Shadow Quest Interactive Game Opens at Great Wolf Lodge Williamsburg

Well-known for its indoor waterpark, Great Wolf Lodge also offers a variety of other attractions and amenities to keep guests busy and entertained during dry time – an arcade, a kids’ spa, bowling alley, on-site restaurant, Dunkin’ Donuts, wilderness walks, mini golf, story time, seasonal celebrations and dance parties to name just a few.

One of the most popular alternate attractions is the interactive game of Magi Quest. Guests muse use wands to complete quests and solve clues in a magical journey. This game takes guests on a magical journey across multiple floors of the resort. Consider it a good way to wear out the kids … and the parents.

Over the weekend, a brand new interactive game called Shadow Quest opened at several Great Wolf Lodge resorts, including the Williamsburg, Virginia location. My family adores Great Wolf Lodge so we jumped at the chance to try out the new game and spend a few hours slipping and sliding around the waterpark. We also checked out the arcade and munched our way through a delicious pizza from Great Wolf Lodge’s Hungry Like a Wolf pizza and pasta shop.

The goal in Shadow Quest is to save the light before it vanishes. After purchasing a wand, you will be given a Shadow Quest Guide Book that has all of the rhyming clues and descriptions you need to find the light and complete your journey. Take heed and read carefully.

Here is a sample clue … “To save the light, this rune is a must / From the Whispering Woods collect the Stardust. / Red, Yellow, Green, Blue and White is what you must find / Both order and speed are important, so keep this in mind.”

The choosing of the wand is perhaps the most fun aspect for the young Magis.

With the help of Lumina and Ivan, guests (or Magi) must explore enchanted worlds, collect runes and crystals, conquer magical quests and battle creatures from the dark world to save the light. As each goal is completed, the quests get harder. Towards the end, there are also time restrictions. I saw several Magis practically flying around the resort to complete the quests in time. If all of the goals are accomplished, you will receive the Medal of Light for completing the adventure.

Shadow Quest Characters:

• Lumina – Leader of the Light Pixies, Lumina portrays a brave face and will do anything she can to protect her friends.
• Ivan – A famous runemaster yeti, Ivan is kind and trustworthy, and a crafty world traveler who is heartened by the Magi’s appearances. He can give the Magi a winning edge in a challenge.
• Malaki – An egotistical yeti, Malaki was a student of Ivan. He was forced to flee through a portal to the darkness by Ivan and the Kingbreakers after an epic dual. The Magi must win the battle against the bombastic Malaki to save the light.

We had a lot of fun, though it would have been helpful (for our interactive-deficient brains anyway) to have a tutorial that gives a bit of an explanation on some of the finer points of the game. I understand that there will eventually be a tutorial, as there is for the MagiQuest game.

Here are a few hints and tips to make your Shadow Quest play time a bit easier:

• The quests must be completed in order – don’t try to “grab a few ahead” just because you happen to be on that floor. It won’t work. You will be told by the interactive screen “A Magi must complete the tasks in order.” We were told that many a time before finally taking heed.
• The clues and quests are located down the hallways on the second, third and fourth floors of the resort. Each hallway has a name such as Whispering Woods, Forgotten Hall and Tangled Woods. Write down which floor is where to save yourself a few extra footsteps.
• You can start and stop at any time. If you get tired, just take off and float around the lazy river for a while. The game will stay right where you left off.

As a parent, I do recommend Shadow Quest for older kids, or as the next step up after mastering Magi Quest and Compass Quest (Compass Quest is simply additional quests added on to Magi Quest). My nine-year-old got a little frustrated at the difficulty of the clues. You really have to read into it and figure it out. It takes kind of a “mathematical mind,” as my spouse put it. I noticed several teen-aged Magi effortlessly walking around and flicking their wands with correct results.

Shadow Quest is an exciting take on the interactive game realm, and we enjoyed the chance to check it out. Thank you Great Wolf Lodge Williamburg! We will be back to complete our mission.

As an added bonus, we just happened to be at the Lodge during its Howl-O-Ween celebration. On select nights throughout October, Great Wolf Lodge has all kinds of fun and tame spooky fun for the little ones, including trick-or-treating around the resort and costume parades. The giant balloon vampire spider hanging from the Grand Lobby ceiling is one of my favorite spooky scenes.

The whole lodge gets into the spirit.

Visit the official ShadowQuest website by clicking here. Shadow Quest is now at, or will soon be at, the following Great Wolf Lodge Resort locations: Grapevine, Texas; Wisconsin Dells, Wisconsin; Pocono Mountains, Pennsylvania; Charlotte/Concord, North Carolina; Cincinnati/Mason, Ohio; and Grand Mound, Washington.

Reserve your own room for a howling good time at GreatWolf.com.

Disclosure: The author received some complimentary amenities as part of Great Wolf Lodge’s Shadow Quest opening weekend. All opinions expressed herein are solely those of the author.