Quest for Glory is a series of video games that mix adventure and role-playing elements. The games were created by Corey and Lori Ann Cole. They were made using the Sierra Creative Interpreter, a special set of tools developed by Sierra to help design adventure games. The series includes humor, puzzles, and characters inspired by legends, stories, and wordplay. It consists of five games in Sierra's collection.

The series was first called Hero's Quest. However, Sierra could not officially register the name because Milton Bradley Company had already trademarked a similar name for their board game, HeroQuest. This forced Sierra to rename the series to Quest for Glory. After this change, all future games in the series, as well as new versions of the first game, used the new title.

Series

Lori Cole introduced Quest for Glory to Sierra as a "rich, story-focused, role-playing experience."

The series included five games, each continuing the events of the previous one. Later games often included characters from earlier games, such as appearances by characters who returned in different games. The goal of the series was to help players transform their character from an ordinary adventurer into a hero by completing quests that could be done in different orders.

The game was also groundbreaking because it allowed players to transfer their character, including their skills and items, from one game to the next.

The games combined elements from different types of games, mixing serious stories with humor. Players faced real dangers and performed heroic actions, but the games also included silly details and jokes. Wordplay was common, and the ending of the second game even called itself the hero's "latest set of adventures and miserable puns."

The games had recurring story elements. For example, most games required players to create a dispel potion.

The games also included Easter eggs, which are hidden references to other Sierra games. For instance, if a player typed "pick nose" in the first game (or clicked the lockpick icon in the newer version), and their lock-picking skill was high enough, the game would respond: "Success! You now have an open nose." If the skill was too low, the player might accidentally kill themselves. Another example is Dr. Cranium, a character from The Castle of Dr. Brain, who appears in the fourth game.

Each game was inspired by a different culture and mythology, in the following order: Germanic and fairy tale themes; Middle Eastern and Arabian Nights themes; Egyptian and African themes; Slavic folklore themes; and finally Greco-Mediterranean themes. In each game, the hero faces stronger opponents with help from characters who appear more often as the series progresses.

Each game slightly changed the traditions it was based on. For example, Baba Yaga, a character from Slavic folklore, appears in the first game, which is based on German mythology. The second game, inspired by Middle Eastern folklore, includes characters from Arab and African cultures who return in the third game, which is based on African and Egyptian themes. The second game also includes elements from American culture, such as references to the movie Casablanca. Characters from all previous games and genres return in the fourth and fifth games. The series also includes intentional anachronisms, such as mad scientists who love pizza in later games.

Many fans of computer role-playing games (CRPGs) consider the Quest for Glory series among the best in the genre. The series is praised for its non-linear structure, which allows players to choose different paths. The games combined elements of adventure and role-playing games, and their unique tone blended serious moments with humor. The games also had advanced features for their time, such as day-night cycles, non-playable characters who followed their own schedules, and character growth through both practice and investing points. Websites like Polygon and Kotaku have called the game a precursor to modern RPGs. Fraser Brown of Destructoid described the games as "one of the greatest adventure series of all time."

Rowan Kaizer of Engadget credited the games' mix of adventure and role-playing systems for their success. He explained that traditional adventure games often had puzzles that were either too easy or too hard, but Quest for Glory used skill checks, allowing players to succeed by practicing or exploring instead of solving strange item-combination puzzles.

Gameplay

The first four games in the series are a mix of adventure and role-playing games with real-time combat, while the fifth game changes to the action RPG genre.

Earlier Sierra adventure games set gameplay standards, which are improved by allowing players to choose their character’s career path from three traditional role-playing backgrounds: fighter, magic-user/wizard, and thief. Players can also customize the Hero’s abilities, including selecting skills usually reserved for other classes, creating unique combinations called "hybrid characters." During the second or third games, a character can become a Paladin by performing honorable actions, which changes their class, abilities, and gives them a special sword. This applies when the character is moved to later games. Any character who finishes a game (except Dragon Fire, the last game) can be moved to a newer game (Shadows of Darkness has a glitch that allows importing characters from the same game), keeping their stats and part of their inventory. If the character has the Paladin sword, they retain it along with special magic abilities (except in Shadows of Darkness, where they lose all items, including weapons, at the start). A character moved to a later game can be assigned any class, including Paladin.

Each career path has its own strengths, weaknesses, and unique scenarios based on their skills. Each class also solves puzzles differently, encouraging players to replay the game, as some puzzles have up to four solutions. For example, if a door is closed, a fighter might knock it down, while a magic user could cast a spell to open it. Fighters, magic users, and thieves each have different ways to interact with the game world. In the first game, a gold ring owned by a healer is in a tree nest. Fighters might throw rocks to make it fall, thieves might climb the tree, and magic users could use a spell to retrieve the nest. Afterward, the fighter and magic user return the ring for a reward, while the thief can choose to return or sell the ring in the thieves’ guild (which is only available to those with "thieving" skills). Over time, players can create characters with skills from all classes, allowing them to perform nearly every task. However, some tasks are only available to specific classes.

Each class has unique abilities and a shared set of attributes that can be improved by completing tasks and quests. In general, the maximum value for an ability in a game is 100 multiplied by the game’s number. Quest for Glory V allows stat bonuses that can exceed normal limits and includes special equipment that changes stats. At the start of each game, players assign points to attributes, and some classes only have certain attributes enabled, though additional skills can be added for extra cost.

General attributes affect all classes and how characters interact with the game world. High strength helps move heavy objects, and high communication skills improve bargaining with sellers. These attributes improve through actions: climbing increases climbing skill, running increases vitality, and so on. Some skills are tied to specific classes, such as parrying (blocking with a sword) for fighters and paladins, lock picking and sneaking for thieves, and casting spells for magic users.

