Questing: A Tick's Tale

Questing: A Tick's Tale puts you in control of a tick trying to reach hosts by riding the wind. Grip a blade of grass, read the wind and release at the right moment: the bent blade launches you, and a live trajectory arc shows where you would land. Latch onto a host to drink, aiming for the sweet spot to score a Capillary Crit. Chain successful host landings to raise your score multiplier to 3×.

If you fall short, you can catch a nearby blade tip in mid-flight and continue perch by perch without touching the ground.

Four changing zones

The game has 52 hand-tuned levels across four zones, and a level picker lets you return to any level you have reached. Each zone changes the conditions and hazards:

• The Back Lawn: Gusty, unpredictable wind and a guinea fowl that crouches, telegraphs its move and leaps to snatch you from the air. Flying high keeps you safe.
• The Living Room: Potted houseplants and no weather; a ceiling fan creates a slow, predictable draft you can time to the beat. The fan is a hazard above you, so high is dangerous, and a house cat is watching.
• The Front Lawn: Faster gusts, two predators from the start, pop-up sprinklers that wash you out of the sky and a lawnmower that does not check for ticks.
• The Lab: After you are collected, an extractor follows a printed schedule, pinning every perch flat before releasing them for the game's hardest, highest launch. Read the clock instead of the wind, and watch for the pipette arm.

Choose your tick

You can play as four ticks, each with different traits:

• Ixodes: A balanced deer tick and the classic quester.
• Amber: A Lone Star tick whose power meter sweeps instead of filling. Hit the green sweet spot for a bonus-power launch that guarantees a crit; she can also steer in mid-air.
• Bruno: A heavy, powerful American dog tick with an iron grip that completely ignores the wind.
• Pip: A tiny, floaty nymph that rides every draft and scores 25% more.

Hosts and progression

Targets include mice, rabbits, the family dog, a crawling baby, deer and joggers you can only catch by the ankle. Feeding cleanly enough can earn you a fourth life: your host sheds a fat bead of blood onto a nearby perch, which you must reach before it dries.

The game also includes an original soundtrack and an in-game jukebox with loop, shuffle and repeat options. Newly unlocked tracks play first.