The person behind the quests

The story behind the stories.

I’m Ira — a software engineer, creator of bespoke celebration quests, and a lifelong believer that the most meaningful gifts are not measured by what is inside the box, but by what someone feels when they receive them.

Created by Ira brings together two things I have always loved: making something with care and creating a reaction that stays with people.

Every quest is a private, playable story shaped around one person and the world you share with them.

Portrait of Ira wearing a sunhat outdoors — Ira · Founder and quest creator

Read the story

Ira holding a white celebration cake topped with berries — The home-bakery years · Making each detail personal

Chapter 01

It has always been about the reaction.

Years ago, I ran a home bakery.

I loved making beautiful cakes and desserts, but my favourite part happened long before I entered the kitchen. It was the conversation.

I wanted to understand who the cake was for: the flavours they loved, the colours that felt like them and the smallest decorative details that might make them smile. Together, my clients and I would shape something that felt completely personal to the person receiving it.

Then came the messages and photographs afterwards — the delighted expression when the cake was revealed, the verdict after the first bite and the stories my clients shared about how the moment had felt.

Even when I was not there to witness it, I could see what the cake had carried with it: the feeling of being known, celebrated and loved.

I realised I was never simply making dessert. I was helping someone turn their love into an experience another person could see, taste and feel.

That feeling never left me.

Chapter 02

Then a birthday gift became an adventure.

During the COVID lockdown, my husband, Yura, created an extraordinarily detailed birthday quest for me.

It began with a secret message and unfolded through puzzles, hidden artefacts and playful missions. It was so carefully planned that I genuinely thought he had hired someone to create it.

He hadn’t. He had made everything himself.

And, apparently, this was going to become our thing.

For years, we stopped simply exchanging birthday presents and began sending one another on secret missions. A clue might reveal a dinner location, an experience or a gift. An object collected in one chapter could suddenly become important several levels later.

A present became a story.

A birthday lasted longer than one day.

Even the smallest surprise felt like treasure discovered for yourself.

When it was my turn to create Yura’s quest, I began combining the real-world experiences I had planned with something new: a game built especially for him.

Somewhere between writing clues, coding levels and watching him solve each challenge, I recognised the feeling I had loved so much in my bakery.

That instant when someone understands just how much thought went into creating this for them.

A collage of secret messages, handmade puzzles, clues and a wrapped gift from Ira and Yura's birthday quests — Clues, artefacts and secret missions · Our birthday tradition

The form had changed.
The feeling I was creating for had not.

Chapter 03

Where technology becomes deeply personal.

Today, I bring together software engineering, storytelling, puzzle design and almost unreasonable love of thoughtful details to create bespoke digital and hybrid celebration quests.

Nothing begins with a template. It begins with a conversation.

Ira developing a quest at her desk, working between code and handwritten notes — Behind the scenes · Where stories, puzzles and code meet

I learn about the person you are celebrating — their interests, their sense of humour, the places that matter to them and the memories and private jokes only the two of you understand.

Then I turn those details, along with your gifts and plans for the occasion, into a story they can step inside.

Technology is there to make the magic possible, never to get in the way. The person you love simply follows the story, solves the clues and unlocks each surprise — feeling, chapter by chapter, how completely they are known.

Who it is for

For the people who want to give more than a gift.

Created by Ira is for the person thinking:

I want to give them something unforgettable. I just don’t know how to bring all my ideas together.

You may already have gifts, reservations and secret plans. Or you may have nothing more than a date, a person you adore and a feeling you want to create.

You do not need to arrive with the story.

That is my part.

I will help you turn what you love about them into an adventure made only for them. One that brings laughter, recognition, suspense and perhaps a few happy tears before the final reveal.

Your story begins here

Tell me who you are celebrating.

If someone came to mind while you were reading this, that is enough of a beginning. Tell me about the person, the occasion and what you hope they will feel. Together, we will explore what their story could become.

Warmly, Ira Founder and quest creator, Created by Ira