Guiding and Teaching Players

”Nobody in this industry knows what they’re doing, we just have a gut assumption.”

Cliff Bleszinski, Former Game Designer, Epic Games

How to Teach and Guide the Player

An important key point when designing the game are tutorials that teach the players how the game works. Many games start with tutorials that teach the basic mechanics, like jumping and interacting with the environment. Some games may not even give any sort of tutorial, so the player is forced to learn through experimenting.

During the gameplay, it's sometimes necessary to guide where to go or what the objective is. The clues on how to advance may be subtle, like using a certain color on a wall that can be climbed.

During this lesson, you will learn the different methods of designing tutorials and guides in your own games.

Tutorials

Most games start with a tutorial at the beginning of the game, but especially more experienced players often want to skip these portions entirely. How can we make these sections enjoyable without making them feel too forced?

Just dropping the player with an enormous wall of text or images about the gameplay will cause the players to get overwhelmed and quit the game. Letting the player try things out on their own without directly telling them can work in some types of games, but this approach heavily depends on the players' past experience.

To keep them playing, we need to design a tutorial that keeps the player motivated and interested in the game. The first steps of the game also are the first impressions that determine the players' investment in the entire experience.

Four Ways to Design a Tutorial

There are countless tutorials, but most of them fall into one of four main categories.

Non-interactive In-Game Tutorial


The non-interactive in-game tutorial is an old way of teaching a player, and it depends heavily on the player's motivation and patience.

Super Mario Bros is a great example of this type of "old-school" tutorial. The game was sold with a written manual that had all the instructions on how to play, as the game didn't have any.

Interactive In-Game Tutorial


Involving players right from the start is a good way to teach the in-game mechanics. Making the players do, rather than watch and read, results in a better experience for the players and helps them better remember and understand their actions. These kinds of tutorials are embedded into the gameplay.

Little Misfortune uses an interactive in-game tutorial and teaches the player how to use game mechanics before letting the player advance further.

Background In-Game Tutorial


Using background in-game tutorials allows the player to access the gameplay instantly. They drop the player into a so-called noob cave or room that works as a safe area to work out the controls. The players can progress through it rather quickly and then continue to the actual game.

Journey, the game in the image above, has fairly simple mechanics, as is the tutorial. The player moves right into the game and the tutorial is showed during this progress.

No In-Game Tutorial


Sometimes players don't get any sort of tutorial, but instead have to figure things out by themselves by trial and error. Without any guide, it is important to invest in the visual elements of your game. A player should know at straight away that some element is "good" or "bad". For example, eating an apple is good for the health, but touching fire will hurt.

Minecraft is a game that doesn't give any kind of instructions or objectives at any point in the game. The players must experiment with how the crafting system works and what happens during nighttime.

Tips to Keep in Mind

  • Blend the tutorial into the gameplay and spread it out.
  • It's better to do than to read and watch.
  • Keep your messages short and focused.
  • Avoid extra information that has nothing to do with the tutorial.
  • Use more visuals than text.
  • Reinforce and expand on the previously gained knowledge that the player already has.
  • Avoid repeating actions in the tutorial.

Exercise: Tutorials

Exercise: Tutorials

Answer the following question.



Guiding Players

Every game needs to guide the players to the next path or objective. Sometimes games can even point out a path to a secret place that doesn't affect the gameplay itself. For that we need to design a suitable way to guide the players using light, audio, or colors, for example. It needs to be something that catches the player's interest and entices them to explore more.

Down below you will get some commonly used tricks, but remember that these are not the rules set in stone. You can combine different ways or even come up with something entirely new.


Colors

Using colors as a guide might sometimes be a bit tricky as they need to fit into the graphical design while also being separate enough to raise interest. The game "Mirror's Edge" decided to make some bold design choices by focusing on just a few colors (white and red) but in the end, they became one of the trademarks of the game.

Guiding the Player

Guiding the Player

Click on the hotspots to learn more about guiding the player.



Tähän tulee video, joka on haettava Risestä. A short video from the Mirror's Edge's gameplay.

Maps and Navigators

In games like "Marvel's Spider-Man (2018)", which are open world, implementing a map is common. The game areas tend to be huge and it's easy to get lost and miss the objective without a map. The player is allowed to roam freely and complete objectives on their own. This also means that when the objective is completed, a marker on the map should change so it won't be mixed with the uncompleted ones.

Areas and Objectives

Areas and Objectives

Click on the hotspots to learn more about area objective design.



Lights and Highlights

Imagine yourself walking in a dark tunnel and arriving at an intersection. One tunnel is pitch black, and you can't see anything there, but the other tunnel seems more inviting with its soft warm light at the end.

Which one do you choose? The one where there is light, right?

Using lights and highlights is an easy way to guide the player while also being simple to merge with the environment. Maybe someone has left loot near the campfire or something magical is shining in the middle of the woods.

Guiding Highlights

Guiding Highlights

Click on the hotspots to learn more about helpful highlights.



Other Ways to Guide the Player

  • Areas full of enemies or loot is a clear indication that the player hasn't been there yet.
  • Using audio cues is one way to do it, like bells ringing at the far right. Audio should not be the only way, however, as some people might have trouble with hearing or just like playing without sounds. Combining audio with visuals is a great way to go.
  • Nothing is forbidden when guiding the player. You should design a way that fits your game's style.

Exercise: Great Guides

Exercise: Great Guides

Answer the following question.



Remember that the first minutes of your game will determine if the player is going to continue playing. Making boring tutorials is a sure way to make them quit playing fast.

Keep your tutorials focused and make them part of the gameplay. Testing the game with various kinds of players gives you feedback on how well things work.

Pretty straight-forward, isn’t it? The game needs to work in order to be enjoyable, and the players need to know the basics to enjoy the game. In a world of constantly shortening attention spans, special attention must be given to the so-called gameplay loops as well. How to keep the players invested and interested? This is our next topic.