Finding the Best Ending in The Quarry: A Guide to Saving Everyone

When I first finished The Quarry, I sat back and just stared at the credits for a minute. I had lost two counselors, and one of them was my favorite. It felt personal, even though I knew it was just a game. That is the thing about Supermassive Games’ interactive horror story, the choices hit you in a way that linear games rarely do. After a few more playthroughs and some careful experimentation, I found the path to what most players call the best ending the quarry has to offer.

The game gives you control over nine camp counselors at Hackett’s Quarry, and the narrative branches widely based on your decisions. There are multiple endings, but the one where everyone survives is the most satisfying for most players. It requires a specific combination of choices, quick-time event successes, and a willingness to read the clues the game gives you. Here is how to get there without relying on a walkthrough that spoils every scare.

Why the “Everyone Lives” Ending Matters

Horror games often punish you for trying to save everyone. The Quarry is different. It rewards careful play and attention to detail. The best ending the quarry offers is not just about clicking the right dialogue options. It is about understanding the characters, the lore hidden in the environment, and the game’s internal logic. When you manage to get all nine counselors to sunrise, the epilogue scenes feel earned. Each survivor gets a moment that reflects their personality and what they went through.

I have seen some players argue that a “perfect” ending is boring because it removes the tension of permanent death. I disagree. The tension is still there because you do not know if your choice will work until hours later. That delayed payoff is what makes the ending so rewarding.

The Core Mechanics You Need to Master

Before you aim for the best ending, you need to understand three systems that the game uses to decide who lives and who dies.

• Quick-Time Events (QTEs): Every combat or chase sequence has timed button prompts. Missing too many can kill a character outright or lead to a worse situation later. Practice keeping your fingers ready over the controller or keyboard.
• Evidence and Clues: The game hides notes, photos, and audio recordings that explain the lore. Collecting these gives you dialogue options that can de-escalate conflicts or reveal weaknesses in enemies. Do not skip the exploration sections.
• Character Traits: Each counselor has hidden stats that change based on your choices. Being kind or aggressive, trusting or suspicious, these traits affect how characters react under pressure. There is no single “good” trait set, but you need consistency.

If you want the best ending the quarry has to offer, you must treat these systems as equally important. Ignoring the clues might leave you without the information you need to make a life-saving choice in act three.

Key Decisions That Determine the Outcome

Not every choice matters equally. Some decisions are cosmetic and only change dialogue. Others create branching paths that lead to irreversible deaths. Here are the moments that most players miss when they are going for the best ending.

Chapter 2: The Bear and the Bunny

Early in the game, you control Abigail and Emma. There is a moment where you can either hide or confront a threat. If you choose to hide, you miss a clue that helps later. If you confront and fail the QTE, you die. The correct path is to confront but succeed at every QTE. This gives you a piece of evidence that unlocks a non-violent solution in chapter 8. It is a small payoff for a big risk, but it is essential.

Chapter 5: The Decision at the Lodge

When the group splits up, you have to decide who goes to the lodge and who stays outside. The game does not tell you that this choice determines which characters are available for rescue later. To save everyone, send the most capable fighters inside and keep the more cautious characters outside. This seems counterintuitive, but the lodge has more immediate threats, while the outside areas allow for escape routes.

Chapter 7: The Confrontation

This is the point where many playthroughs fall apart. You have to choose between using a weapon or trying to talk down an enemy. The talking option only works if you collected enough evidence in earlier chapters. If you have the clues, the peaceful route leads to a ceasefire that keeps everyone alive for the final act. If you do not have the clues, fighting is your only option, but it likely results in at least one death.

Common Mistakes That Ruin the Perfect Run

I made most of these mistakes on my first attempt. They are easy to make because the game does not warn you about them.

• Rushing through exploration areas. The Quarry is not a sprint. Every cabin, shed, and trail has something useful. If you skip exploration, you miss clues that turn deadly situations into survivable ones.
• Assuming all characters are equal. Some counselors are better at combat than others. If you put a weak character in a fight-heavy scene, they will die even if you hit every QTE. Learn each character’s strengths through gameplay or pay attention to their dialogue.
• Ignoring the death rewind feature. If a character dies, you get a brief chance to rewind and try a different choice. This is not a cheat; it is a built-in mechanic. Use it when you see a death you did not intend.
• Making choices based on what you think is “good” rather than what fits the character. The game rewards consistency. If you have been playing Ryan as a skeptic, do not suddenly trust a supernatural explanation. His trait score will not support it.

Does the Best Ending Ruin the Experience?

Some players argue that the best ending removes the consequence of failure. I have thought about this a lot. The first time I played Until Dawn, I lost two characters and felt that loss made the story more memorable. But The Quarry is designed differently. Its best ending is not a reward for perfection; it is a reward for paying attention. The game gives you all the tools you need. If you use them, you earn the happy ending. If you do not, you get a more tragic story that is still worth experiencing.

There is also a meta layer here. The Quarry is a game about a group of friends who are not particularly heroic. They are teenagers making bad decisions. The best ending shows them learning from their mistakes and working together. That is a satisfying narrative arc. It makes the horror feel meaningful rather than random.

Final Thoughts on the Path to Sunrise

Getting the best ending the quarry offers takes patience and a willingness to fail. I recommend playing blind first and seeing what happens. Then, if you want the sunrise scene with all nine characters, go back and use the knowledge you gained. The second playthrough feels different because you notice clues you missed the first time. You start to see the game’s design clearly.

If you are going for a perfect run, remember that the goal is not just to survive but to keep the group together. Splitting up too much creates situations where you cannot help characters in time. Stay as a group when possible, and always take the extra minute to search a room. The game rewards thoroughness.

I have played through The Quarry four times now. The first run was messy. The second was better. The third and fourth runs were experiments to see if I could save everyone using different methods. The path is narrow, but it is there. And when you see that final shot of the counselors standing together at dawn, you will know it was worth the effort.