[5] Quest for Glory introduced a realism rarely found in RPGs and other adventure games even today.

The main character had to eat on a regular basis, he would become tired from running and fighting which required rest and sleep.

In the valley barony of Spielburg, the evil ogress Baba Yaga has cursed the land and the baron who tried to drive her off.

While the game can be completed without solving the secondary quests, in the optimal ending, which nets the player the maximum score and serves as canon for the remainder of the series, the player frees the baronet from a powerful curse and thwarts the plans of the witch Baba Yaga.

Finally, the adventurer frees the baron's daughter, Elsa von Spielburg, from the curse which had transformed her into the brigand leader.

By doing so, the adventurer fulfills a prophecy, restores Spielburg Valley to prosperity, and is awarded the title of Hero.

After this, the Hero, along with the merchant Abdulla Doo and the innkeepers Shameen and Shema, leaves on a magic carpet for Shapeir, the homeland of the three, setting the plan for the sequel, Quest for Glory II: Trial by Fire.

[2][8] Many planned features were cut off in the development progress, to release the game in a realistic amount of time.

Originally, Lori had planned for four different races: thief-like gnome, magic-wielding elf, human as a jack of all trades, and archer centaur, as well as the option for a female player character.

Due to the limited resources available, the development team scaled back these plans, compromising with multiple classes for the human character.

"[21] Jim Trunzo reviewed Quest for Glory I: So You Want to Be a Hero in White Wolf #33 (Sept./Oct., 1992), rating it a 4 out of 5 and stated that "The humor, action, and puzzles of the original game made it an immediate and enduring favorite among gamers.

Writing about their decision, the magazine's Steven Levy remarked that the game "merges classic role-playing aspects—building up a character's attributes by vanquishing enemies, all in service of a larger goal—with the more playful mood and interactivity of Sierra On-Line's King's Quest adventure-game series."

[7] Tyler Willis of RPGamer gave the game 4 out of 5 stars, praising especially the personality and presentation of its in-game locations and characters.

Unlike other games, running out of stamina points here can kill the hero outright instead of starting to do health damage.