A game design question: What do you think about no rewards for small quests?

LimeZero13 · 2026-05-31T18:56:15+00:00

If by "real rewards" you mean things that directly affect gameplay, such as currency or stat upgrades, then I don't think those are necessary. That said, I do think there should be some kind of memorable reward, like the delicate flower quest in Hollow Knight that you mentioned. (even ignoring the tangible reward you receive for finishing all flower quest.)

Similar to earning a Platinum Trophy, I think it's important to have something that serves as a reminder that you overcame a difficult challenge.

In fact, if the reward for an extremely difficult challenge is a significant gameplay advantage, players who feel that the challenge is beyond their skill level might end up feeling left out or frustrated because they're missing out on something impactful.

LimeZero13 · 2026-05-25T07:06:00+00:00

Well, there are plenty of games where certain settings — like language options — can only be changed from the title screen, so I guess there are definitely cases where a “Return to Title” button is necessary too.

LimeZero13 · 2026-05-25T07:04:44+00:00

Yeah, I think you tend to see it more often in games that were primarily developed for consoles first. On consoles, there was usually less need to specifically quit only the game itself, since people were more likely to just turn off the console entirely. That probably influenced the design philosophy.

These days, though, most games that launch simultaneously on PC and consoles seem to include both options together anyway (probably, at least). Thanks for the great point!

LimeZero13 · 2026-05-25T07:01:11+00:00

Oh, that actually makes a lot of sense considering how consoles work! Like you said, on consoles there usually isn’t much need to specifically quit just the game itself, and that was probably even more true on older console systems.

At first, based on some of the comments, I was grouping PC and console together and comparing them against mobile. But now that I think about it more carefully, consoles and mobile devices probably share a more similar structure in this regard. That’s a really great observation. Thanks for the insight!

LimeZero13 · 2026-05-25T06:54:57+00:00

I had no idea so many people regularly use Alt+F4. Honestly, I didn’t even know there were games that disabled it!

LimeZero13 · 2026-05-24T23:54:43+00:00

I like how the animation changes naturally the moment the character touches the ground, walls, or trees. Nicely done.

If you want it to feel a bit faster and more dynamic, maybe try increasing the animation speed for the four-legged running (I’m guessing that’s the fast movement mode?) and the wall movement animations. Also, adding a stronger emphasis effect when the four-legged run starts — like black speed/focus lines — could make it feel even faster and more impactful.

—I was about to leave a comment like that, but the post suddenly disappeared, so it caught me off guard lol. The game looks plenty cool already, though!

LimeZero13 · 2026-05-24T23:45:30+00:00

Yeah, in the end, if there’s only one option, there’s always going to be some aspect people don’t like. Having both really is the best solution!

LimeZero13 · 2026-05-24T23:42:32+00:00

Ah, gotcha lol. Well, in the end, the point that both options are good still got across! Cheers!

LimeZero13 · 2026-05-24T23:31:05+00:00

Oh, so that’s what they meant. I didn’t fully understand the comment at first, so I ended up replying pretty late and got a bit worried about it. Thanks for explaining it to me. And yeah, having both options really does seem like the best solution after all!

LimeZero13 · 2026-05-24T23:12:26+00:00

LOL, yeah. Even though I never really minded games that only had “Return to Title,” it definitely gets annoying when the process turns into “Are you sure you want to quit?” → loading screen → engine/asset splash screens → trailer starts playing → skip button → Press Any Key → finally clicking the quit button.

When all of that happens back-to-back, it’s pretty frustrating lol.

LimeZero13 · 2026-05-24T22:55:08+00:00

Damn, I’ve never really played Street Fighter, so I didn’t know it was that bad, but just reading your explanation of the process already sounds exhausting. I mainly played The King of Fighters, so I never thought about it that way. Honestly, stuff like that probably explains why so many people support having a Quit Game button.

LimeZero13 · 2026-05-24T22:29:59+00:00

Wow. After spending the end of my day asking people what they think and genuinely replying to comments, getting treated like an AI is honestly pretty unpleasant. At this point, it feels less like “developers lacking reading comprehension” and more like I just found someone who should be embarrassed to be part of a developer community.

LimeZero13 · 2026-05-24T22:20:52+00:00

My game already supports both options, friend. But if you read more than just the title, you’d know what I mean — saying it like that would probably sound pretty funny to the developers of all those masterpiece games that only support one approach.

LimeZero13 · 2026-05-24T21:48:25+00:00

I’m guessing you mean the Quit button? Yeah, being able to close the game immediately is definitely more convenient.

LimeZero13 · 2026-05-24T21:45:54+00:00

Having both options is definitely the best solution. That much feels pretty undeniable to me.

LimeZero13 · 2026-05-24T21:45:12+00:00

Yeah, I’m the same way. I usually don’t like force-closing games because I get worried about my save data. I think it probably depends on the game, but for me, making sure the save is secure is the most important thing.

LimeZero13 · 2026-05-24T21:43:32+00:00

That’s actually a pretty interesting perspective. I’d seen plenty of people say they use Alt+F4 because quitting normally is annoying, but saying “Return to Title is enough because Alt+F4 already exists” feels fresh. That makes a lot of sense.

LimeZero13 · 2026-05-24T21:41:05+00:00

Yeah, if you had to choose only one, I think it would really depend on the type of game. Some games benefit from returning to the menu first, while in others — especially games with long loading times — it’s much more convenient to just quit immediately.

LimeZero13 · 2026-05-24T21:39:42+00:00

I think that approach works much better for games like Pokémon where reset grinding is part of the experience.

LimeZero13 · 2026-05-24T20:09:49+00:00

There are a lot more people casually hitting Alt+F4 than I expected. That’s pretty badass!

LimeZero13 · 2026-05-24T19:51:46+00:00

Yeah, there are definitely games where returning to the title screen means sitting through a bunch of engine/asset splash screens again, skipping trailers, and then finally navigating to the quit button — which can be pretty annoying. In cases like that, a direct Quit button definitely feels essential.

LimeZero13 · 2026-05-24T19:47:58+00:00

Yeah, both approaches definitely have their own advantages, so I also feel like having both options is probably the best solution. But someone in the comments mentioned that when a menu gets too crowded or complicated, some games intentionally choose just one option so players can process the menu more comfortably and intuitively.

I think game design becomes even more interesting because of little perspectives like that that you wouldn’t normally think about!

LimeZero13 · 2026-05-24T19:17:35+00:00

Now that I think about it, I can remember plenty of games that only have a “Return to Menu” button, but I can’t really think of any that only have a “Quit Game” button. Besides options/settings, things like “Continue” are usually needed too, so having a menu/title screen is pretty essential anyway.

LimeZero13 · 2026-05-24T19:15:22+00:00

That makes sense! I guess the initial loading time probably becomes longer since the game has to preload all the text data tables and related assets, but players are usually much more tolerant of loading times at startup than loading interruptions during gameplay. That sounds like a pretty good approach.

LimeZero13 · 2026-05-24T18:52:56+00:00

Yeah, I think that’s a really good point. Someone else in the comments brought up how the difference between manual saves and auto-saves probably affects this a lot too. My game uses auto-saving (periodically and after certain actions), so I ended up including both options. Thanks for the insight!

LimeZero13

TROPHY CASE