Tutorial (video gaming)

In the context of video game design, a tutorial is a video game level that teaches players the rules and controls of the game. Some tutorials are integrated into the game itself, while others are completely separate and optional. Games can have both of these at once, offering a basic mandatory tutorial and optional advanced training. Tutorials have become increasingly common due to the decline of printed video game manuals as a result of cost cutting and digital distribution. Tutorials can be important since they are a player's first impression of a game, and an overly tedious tutorial or one that does not allow for player freedom can negatively affect their view of a game. However, the lack of a tutorial can also harm a game by causing the player to become frustrated, since they cannot figure out essential game mechanics.

Types of tutorials

Tutorials range from gently easing the player into the experience, to forcing them to learn via trial and error, only allowing them to proceed when they have mastered the gameplay. The former type is often framed as guidance from a mentor character, such as a wise old man or elderly master, and sometimes even literally depicts the main character growing from a child into an adult as they learn their skills, as in Horizon Zero Dawn.^[1] The latter type of tutorial presents the player with increasingly difficult enemies that demonstrate techniques required to overcome them.^[1] Other types of tutorials include slowly giving players information over the course of the entire game, as in the Legend of Zelda series.^[1]

Yet other games break the fourth wall with their tutorials or parody them, using them as a source of comedy. Examples include Far Cry 3, in which the main character demonstrates his annoyance at being forced to undergo a tutorial,^[1][2] and Undertale, in which the motherly Toriel dotes on the player character so much that she literally holds their hand through dangerous puzzles instead of allowing the player to solve them.

Criticism

Some critics believe that a good tutorial should necessarily allow the player to discover game mechanics for themselves without being told how to do them, as in the original Metroid,^[3] as well as Minecraft.^[4]

References

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