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TallinnQuest is a geolocation-based mobile RPG that turns the city of Tallinn into a playable story.
Players explore the city through quests, puzzles, and characters from Estonian folklore.
The goal was to encourage tourists to stay longer and discover parts of Tallinn beyond the Old Town.
Year: 2022
Type: Digital Product Design course, EKA
Team: Anette Jaaniso, Anna-Riika Jatsa
Mentors: Carol Tikerperi, Rene Rebane
Partner: Visit Tallinn
THE CHALLENGE
Our brief from Visit Tallinn: How might we encourage tourists to stay longer in Tallinn and explore more of the city?
We approached this through our own travel experience. During a study trip to Helsinki, we were given lots of free time but little guidance. Instead of discovering the city, we ended up playing games in a café. That sparked a thought:
what if the game itself guided us through the city?
MY ROLE
Game design and narrative design
Prototyping and testing (paper, Figma)
UX flows and wireframing (Figma)
Presentation and pitching (EKA Design Showcase)
Project management and documentation
RESEARCH & FIELDWORK
Tourism research showed that many visitors stay only 1–3 days and rarely venture beyond the Old Town.
To better understand the visitor experience we:
analyzed existing location-based games
mapped tourist behavior through journey mapping
scouted potential quest locations across Tallinn
This helped us identify moments where playful guidance could support exploration.
COMPETITORS ANALYSIS
Strengths to adopt:
clear onboarding,
rewarding progression,
AR for exploration,
humor and roleplay,
short quests with visible impact.
Weaknesses to avoid:
buggy experiences,
poor communication,
overwhelming content,
confusing or cluttered UIs,
battery-heavy solutions.
USER JOURNEY MAPPING
LOCATION SCOUTING
Mapped quest sites across Tallinn.
KEY INSIGHT
Tourists dislike leaving quests unfinished.
This insight shaped the core design loop. Once players begin a quest, the system encourages them to continue exploring until it is completed.
THE GAME
TallinnQuest is a geolocation RPG that turns Tallinn into a playable story.
Players step into the role of a Rehepapp-like character from Estonian folklore who slips into modern Tallinn. Early in the game, in Kadriorg, they build a kratt — a creature made of scraps and brought to life. From then on, the kratt is both helper and risk:
Send it on tasks → it brings back items, coupons, and new quests.
Neglect it → its danger level rises and it starts damaging your items (which function as resources).
Items themselves are needed to progress and make bargains.
CORE LOOP
Rehepapp (Farmhand trickster)
In folklore, the rehepapp was a clever and mischievous farmhand, often poor but resourceful, who used wit and trickery to outsmart wealthier landowners and even supernatural beings. He embodies survival through cunning.
Kratt (Mythical treasure-bearer)
A creature built from scraps and junk — brooms, bones, rags — and brought to life when its maker bargains their soul to the devil. The kratt is tireless, but dangerous if left idle, as it can turn destructive. It reflects both greed and the risks of ambition.
Vanapagan (The devil)
A devil figure from Estonian mythology, often portrayed as strong but foolish, easily deceived by humans. He is less about pure evil and more about clumsy authority, making him a frequent target of tricksters in tales.
THE PROTOTYPE
DEVELOPMENT
Peek behind the scenes of our design process.
Collaboration was one of the project’s strengths — we split roles naturally, kept motivation high, and built a prototype that captured both the playfulness of AR and the depth of folklore.
DESIGN SHOWCASE
This project became one of our strongest presentations and was featured in the EKA Design Showcase — a recognition of both its ambition and its cultural depth.
REFLECTION
TallinnQuest became an important project in my design journey.
It was the first time I explored Estonian mythology as a foundation for game mechanics, something that later influenced my work on other projects.
The project also strengthened my skills in:
prototyping
research-driven design
connecting gameplay mechanics with real-world behavior.
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