November is a huge month for video games. Nintendo dropped its remake of The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time for the Switch 2 last week, and the long-awaited Grand Theft Auto VI is right around the corner. But the game we’ve been waiting for most of all also launched this month: WendyQuest, the free RPG from Wendy’s. (No, this is not a joke.)
Despite the absurdity of a hamburger chain making a full video game (complete with Wendy’s-themed puns), the thing is, this game is pretty solid—even if it is a promotion at the end of the day. WendyQuest‘s main purpose is to offer customers coupons they can use toward purchases in real life, though it’s a bit of a commitment. It took me just under an hour of gameplay before I earned my first coupon, and Wendy’s says it takes roughly 15 hours to beat. All that to say, this is a pretty unique marketing campaign.
“WendyQuest” might be a promotion, but it’s pretty good
I was surprised booting up WendyQuest on my iPhone. This doesn’t necessarily feel like a thrown-together product. On the flip side, the production quality is quite high. The music is solid and very much traditionally RPG; there are even three save slots, in case you plan to return to this RPG again and again.
There’s even a story, albeit cheesy (no pun intended): As the game explains, the “Four Great Spirits of Flavor” created Savoria, “a food-rich paradise.” All was well until Mech Corp, led by the evil Dr. MechBorg, built robots to take over Savoria. The plot is far from compelling, and the writing can be a little over the top, but hey, I’ll give them credit: They thought through a full story here.
You play as Wendy, the “representation of true culinary excellence and taste as dictated by the four ancient spirits of flavor.” Wendy (or The Wendy, as some call her) is tasked with saving the world, traveling between villages and picking up new characters along the way. The game world even has “real” Wendy’s locations you can visit. These act like inns and shops in other RPGs, giving you a chance to heal while also buying equipment.
Like other RPGs, WendyQuest uses turn-based combat. You have to charge up your attacks, but stop before they hit 100%, or you’ll miss. (It took me a while to master the timing.) I’m pretty impressed with how challenging some of these battles can be, though you are quickly given the option of an amulet that gives you a huge leg-up in combat. You don’t have to take it, but it makes fights easier if you’re only in it for the coupons. That, combined with the spatulas the game encourages you to buy, lets you mow down enemies. You can also utilize your companions here: “Frygor,” for example, can either attack enemies with a barrage of fries, or use those fries to build a shield to protect you.
“WendyQuest” is really about the coupons
While there are tons of enemies to fight, the key baddies are the “mechs.” There are five in total, and after you defeat each, you get a coupon. Spoiler alert: The first mech drops the “Fry Stone,” which nets you a coupon for a free order of medium fries—though you need to buy something in tandem, as well as use the Wendy’s app. While I stopped my gaming here for this article, the other four coupons are:
-
Free small Classic Frosty
-
Free 10-piece chicken nuggets
-
Free biscuit or croissant (I didn’t even know Wendy’s sold biscuits and croissants)
-
Free Dave’s Single
Again, it’s wild that WendyQuest has a 10+ hour campaign, with over 1,000 lines of dialogue to boot. I’m not sure this is a game I’m going to see through to the end, but I’ll admit, it’s a fun marketing approach from Wendy’s. Sure, they could have run a promotion in the Wendy’s app to give people coupons, but instead, they built an entire RPG. I respect it. You can download the game for iOS, Android, or Steam.
