Ranger Buddies Quest
December 2021 - January 2023
Role: Game Designer and Writer
Platform: Binoculars and Outposts (proprietary)
Engine: Unity
Team Size: 60
Duration: 1 year
Release: November 2023
Access: Book your experience here.
Ranger Buddies Quest is a location-based ARG deployed across 50+ exhibit locations at Singapore Zoo, reaching hundreds of thousands of visitors through a mix of physical binocular devices and digital mission systems. Built in collaboration with Mandai Wildlife Group and a 60-person interdisciplinary team, it earned a Webby People's Voice and AdFest Bronze Lotus for Mobile Games.
As the primary game designer from concept through launch, I pitched and shaped the core experience, designing the mission-flow architecture, 30+ interconnected quests, a random-encounter system, and 10 original NPC characters with distinct voices and dialogue. I wrote the world's narrative foundation and ensured every educational beat felt like play rather than instruction.
Experience Overview
Ranger Buddies Quest deployed across 69 acres of the Singapore Zoo, blending proprietary binocular hardware with digital minigames and physical outpost interactions. The experience was designed around three pillars: learning through play, tech as a platform, and growth mindset. Each pillar shaped every game and mission in the system.
Players selected from 10 distinct missions, each anchored to a different animal and conservation theme. Every activity required traveling to a real location in the park, using the binoculars or outpost stations to complete challenges that ranged from navigation mazes to sensory exploration games.
Ranger Buddies Quest won 9 industry awards across gaming, design, and advertising, including a Webby People's Voice and AdFest Bronze Lotus for Mobile Games.
Roles and responsibilities
Game Design
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Conceived and pitched a first-of-its-kind location-based ARG to Mandai Wildlife Group stakeholders, establishing the creative foundation for a 60-person, multi-company production
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Designed 30+ minigames across binocular and outpost platforms, each built around a distinct animal learning objective and play mechanic
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Architected a cross-session progression system driving player retention and repeat park visits
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Led iterative playtesting cycles with 4-10 year old players, translating feedback into gameplay adjustments across multiple builds
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Maintained creative alignment across art, engineering, and design teams throughout a multi-year remote production
Narrative Design
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Built the game's world from scratch: 10 missions, 10 animal themes, overarching conservation narrative, and mission-level learning objectives
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Led writers room producing scripts, character dialogue, and dramatic beats for all 10 missions
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Wrote NPC characterizations, mission briefings, in-game menu text, and player-facing copy across the full experience
Design Core Pillars
Pillars that guided our decisions about the user experience and the games within it.
Learning through play
Whenever possible, our players should achieve their learning goals through playing a game or interacting with an activity engaging their senses, rather than reading text or watching a video.
Tech as a platform
We use digital technology as a tool to evoke curiosity about the physical world, and the digital games in our activities are focused on emphasizing the wonder of animals.
Growth mindset
We encourage growth through trial-and-error and experimentation, never punishing players for giving a 'wrong' answer.
Binoculars Activity Example
Being the first tutorial activity, we chose to use a maze mini-game to teach players how to use the D-pad and a navigation task to encourage the use of their binoculars.
We then challenge players to make use of their sense of touch and smell, making the binoculars rumble when they've reached the location and prompting them to wonder where an otter's scent comes from.
We encouraged players to be curious about their surroundings and the use of their binoculars by placing hidden symbols around the park, which rewarded the player should they spot them.
Outpost Activities Examples
With Outpost activities, we could develop more dynamic games on a larger touch-screen. This game taught players how to use the drag-and-drop gesture and encouraged creative problem-solving.
Encouraging experimentation and a growth mindset as our principles, we designed games that had no fail states and promoted self-expression.
Our games also challenged players to move outside their comfort zones and make connections between themselves and the animals they were learning about
Reflection takeaways
Ranger Buddies Quest was my first project working on a large team with different companies, and it taught me invaluable lessons on game development and communication. Here are a few of them summarized:
Define a Clear Creative Northstar: It's crucial to establish a creative northstar by collectively defining a problem statement. This ensures alignment within the team, prevents feature creep, and maintains a consistent focus throughout development.
Sprint Towards a Minimal Viable Product: Shorter development sprints toward a working prototype, whether digital or paper, are essential. Early testing helps uncover unforeseen issues, allowing for timely adjustments and avoiding resource constraints during later comprehensive tests.
Understand Your Audience: Deep research on the player demographic, especially for 4-10-year-olds, is vital. Consider preferences, such as interaction patterns and creative engagement, as we observed that younger players respond more to visuals and sound than text-based instructions.
Beware of Content Bloat: More content doesn't always mean a better game. Managing the pace of content delivery and incorporating repetition, especially in educational games, helps prevent player fatigue and enhances learning absorption.
Use Existing Data for Resolving Differences: When facing creative differences with clients, presenting existing data on similar matters can be persuasive. This approach proved effective in advocating for inclusivity, such as offering more gender identity options in the game.
Utilize Narrative Design to Break Silos: Working remotely can lead to silos and misalignment. Regular meetings, updating team leads, and aligning with the overall narrative direction help maintain cohesion, foster collaboration, and prevent creative decisions from going astray. Seeking input from team members enhances understanding and commitment to the game's goals.
