Courier’s Quest is an action-adventure video game set in a Norse-inspired world, made using Unreal Engine 4. It follows Tollo, a lowly kobold, as he goes on an adventure. Tollo uncovers an ancient prophecy that he must stop with his newfound magical powers.
Producer
As producer, I managed a fifteen-person team over the course of a year. This included creating a roadmap for the project’s development, managing tasks in the team Clickup, writing and maintaining the game’s documentation, planning out sprints, addressing issues of scope, allocating resources, and reviewing member input.
Gameplay Trailer
Lead Designer
As design lead for Courier’s Quest I gave feedback, guidance, and direction to the design team. More specifically, I worked to lead and develop the game’s mechanics & systems, writing, voice acting, and UX. I also designed the marketing materials, including creating the itch.io page, promotional images, and some screenshots.
Mechanics & Systems
Working with the other members of the design team, I worked to determine during pre-development the mechanics of the bosses, minor enemies, and player. This went through several iterations over the game’s development, as scope and abilities caused us to re-access what was feasible. This proved an enjoyable challenge and allowed me to develop and heighten my problem-solving skills.
Writing & Voice Acting
During pre-production, the Creative Director & I developed the broader narrative and story beats. Once we acquired more writers, I worked with them to flesh out the quest system. In addition to this, the writing team wrote over 20 lore documents to act as exploration rewards and teach the player more about the game’s world.
I also worked with the Creative Director and some of the writing team to reach out to voice actors for the project. I then worked with the team’s sound designer and writers to record voice lines for the quests.
UX & QA
I created a Discord server to conduct and observe playtesting sessions with outside participants. After promoting the server on several platforms, we were able to recruit more than 10 playtesters.
During playtest sessions, I and another member of the design team observed participants as they shared their screen. We noted observations and asked relevant questions at the end of each session.
Cinematic Trailer
Courier’s Quest Documentation
To learn more about the development and style of Courier’s Quest, download a copy of the Game Design Document or Art Style Guide. The Software Configuration Management Guide, readme, asset list, and team contract are also available for viewing.
Stephanie C Smith 