The Witcher 3 is celebrated for its masterfully integrated stories, where main quests and side quests are interwoven strands of the game`s narrative DNA. To mark the RPG`s tenth anniversary, we explored the development of “A Towerful of Mice,” one of its most compelling side stories, by talking to the writers, directors, and quest designers involved.
According to CD Projekt Red`s quest designers, the core pillars of a strong Witcher 3 quest are pacing, character development, historical context, and engaging gameplay. After receiving a high-level concept from the directors, designers focus on creating intriguing ways for Geralt to navigate the story, adding their own creative elements and developing unique subplots within the established world.
Senior quest designer Joanna Radomska noted that the level of initial direction varies. For instance, with “Ladies of the Wood,” the directive was for Geralt to find Ciri through interaction with witches. However, side characters like Johnny and the malevolent spirit in the tree were contributions from the quest design team. Dialogues and scene details are then crafted by the writers.
“A Towerful of Mice,” originally planned for the main narrative before being moved to a side quest to streamline the plot, tasked the team with designing a mission centered around a cursed tower. This quest also needed to clear the island for a subsequent mission, “Forefathers` Eve,” and provide additional screen time for the sorceress Keira Metz.
While Keira claims she intends to lift a curse on the island, her true objective is to find a biological weapon created by a mage scientist, which she hopes to use for leverage against witch hunters. Upon reaching the island, Geralt finds it overrun with monsters and dominated by a large tower. The tower itself echoes the real-world Mouse Tower in Kruszwica and the popular Polish legend of Popiel, a cruel ruler reportedly devoured by rodents.
Inside the tower during the quest, players encounter not just rats but an atmosphere thick with tension. Torches inexplicably light up, floorboards creak, doors knock, and spirits replay their final moments via Geralt`s magic lantern, all underscored by a subtle, building orchestral score. The goal was to maintain a sense of horror and stress, keeping players on edge about what might happen next.
Radomska explained, “To uncover the mystery… and learn the backstory from different perspectives, we [spaced out] the information so players aren`t overwhelmed.” This was balanced with gameplay challenges involving monsters and gathering clues.
Initially, the island was meant to be blanketed in fog and feel dangerous, although it wasn`t truly threatening. Quest designers placed monsters, primarily corpse-eating necrophages drawn by the bodies within the tower, to provide combat engagement. Bloodflies were also added to the environment to foreshadow the plague element revealed inside.
A deliberate choice was made to separate the gameplay feel: combat-heavy outside and tension-focused inside the tower. Radomska incorporated numerous paranormal activities within the tower – moving barrels, falling objects, and sounds like knocking doors – specifically placed to create suspense. She described iterating on the quest multiple times to find the right moments for these tension-building elements. Hearing a knocking sound when entering a trigger zone, for example, was designed to make players wonder if someone else was present.
An earlier concept involved the pesta, the plague maiden boss, constantly attacking Geralt with ghostly arms as he ascended the tower. However, constant action proved less effective than the quiet tension that made it into the final game.
Communication with Keira Metz also saw iteration. Originally, Geralt had to repeatedly return to her location on the mainland, creating a disjointed, backtracking pace. The final solution was the magical xenovox, a one-way communication device that allowed Geralt to stay on the island and maintain narrative flow. This creative use of in-game magic highlights the flexibility afforded by a fantasy setting.
Even minor details were adjusted for gameplay and narrative impact. The rats within the tower were scaled up to the size of house cats to ensure they were visible and felt like a genuine threat from the third-person perspective. As Radomska humorously noted, proper scale made them barely noticeable.
These rats are central to the quest`s tragic climax. The plague maiden`s ghost is that of a woman who drank a potion to avoid being murdered by peasants, only for it to be a sedative. She awoke paralyzed to be eaten alive by the very rats that infested the tower among the slain. Radomska believes adding a “Romeo and Juliet” element to this backstory made it more emotionally relatable than a straightforward Popiel retelling, blending themes of tragic love and plague.
Pinpointing the exact origin of every idea years later is challenging due to CDPR`s highly collaborative process, involving constant communication and feedback across all departments. This complex web of development was further complicated by The Witcher 3 being their first open-world title, requiring a significant shift in mindset.
Radomska recalled an early concept for “A Towerful of Mice” that exemplifies this shift: a large section involved a tedious fetch quest to find a woodcutter, boat maker, and special wood to build a boat to reach the island. This was tied to another quest chain involving a druid ghost and fixing trees. She described reading this idea and finding it cumbersome, a remnant of the more linear thinking from The Witcher 2 era.
Realizing that a lengthy fetch quest for transportation wasn`t engaging open-world gameplay, the developers decided to concentrate all the challenges and story elements directly on the island and within the tower. This ensured players were immersed in the core narrative and likely completed the quest in one focused session. They also acknowledged that in an open world, players would likely find ways to reach the island early anyway, regardless of developer intent.
Decisions like scaling the rats or refining the journey to the tower are indicative of the iterative process that makes The Witcher 3 an exceptional RPG. Every element is refined until each moment of gameplay effectively conveys the intended feeling. Bad ideas are discarded, new ones embraced, and every decision contributes meaningfully to the world, characters, or the player`s experience – even if the world of The Witcher rarely offers simple, happy endings.
Finley Holt 
Callum Darby