Nick Bowen

Quest, Seasons 1–3

Collapse, Glitch and Element: three seasons, a new world each year.

Role
Creative Director, writer, storyboard artist, voice director
Audience
Grades 3 to 5
Formats
Animated story, box sets, digital game
Episodes
Seven per season

The challenge

Hold a room of high-energy kids with an epic story that still suits a school.

The solution

From Season 2 on, every team got its own captain character on screen, in the team's colors, and each season changed the world and stakes completely.

The impact

Kids grew loyal to their teams and captains. The stories and worlds set Quest apart as a school product.

No AI usedCollapse, Glitch and Element were made before AI art tools were in common use.How I use AI

Collapse

Season 1The first season of Quest. A schizophrenic robot and a school hiding a mystery.
  1. 1

    The challenge

    Collapse had to break into the education space with a product schools had never seen before.

  2. 2

    The solution

    Instead of trying to make something good enough for schools, I made something kids would even want to play at home.

  3. 3

    The impact

    Collapse proved there was a place for this kind of product, and ProSolve's revenue more than doubled from 2021 to 2022.

Key art and packaging
Collapse season poster
Collapse slip box
Episode 1 box
Episode 4 box
Episode 7 box
Teacher box

I designed all the print materials and characters, wrote the storyline script and designed the game interface assets.

Cast
Alex, an explorer girl
Alex
Jay, a kid with goggles
Jay
Cubie, a drone host
Cubie
The Curator, a hooded cyborg
The Curator
EGO, an armored villain
EGO
Ditto, a white robot with a sash
Ditto
Hex, a robot dog
Hex
Episode and scene art
The kids step back from a crackling blue portal
A hooded figure in goggles holds a glowing cube
The radio tower destroyed
A sunny downtown street
SAM and the kids in a sunset lineup
A deep pine forest
Kids hiding from SAM
A red tent in a snowy valley
A ruined city in blue haze
A desert tribe camp with banners under red rocks
Kids in front of the vault
The physical game
The Collapse kit: boxes, cards, tokens and the digital game, spread out together

A small sample of the boards, cards, tokens and props in the box:

The World of Collapse
Collapse game map: a scorched rock field, a snowy ridge, the school town, a river and a pine forest

The map players explore in the digital game.

Glitch

Season 2
  1. 1

    The challenge

    Kids played in teams, but Season 1 used generic characters for all of them. I wanted the story to match the classroom.

  2. 2

    The solution

    I gave each team its own lead character in its team colors, so every kid had someone on screen.

  3. 3

    The impact

    Kids loved their team captains! That one change saw a huge increase in student engagement, and a lead character for every team became the backbone of every Quest product that followed.

Zack, shark teamLulu, tiger teamAnton, boar teamCleo, owl teamRen, spider teamMaya, elephant team
Key art and packaging

Players return to the simulated world from Season 1, only to find a glitch has made it unrecognizable.

Glitch season poster
Glitch slip box
Episode 1 box
Episode 2 box
Episode 4 box
Episode 6 box
Episode 7 box
Teacher box

I designed all the artwork, print materials and characters for Season 2.

Cast
Zack in a shark jacket
Zack
Anton with a boar shield
Anton
Maya
Maya
Lulu in a tiger jacket
Lulu
Ren in a spider jacket
Ren
Cleo in an owl jacket
Cleo
Marcus, in a dark uniform with blue panels
Marcus
Wesley, a programmer in a white lab coat holding a tablet
Wesley
Cody
Cody
John Pine
John Pine
Samantha Pine
Samantha Pine
Clover, a hooded bird
Clover
Scab, a toad brute with circuitry
Scab
Sweat, a lizard in a fur coat
Sweat
SAM, overgrown with moss, with a face on the visor
SAM
Ditto the Beast
Ditto the Beast

Character art by Nick Bowen and Ana García.

Episode and scene art
A red-haired girl with cables in her hair, in a red-lit lab
A dark control room with a large red screen
A robot's glowing red visor against a purple burst
A woman with white hair and glasses holds a jar in a lab
A bar with creatures at tables under a glowing sign
A lab corridor with windows and hanging lights
A neon-lined ruin with a glowing red doorway
A blue jungle under a lightning storm, with a small station in the distance
The physical game
The World of Glitch
Glitch game map: violet ruins, a neon jungle, a lightning field and a mushroom forest

The map of the world of Glitch, painted by me.

In motion
Flight of the Moonmoths, from GlitchA hero scene from Season 2.
GlumenBeat Sweat at Glumen to earn the prize.

Element

Season 3Season 3: seven episodes in a desert, with the most varied puzzles in the series.
  1. 1

    The challenge

    Element was going to be my biggest storytelling challenge yet: the most epic season of Quest so far.

  2. 2

    The solution

    I drew inspiration from some of the greatest entertainment kids have ever seen and rolled it all into one giant, epic story.

  3. 3

    The impact

    Element became the season teachers and kids loved most. In 2024, ProSolve reached its highest revenue ever.

Key art and packaging
Element season poster
Element slip box
Episode 1 box
Episode 2 box
Episode 4 box
Episode 6 box
Episode 7 box
Teacher box

A warm desert palette next to Glitch's neon, built on the same box architecture. Episodes: Sky, Bloom, Sides, Power, Monsters, Compromise, Heart.

Cast

The team captains

Maya in a purple suit with glasses
Maya
Jason in a blue shark suit
Jason
Naomi in green
Naomi
Ren in black with a spider emblem
Ren
Yash in black and gold
Yash
Cleo in red
Cleo

The desert kingdoms

Queen Elfree, a red-haired lizard queen
Queen Elfree
King Thorn of the Leaf Kingdom
King Thorn
King Soulkin in a dark robe and mask
King Soulkin
Queen Paltoa in pale blue robes
Queen Paltoa
Kofa, a blue lizard in gold armor
Kofa
Haron in red and gold
Haron
Maken with a net over his shoulder
Maken
Siren in red robes
Siren
Tiren in blue robes
Tiren
Blab, an old egg-headed elder with a staff
Blab
Egg, a small horned child
Egg

Character art by Nick Bowen and Ana García.

Episode and scene art
A stone giant towers over an army in the desert
A figure falls through flying rubble as the kids watch
The kids look out over red rock towers
The kids meet a glowing plant creature
A giant spider in a teal cave
Queen Elfree, red-haired, in a fur collar
A cloaked figure crosses a vast red desert canyon
A giant robot looms over a desert village as the townsfolk flee
A green-crowned king on a golden throne, flanked by leaf guards
The kids face a hall of banners and horned guards
The physical game
The World of Element
Isometric desert map: camps, rock towers and an oasis
Challenges
Season 3 challenge screen
Season 3 challenge screen
Season 3 challenge screen
In motion
Compromise, from ElementQueen Elfree and the kids strike a deal.
The Fuel LabMake fuel hot enough for the queen's dragon.
The Element trailer

Quest, Season 3: Element TrailerWritten, directed and edited by Nick Bowen. Animation by Nick Bowen and Heck Studios.

Animated by Nick Bowen and Heck Studios.