I don’t know when I started to think that tutorials are necessaries to teach to the player how to play. Maybe the current trend to use tutorials in every game: casuals and hardcores, experimentals games and clones (I really don’t know why clones have tutorials). I really don’t care understand about how used to think they are important, what I care now, is understand and explain why using the tutorial sucks. Its pretty simple.
Actually I am somehow involved in the duality “videogames-education”, and this helped me to understand some things about games itself. The player, like the students, doesn’t want to learn things they doesn’t need or doesn’t interest them.
If we take them trough a bunch of very controlled and non challenge situations, they will feel like they are working. I mean, they feel like they are doing just “things” to get at the end of the day, and reach what they really wants, whats means get fun.
So we need to stop this. A game is an entire new world and we want explore and discover things. We are lazy by nature and our brain doesn’t seem be interested in thing that aren’t important, the brain want to learn useful new things. When we create a game, we are really obligated to give this unique chance to the player.
The learning must happen through player experience with the game world. We can introduce new mechanics slowly, but this doesn’t mean we can’t challenge the player and that we can’t let them play with. The learning of game mechanics must be part of the game, and the player training must happen when player need it, this must be hidden in the game levels and as a solution of a game conflict. We can’t/mustn’t force the player to put game mechanics in his mind before he feel that the game can offer fun and something new.
I know it’s harder we don’t use tutorials, but, I think is the best way to give it the players that what they really want: his own experience trough the exploration a new and wonderful world.
This is all for now. Thanks for read!
