Nick Bowen

Quest, grades 3 to 5

Apex Academy

Quest's school-day series for grades 3 to 5: a seven-episode mystery played in teams.

The challenge

Quest was a summer-camp hit. But next to the bigger budgets and larger teams behind Glitch and Element, Collapse was starting to look rusty. Apex Academy would replace Collapse as the first season, rebrand the grades 3–5 line to set it apart from the younger Starforce offering, and lead Quest's push into the school-day market.

The solution

I wrote a story that sets up the worlds of its sequels with a strong mystery, built around a question kids this age really care about: Who am I? The story centers on character-building skills that schools can easily fold into their lessons.

The impact

Apex Academy became one of the first Quest lines piloted during the school day, with more than 290 classes playing in 2026. Quest was no longer only a summer and out-of-school product, and the epic storyline we'd built finally had a worthy introduction, with a path to reach more kids than ever.

Welcome to Apex AcademyThe Apex Academy trailer. 2:31. Written, storyboarded and directed by Nick Bowen.
Role
Creative Director, writer, storyboard artist, logo designer, voice director
Audience
Grades 3 to 5
Formats
Animated story, physical game kits, digital game
AI-assistedApex Academy is the first Quest release to use AI, and only for some of the artwork, never the animation. Base art was painted over by the artist, then overpainted by me where it needed it.How I use AI

Built for the school day

To fit the school day, the story needed age-appropriate morals and lessons that could be built into SEL (social and emotional learning) modules.

Arc 1: Setting up the story

InterrogationWhere the story begins.
RobotsThe kids meet Ditto, who runs the school like a boot camp and puts them through rigorous training.
Mixed SignalsThings get more mysterious when they discover that their robot babysitter, built to keep them on school grounds, has a softer, caring alter personality named Sam.
Cage the BabysitterThe kids decide to keep Ditto distracted so they can investigate.
LessonsDitto's cruelty on full display.

Arc 2: Character arcs

Each character represents one of the major teams and goes through an arc that's relevant to kids today. Quinn discovers she's too dependent on her phone and ultimately gives it up; the season's adventure shows her there's more fun outside her screen.

ScreensThe start of Quinn's arc.
Quinn's SacrificeThe end of Quinn's arc.

Building Apex Academy

Like the other Quest seasons, I wrote the Apex Academy script and designed the logo. I also storyboarded every episode, art directed the season and directed the voice cast.

Apex Academy logo
Read sample

The script

A sample from the Apex Academy script: the Prehistoric Jungle.

Logo exploration

Pencil sketch of the A and X letterforms
Pencil sketch
Nine typeface tests of the word APEX
Type tests
Early Apex Academy logo, light and dark versions
Early version
Apex Academy logo variations side by side
Variations
Final Apex Academy logo with its one-color version
Final
Apex Academy Season 1 poster: the cast in front of the academy tower
Apex Academy boxes, chest and books

I established the look of Quest and Apex Academy: the logos, the art style and the box design. Another designer built these packaging layouts in that look, and I art directed and approved them.

Cast

The students, each one standing for one of the academy's teams, and SAM/DITTO, the robot that runs the school.

Apex Academy character sheet: SAM/DITTO, Anton, Quinn, Tommy, Jesse, Lulu and Maya, with expressions

Concept art

From grayscale thumbnails to finished paintings: the town of Apex, the campus, the city streets, the sleep pods and the robot.

Grayscale thumbnails of the town of Apex
More grayscale town thumbnails
The town of Apex, finished painting
Grayscale campus thumbnails
Campus fields thumbnails
The academy tower and campus
City street thumbnails
A city street, color sketch
A city street at night
A sleep pod marked RCI
DITTO, the robot's angry face
SAM, the robot's kind face
The training field from above
A road through the town
The RCI vault room

Season art

Scenes from Season 1.

The empty town of Apex
The obstacle course walls
DITTO throws a disc on the obstacle course
DITTO's angry face
Lulu holding a grabber tool
DITTO walks the line of students
DITTO's face fills the screen
Tommy runs the tire course
DITTO with Jesse and Quinn by the garden wall
Quinn cheers in the garden
A smiling face on a glowing screen
The kids at a row of phone lockers
Quinn by the phone lockers
The empty cafeteria
Three students asleep in pods marked RCI
A sealed vault door with a red warning light

Game design on screen

Laptop screens: explore mode, a lesson, team selection and the launch splash.

Explore screen with the cast trio
Lesson screen
Team select screen
Launch session splash
Echodisc, Episode 3Teams practice on the physical board, then take on the computer. Gameplay, sped up.
The security panel, Episode 5Panel operators flip switches, cut wires and enter the password while guide readers call out answers from the printed override manual. Gameplay, sped up.

Beyond the box

A challenge sheet and the student journal from the kit.

Repair the Water Purifier challenge setup sheet
Student journal spread
Gameplay overview cover

The impact

Summer 2026, across QUEST programs including Apex Academy, in California, Texas and New York.

6,741students reporting
8.5/10average facilitator rating
94%of facilitators would play again

I'm sweating, I've never been this nervous about paper before.

Student, playing Apex Academy

Alright everyone, we're almost done!Teacher

I don't wanna be almost done!Student

It opened up lots of conversations about working as a group and making decisions as a team. Collaboration increased and students learned to be more kind to one another while still being determined to win.

Facilitator, Jurupa