There is no universal ratio for main missions versus side quests. Follow the main story when it carries urgent context or a major revelation; take optional quests when they interest you, deepen a character or place, or make a natural change of pace. Check the specific game before assuming a dramatic-sounding quest has a deadline.
How to choose what to do next
When both the main mission and an optional quest look appealing, compare what each offers now. These are decision prompts, not an in-game scoring system:
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- Urgency: Does the game explicitly signal a deadline or immediate danger, or does the premise merely sound dramatic?
- Story connection: Does the quest relate to the current conflict, an important character, or a revelation you have just encountered?
- Your interest: Are you curious about this character, place, or activity, or are you choosing it only because its marker is nearby?
- Scope: Does it seem self-contained, or does it open a longer arc that may pull you away from the main plot?
- Route and pace: Is it convenient to do on the way, or would a short, different activity make a good break before the next story beat?
If the main mission introduces key context, changes the situation your character is responding to, or communicates clear immediate danger, continue it. If an optional quest connects to something you care about and suits your mood, take it. If neither applies, follow the story you are most eager to see unfold.
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Do the side quests that add something you want from the current chapter: a relationship, local context, a useful reward, or a distinct kind of play. You do not need to clear every marker before returning to the main mission. A nearby quest can fit naturally between story beats, but proximity is a convenience, not an obligation.
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Optional content can deepen the central experience, but its role varies by game. In a 2020 Ubisoft interview, Assassin’s Creed Valhalla narrative director Darby McDevitt described a design built around longer territory arcs and shorter World Events, creating a “push and pull” in pacing. His comparison with the shorter side quests in Origins and Odyssey illustrates how different games can structure optional stories; it is not a recommended ratio for players to follow.
Other games make different choices. In a 2017 Game Developer interview, Prey lead designer Ricardo Bare said Arkane deliberately gave players leeway over when to encounter story material. The developers described the main route as moving through areas while side quests connect locations and relationships. That freedom is a design choice, not a guarantee that every game lets you consume its story in any order.
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- Explore the grim and thrilling World of Legend with this 192-page full-color hardback RPG book for Warhammer: the Old World, ideal for players and collectors alike.
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Will you miss side quests if you continue the main story?
That depends on the game and the particular quest. The fact that a quest sounds urgent does not, by itself, establish that it expires. Look for explicit deadline language, urgent dialogue, changes to the quest’s status, or official guidance for that game. If missing the quest would matter to you and the game gives no clear answer, pause to check a reliable game-specific source rather than relying on a general rule.
Quest design can anticipate players leaving and returning, but that does not mean every quest behaves the same way. Horizon Zero Dawn lead quest designer David Ford said quests needed to respond to players walking away and coming back in a 2017 PlayStation.Blog interview. Treat that as insight into Horizon Zero Dawn’s design, not a promise about another game’s quest state or consequences.
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How to switch quests without losing your place
Before you leave a main mission for optional content, make a brief note outside the game or in whatever notes system you already use. Capture four things:
- Active objective: What were you trying to do?
- Pause point: Where did you stop, or what was the last major event?
- People involved: Which characters matter to the current situation?
- Why it matters: What is at stake, or what question is the story setting up?
This is a simple continuity aid, not a claim that every game saves quest state identically. When you return, read the objective and your note before accepting another task. If the optional activity has become repetitive, no longer interests you, or has made the central conflict hard to recall, resume the main mission.
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- In the outer worlds, you awake from hibernation on a colonist ship that was lost in transit to halcyon, the furthest colony from earth located at the edge of the galaxy, only to find yourself in the midst of a deep conspiracy threatening to destroy it. As you explore the furthest reaches of space and encounter various factions, all-vying for power, the character you decide to become will determine how this player-driven story unfolds. In the corporate equation for the colony, you are the unplanned variable
How much optional content is enough?
Choose one or a few side quests, then reassess. The aim is to get the character, setting, or gameplay experience you want without turning every map marker into a chore. A self-contained activity can provide a useful change of pace; an extended optional arc may be worth saving for a moment when you want to step away from the central plot for longer.
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- Welcome to the new world: taking on the role of a Hunter, players are tasked with going on a research expedition to a newly discovered continent known only as “new world”.
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For another illustration of how a game may frame optional activities, an Xbox Wire interview published January 22, 2026 described the then-upcoming Fable reboot as allowing players to leave the story for open-world activities without making those activities prerequisites for main-quest progress. That was a description of the stated design at the time, not verification of current release status or gameplay.
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