How Quests Work
Turn every task into a quest worth completing.
What Are Quests?
In MainQuest, a quest is any task you want to accomplish. Instead of a plain checkbox, quests have difficulty levels, optional objectives, deadlines, and real consequences.
Completing quests earns you XP (experience points) that level up your character. Abandoning or failing quests costs you HP (health points). This creates real stakes for your productivity.
Difficulty Levels
Every quest has a difficulty level that determines how much XP you earn on completion. Choose honestly — the system works best when difficulty matches actual effort.
Objectives (Subtasks)
Large quests can be broken down into objectives — subtasks that you check off as you progress. Each checked objective updates the quest's progress bar, giving you a sense of momentum even before the quest is fully complete.
Objectives are optional. Simple quests like "Go for a run" do not need them, but a Legendary quest like "Launch my side project" benefits from having clear steps.
Deadlines & Consequences
You can set a deadline on any quest. This is optional but adds accountability. When a deadline passes without completion, your character takes HP damage.
Abandon Penalty
If you abandon a quest, you lose 10 HP. If your HP drops to zero, your character dies and all gameplay is blocked until you are revived. See the HP, XP & Death guide for details.
Note: The abandon HP penalty is currently mobile-only. The web app does not apply HP damage when quests are abandoned.
Skill Linking
When creating a quest, you can link it to a skill. This means time and focus spent on the quest contributes to that skill's hour log. It is a great way to track how you invest your time across different areas of growth.
Learn more about skills in the Skills guide.
XP Rewards & Daily Cap
XP earned from quests is determined by the quest's difficulty level. On the mobile app, additional modifiers apply:
- Quality rating: After completing a quest, you can rate the quality of your work. Higher quality increases the XP reward.
- Age-based bonus: Quests that have been open longer receive a 1.0–2.0x multiplier (mobile only).
- Clarity Buff: A 1.2x XP multiplier active for 4 hours after writing a Dawn Scroll (mobile only).
- Fatigue penalty: When your character is ≥90% exhausted, XP is halved to 0.5x (mobile only).
Daily XP Cap
You can earn a maximum of 100 XP per day. The day resets at 3 AM, not midnight. This accommodates late-night players and early-morning routines.
Completing a Quest
When you finish a quest, mark it as complete to claim your rewards. The flow is:
- Tap the quest to open it
- Mark it as complete
- Rate the quality of your work (optional)
- Receive your XP reward (adjusted by modifiers and daily cap)
- Check if you leveled up — leveling up fully restores your HP to 100