2023.06.12 /

AWS Cloud Quest: Playthrough Gameplay

We have alread seen what Cloud Quest is with the previous article. Then we have tried the game for you and reported in this article how it looks, how it feels, and what it is really about!

So let’s talk about the artistic design, the flow, all without any spoil!

But first of all, there are some hardware requirements for you to play Cloud Quest:

As you can see, you can unfortunately not play on you smartphone browser (we have not tried, but you can still give it a try), so please get ready with a computer!

The game looks…

Honestly… how to say it… gamers who give importance to frame rates and picture resolution might nevr give a chance to this game: it has a pretty cheap look with poorly designed levels, I personally might never think “YEAH! LET’S DO THIS”, with the same excitement I’d feel playing the new Legend of Zelda, BUT keep in mind that this is only MY point of view and you might think differently.

Even the characters are floating…

If I tried to compare, it would be like a failed version of VRChat without rendering: a 3D game where all the polygons are still visible.

Personally, I would have been happy if they put more effort on the design, but for this game, contents are more important than the look so let’s say it passes the test!

“Don’t judge a book by its cover”.

Game flow

First of all, you need to sign up to AWS Cloud Quest. If you already have a Skill Builder account, you should be able to play without any trouble.

When the game starts, you will get a request from the Cloudies, the people who live in Cloud City, to retrieve the Cloud Gems that have been stolen, and you will get more explanation about your main quest:

You are an adventurer who has been teleported to a virtual world named Cloud City. It was a thriving city powered by the strength of the cloud. One day, Cloud City was suddenly engulfed by mysterious electromagnetic waves, resulting in the theft of the “Cloud Gems” that held the power of the cloud. To escape that desperate faith, the Cloudies are asking for your help.

In order to take back the Cloud Gems, you will have to:

Clear quizzes and assignments: These are assignment about AWS services. if you get the correct answers, the energy of Cloud City will be back and you will be able to go the next area.
Help the Cloudies: In the game, you will collaborate with the Cloudies you encounter and work together to solve their challenges. By addressing their requests and solving problems, you will contribute to the restoration of Cloud City.
Get high scores and get rewards: By providing accurate and swift responses while solving problems, you can earn points and achievements, which in turn contribute to your high score. Achieving a top position in the in-game rankings can unlock benefits and rewards for you to enjoy.

Character setting

As an adventurer, of course you will need an avatar, won’t you?

In Cloud Quest, you can somehow customize a character.

Unlike some sophisticated fantasy MMO, the customization are pretty simple:

You can only choose to be human
Parameters you can modify are:
- gender, skin color, height, the size of the head, body constitution, bodyshape
- face parts: hair cut, facial hair, eyes position and color
- clothing: top, bottom, shoes, hat, accessories
- others: you can buy from the boutique (you have to use the Cloud Gems you got from your missions so you don’t have to pay with real money)

Now that you got your chatracter ready, it is time to face your very first quest!

Quests

When you go further in this game, you will have to listen to what the Cloudies are looking for (quests) and solve their problems.

These quests are basically some real-life-like problems any compagny might encounter (like “our website is down” or “we need a new system in the company”). By solving those problems, you will gain experience, knowledge about AWS, and the city will also grow.

Quest flow

To accept a quest, you have to look around the town for any NPC with a big “!” on his head, or you can just look through your phone and locate the quest.

Once you found the requester, you will have to listne to his problem in detail and suggest a solution.

Then you will have to execute the solution that has been proposed, that also is the main part of the quest!

To fullfil the requests you will need to use real AWS services and come up with a solution.

“But how can I do that?! I have never put a hand in AWS before now!!”

No need to worry! You will get guidance and start from nothing, you will get the chance to learn everything from zero.

To clear the mission, there are the following 4 steps:

Learn

As the name suggested, in this step, you will have to learn everything about the AWS service you are going to use.

You don’t only learn with simple words, you will be provided with video so it is quite easy to understand.

Plan

In simple words, that’s the architecture of what you are going to do, a general plan of your work ahead.

You can use this step as a mark for you to where you are going (there’s nothing special to do anyway).

Practice

Working step by step with the AWS console, you will begin to make a part of the solution.

In this step, you will use a virtual account the game in which you get access to the AWS console, so your real account will not be affected by what you are doing here.

In the “concept” section, they will teach you what is what, and how it generally works.

Do it yourself (DIY)

In this step, you will apply what you have learnt in during the practice step and make the real solution part.

What you really have to do is written in the left part of your window, so all you have to do is to set your evironment according to whatever they are asking and voilà!

When you are done, just go back to the NPC who gave you the quest and report your work!

The town

Oh right, I didn’t say anything about the town and what you can actually do with it, did I?

The town is where the NPC, pets and drones are gathered, with some buildings as decoration.

With your CLoud Gems, you can actually build new houses or customize existing buildings!

There also are some decorative NPC who do not hold any quests. If you try to talk to them, they will give you a random piece of advice!

There alre also drones and pets floating around!

When you try to talk to a pet, there normally should be an AWS quiz, but sometimes, there are some useless animals such as this chihuahua.

Pets

I was always talking about pets for a while, but why are there pets in this game?!

Just as their name suggests it, they are… pets.

They don’t seem to have any special function once you get them, appart from the fact you can… walk with them.

To get a pet, you will need to find them and trigger a quiz.

If you get the right answer, their level of affection will grow until they definitely become yours!

Depending on the animal you are aiming, there are some that require multiple quizzes to get. You can see the available pets list from you progress menu and check how many quizzes are needed to get the animal of your dreams! (But firts, the real challenge is to find them on the map lol)

Drones

And what about the drones??

To put it simple, they are foes.

They seem to be the mechanical entities that took Cloud City over.

When you walk through the city and shoot drones, you will trigger an AWS quiz.

On the bottom left of your screen, you have can see how many drones you captured, and how accurate you are.

There are 3 kinds of drones: the blue ones trigger quizzes, orange ones have challenges:

And lastly, these strong-looking ones which just look as bosses!

They are hostile but are as weak as the blue drones.

Campaign

By the way, it seems like there is actually a campaign until June 30th 2023: if you complete the 12 assignments, you can get a 25% discount on your exam voucher!