Anna's Quest

About Anna's Quest

Anna's Quest is a point-and-click adventure game developed by Daedalic Entertainment, released July 2 2015. It blends puzzle-solving with a darkly comedic narrative set in a twisted version of European folklore. You play as Anna, a young girl with telekinesis who escapes a witch's lab and teams up with a boy trapped in a teddy bear to save her grandfather. The game features hand-drawn visuals, quirky dialogue, and a mix of fairy-tale horrors. Played across PC, consoles, and Linux/Mac, it’s a single-player story-driven experience. The tone balances grim settings with absurd humor, like using torture devices creatively. It’s not your average fairy tale, it’s a self-aware romp through witches, ghosts, and cursed taverns.

Gameplay

Anna's Quest revolves around exploring hand-crafted environments, interacting with objects via telekinesis, and solving puzzles through trial and error. You click to navigate, manipulate items, and engage with characters, often requiring you to combine objects or use powers in unexpected ways (e.g., tossing a frying pan at a troll). The game emphasizes observation, details like a ghost’s whisper or a broken trapdoor often trigger story beats. Puzzles range from straightforward (finding hidden items) to obtuse (timing actions with environmental cues). Combat is rare but relies on slapstick tactics, like shutting off a tavern’s beer supply. The 15, 20 hour campaign leans on branching dialogue choices, which can lead to wildly different outcomes. Controls are simple but occasionally clunky, and the UI occasionally hides critical actions.

What Players Think

The PlayPile community rates Anna's Quest 82/100, with 68% completion and an average playtime of 18 hours. 28.2% of players unlock achievements, including the elusive "Posterboy!" at 7.7%. Moods are split: 45% call it "atmospheric," 30% "oddly charming," and 20% "frustratingly obtuse." Critics praise the art style but note inconsistent pacing. One user wrote, "The jokes land better than the puzzles," while another called it "a love letter to absurdity." Despite a #89 Twitch rank, it’s niche. Steam reviews highlight the teddy bear companion’s humor but gripe about "dead-end inventory items." The game’s 39 achievements skew toward collectibles (56% unlocked) rather than story milestones.

PlayPile's Take

Anna's Quest is worth playing if you enjoy narrative-driven point-and-clicks with a dark sense of humor. Priced at $25, it offers moderate value but stumbles with tedious puzzle design and occasional bloat. The telekinesis mechanic adds flair, but the 18-hour runtime feels padded. Fans of Daedalic’s The Exorcist: Legacy might appreciate the tone, though this game lacks that title’s polish. The 7.7% achievement makes it a completionist challenge. Skip if you hate obtuse puzzles or prefer linear stories. It’s a flawed but memorable romp, ideal for rainy afternoons when you want something bizarre and unapologetically weird.

Storyline

In a land far, far away lives a brave young girl called Anna. She lives a peaceful life in the forest with her grandfather, until a mysterious illness befalls him. And so Anna ventures forth to find a cure for him, but this world is a much more dangerous and bizarre place than she'd thought: putting her journey to a sudden end, the witch Winfriede kidnaps Anna to use her for an experiment. Winfriede's experiment is a success – Anna develops telekinetic powers, but this is also where the witch’s schemes are foiled: with the help of Ben, a boy who has been turned into a teddy bear, and new powers she can barely control, Anna manages to escape from her cell. Together with Ben and her new impressive ability Anna is off for an adventure in the haunting world of Grimm's fairy-tales and European folklore. Witches, ghosts, trolls and cursed princesses: no matter if you have to save them or outsmart them – they all play their part in Anna's quest to find a cure for her grandfather. And since there's no rest for the wicked, Winfriede breathes down Anna's neck, eager to reclaim her successful experiment at any cost.