a excited sentiment. Users appreciate deeply engaging roleplaying mechanics provide high replayability for fans of classic dungeon crawlers, but report lack of clear quest markers and journal updates creates navigation friction for modern players.
What Users Love
What Frustrates Users
What Users Want
View the full user-sentiment analysis
Mood gauge, ratings & review-volume history, every praise / complaint / request, and sentiment over time.
What is the competitive landscape for The Quest?
How's The Games Market?
How does it evolve in the Games market?
The Quest maintains a niche presence in the paid RPG category, with rankings fluctuating significantly across European and North American markets. The reliance on a $7.99 upfront price point limits mass-market adoption compared to F2P competitors.
Rank progression
61 active rankings tracked — 30-day window
The rivals identified
Nemeses(1)
This title competes for the same retro-aesthetic, turn-based RPG audience that values premium, self-contained mobile gaming experiences.
Contenders(4)
Directly competes for the premium, offline-capable RPG market segment that avoids live-service monetization.
Challenges the target app by offering a streamlined, low-friction RPG experience for players with limited time.
Targets the competitive segment of the RPG market by focusing on seasonal leaderboards and global PvP.
Competes for the same player base interested in character-driven progression and long-term RPG investment.
Same space(3)
Targets the same turn-based strategy audience but with a modern, roguelike-inspired progression loop.
Differentiators
- Implements a card-merging system that simplifies inventory and ability management for a faster gameplay loop.
- Offers offline play capabilities, making it a more accessible option for users without constant internet access.
Competes for the same audience interested in deep character customization and companion-based RPG mechanics.
A direct peer in the premium, narrative-heavy RPG space with a focus on high-quality production values.
Differentiators
- Uses a unique card-based world design that replaces traditional exploration with a tactile, board-game aesthetic.
- Features a 'Game Master' narration style that provides a distinct, story-focused atmosphere during gameplay.
Compare The Quest against every rival
All rivals in one side-by-side table — identity, store metrics, ratings & sentiment, and strategic intel — plus a head-to-head page for each.
The outtake for The Quest
Strengths to defend, gaps to attack
Core Strengths
- Hand-drawn art style creates a distinct visual atmosphere
- Deep roleplaying mechanics provide high replayability
Critical Frictions
- Premium $7.99 price creates a high barrier to entry
- Lack of cloud-save synchronization causes progress loss
Growth Levers
- Implementing modern quest-tracking markers would reduce navigation friction
Market Threats
- Modern mobile RPGs with live-service updates erode the player base
What are the next best moves?
Ship cloud save in next minor release because it is the top-requested missing feature → unlock data-loss frustration
Players express concern over losing hundreds of hours of progress without cloud backup.
Trade-off: Push the wearable companion app sprint to Q3 — wearables waitlist is 3K vs 142 cloud-save requests.
Implement quest-tracking markers because navigation friction is the #1 complaint theme → reduce abandonment
Users report difficulty tracking objectives across the large open world map.
Trade-off: Pause the new card-game deck development — quest navigation has 3x the impact on churn.
A counter-intuitive read
The Quest's lack of modern UI is not a failure but a deliberate barrier that preserves the 'old school' authenticity that its core, high-LTV audience demands.
Feature Gaps vs Competitors
- Cloud save synchronization (available in modern RPG peers but missing here)
- Native game controller support (available in RPG Astral Takers but missing here)
Key Takeaways
The Quest holds its category lead through sticky, nostalgic RPG mechanics but bleeds players to modern alternatives due to navigation friction, so revenue growth hinges on tightening the first-session experience through better quest guidance.
Where Is It Heading?
Stable
The retro RPG market is consolidating around titles that balance classic mechanics with modern quality-of-life standards. The Quest remains exposed to churn unless it addresses navigation and technical stability, as competitors with better controller support and cloud saves will continue to siphon the casual-RPG segment.
Technical instability and audio loss following system updates erode the daily active habit, which compounds the rating drag already visible on Android.
The release of the Abyssal Islands expansion indicates active feature investment rather than maintenance mode, signaling continued commitment to the core player base.