Vital statistics decrease when performing certain actions. Health, determined by strength and vitality, affects a character’s hit points, which drop when attacked or injured. Stamina, based on agility and vitality, limits how many actions a character can take before resting or risking injury. Mana is only used by magic users and depends on intelligence and magic attributes.

Puzzle and Experience points track a player’s progress and development. In the first game, experience levels also influence random encounters, as some monsters appear only after reaching specific levels.

Games

In the valley region of Spielburg, a wicked giant named Baba Yaga has placed a curse on the land and the baron who tried to force her away. His children are missing, and the area is ruined by monsters and robbers. The Valley of Spielburg needs a Hero to fix these problems.

The original game was released in 1989, and a VGA version was released in 1992.

Quest for Glory II: Trial by Fire takes place in the land of Shapeir, part of the world of Gloriana. Right after the events of the first game, the Hero of Spielburg travels by flying carpet with friends Abdulla Doo, Shameen, and Shema to the desert city of Shapeir. The city is in danger from magical creatures, and the Emir of Shapeir’s sister city, Raseir, has disappeared. Raseir is now ruled by a tyrant.

Quest for Glory II is the only game in the series that was not remade beyond the EGA graphics engine by Sierra. However, AGD Interactive released a VGA fan remake of the game using the Adventure Game Studio engine on August 24, 2008.

Rakeesh the Paladin brings the Hero (and Prince of Shapeir) along with Uhura and her son Simba to his homeland, the town of Tarna. Tarna is located in a jungle and savannah area called Fricana, which looks like ecosystems in central Africa.

Tarna is close to starting a war. Uhura’s tribe, the Simbani, is ready to fight the Leopardmen. Each tribe has stolen a sacred object from the other, and neither will return it unless the other does first. The Hero must stop the war and prevent a demon from being released into the world.

Suddenly, the Hero is pulled from his victory in Fricana and appears in the dangerous Dark One Caves in the distant land of Mordavia without equipment or explanation. While trying to survive in this land filled with undead creatures, the Hero must stop a dark force from causing eternal darkness.

Erasmus introduces the Hero to the Greece-like kingdom of Silmaria, where the king was recently killed. The traditional Rites of Rulership are about to begin, and the winner will become king. The Hero enters the contest with help from Erasmus, Rakeesh, and friends from earlier games. The Hero competes against opponents such as the Silmarian guard Kokeeno Pookameeso, the warlord Magnum Opus, the large warrior Gort, and the fighter Elsa Von Spielburg.

Collections

• The Quest for Glory Anthology (1996) is a collection that includes the first four games in the series. It features the fully updated CD version of QFG IV. Copy protection codes, which are part of Quest for Glory IV, are included in the manual and on the CD. Game saves are stored in the CD's save folder and in the VGA version of Quest for Glory I.
• The Quest for Glory Collection Series (1997) is a new version of the Anthology that includes a Dragon Fire demo and sample music.
• Quest for Glory 1–5 (2012) is a digital collection available on GOG.com and Steam. It includes all five games in the series, such as the EGA version and VGA remake of QFG1.

Original concept

Originally, the series was planned to be a series of four games, each focusing on different themes: the four directions, the four elements, the four seasons, and four different mythologies.

The creators had this plan in mind:

However, when designing Shadows of Darkness, the developers thought it would be too hard for the hero to travel directly from Shapeir to Mordavia and defeat the Dark One. To fix this, a new game, Wages of War, was added to the series. This change caused the order of the games to shift. Evidence of this appears at the end of Trial by Fire, where players are told that the next game will be Shadows of Darkness, and a fanged vampiric moon is shown to hint at the new game’s theme.

The developers discussed this change in the Fall 1992 issue of Sierra’s InterAction magazine and in an online chat room:

Between finishing Trial by Fire and starting work on Shadows of Darkness, the creators realized a fifth game needed to be added to connect the two. That game became Wages of War.

The idea of seasons in the games shows the Hero’s growth as he moves through the stories. This is an important part of a series that was always meant to be four connected stories, forming a complete saga with a clear beginning, middle, and end.

In the first game, the player begins as a new graduate of the Famous Adventurer’s Correspondence School, ready to start their journey in the springtime of their career. This game is fun and exciting, and players can replay it three times with different ways to solve puzzles.

In the second game, Trial by Fire, the Hero enters the summer of their experience, facing harder challenges and using more advanced skills. While this game is more serious and dangerous than the first, it still includes fantasy, challenges, and humor that made the first game popular.

Lori and Corey, the creators, believed that adding Wages of War was necessary because the Hero had not grown enough to face the serious challenges in Transylvania.

Characters

In addition to the Hero, many characters return repeatedly in the series, including Rakeesh Sah Tarna, Baba Yaga, Abdullah Doo, Elsa von Spielburg, the evil Ad Avis, and other characters.

World

The fictional world of the Quest for Glory series includes several locations inspired by different mythologies. The town of Spielburg is based on German folklore and Norse mythology. The desert city of Shapeir is inspired by the Arabia described in One Thousand and One Nights. The jungle city of Tarna draws from African mythology, particularly Egyptian traditions. The village of Mordavia is based on Slavic mythology, and the city of Silmaria is inspired by Greek mythology. The adventures, monsters, and stories in the games usually come from the legends of the specific mythology each location is based on. However, there are some exceptions, such as the Eastern European character Baba Yaga, who appears in the first game despite being more closely linked to German and Nordic traditions.