Can Game Developers Actually Make Tutorials Shorter? (Without Losing Us)
We’ve all been there. You fire up a brand-new game, brimming with excitement to dive into its world… only to find yourself trapped in a seemingly endless tutorial sequence. Button prompts pop up relentlessly, explaining mechanics you won’t need for hours. NPCs drone on with exposition disguised as instruction. You feel like yelling at the screen: “Just let me play!” So, the question burns: Can developers seriously cut down on tutorial time? And crucially, should they?
The answer isn’t a simple yes or no. It’s a nuanced “Yes, absolutely, but it requires smarter design, not just less content.” Let’s break down why tutorials often overstay their welcome and how developers can craft a smoother, faster onboarding experience.
Why Do Tutorials Tend to Drag?
Fear of the Lost Player: Developers dread players bouncing off their game because they felt confused or overwhelmed. This fear often leads to over-explaining, bombarding new players with every possible detail upfront, just in case.
Complexity Creep: Modern games often boast intricate systems – crafting, skill trees, character relationships, complex combat combos. Explaining all of this takes time, especially if done sequentially in a dedicated tutorial zone.
The Hand-Holding Habit: Some design philosophies still default to rigid, step-by-step guidance, treating players like they’ve never held a controller before, even for relatively simple actions.
Narrative Integration Challenges: Sometimes, tutorials try to double as heavy narrative exposition, forcing lore and backstory alongside basic controls, slowing the pace significantly.
Strategies for Smarter, Shorter Onboarding:
So, how can developers achieve that crucial “faster start” without sacrificing player understanding? Here are key approaches:
1. Integrated Learning (Diegesis is Your Friend): Ditch the isolated “tutorial island.” Teach mechanics organically within the game world itself.
Environmental Storytelling: Show, don’t tell. Need to teach climbing? Place obviously climbable vines or ledges in the critical path. Need to teach stealth? Design an early area with clear sightlines and obvious hiding spots (tall grass, shadows).
Contextual Prompts: Instead of explaining every button at the start, trigger prompts only when the player first encounters a relevant situation. “Press X to Vault” appears as they approach a low wall. “Hold Square to Craft” pops up when they approach a workbench.
Simple Challenges: Design early encounters that naturally require the new skill. A low-health enemy encourages using the just-learned healing item. A slightly out-of-reach item teaches jumping.
2. Respect Player Intelligence (and Experience):
Assumed Knowledge: Leverage common gaming conventions. Most players know WASD/left stick moves, right stick looks. Don’t re-teach universal controls unless your game significantly alters them. Offer an option to skip basic control explanations entirely.
Progressive Disclosure: Don’t dump every system at the door. Teach the absolute essentials needed for the first 15-30 minutes. Introduce more complex systems (crafting, advanced combat) later, as they become relevant to the immediate goals. A codex or tutorial log can house deeper explanations for players who want them later.
Failure as a Teacher: Allow safe spaces for players to fail and learn. A puzzle that requires a specific mechanic, with low stakes for getting it wrong, is often more effective than a lengthy explanation.
3. Make it Optional & Modular:
Skippable Sections: Give players the choice. If they feel confident, let them bypass the dedicated tutorial sequence or specific explanations. A simple “Press [Button] to Skip Tutorial” at the start is powerful.
Replayable Tutorial Log: Instead of forcing players to sit through everything upfront, offer a comprehensive, easily accessible in-game manual or tutorial log. Players can consult it only when they get stuck on a specific mechanic.
Customizable Help: Allow players to adjust the frequency or depth of hints and prompts in the settings. Experienced players can turn them down or off.
4. Focus on Core Flow First: Prioritize teaching the actions essential to navigating the world and engaging in the core gameplay loop immediately. Secondary systems (like intricate inventory management or deep lore) can wait until players have their bearings and are invested.
5. Learn from the Masters: Look at games known for minimal, effective tutorials:
Dark Souls/Bloodborne/Elden Ring: These are famous (or infamous) for throwing players into the deep end. Tutorials are incredibly brief, focusing only on absolute basics. Learning happens through exploration, observation (item descriptions!), and repeated experimentation (often involving death). It’s harsh but highly effective for its intended audience.
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild/Tears of the Kingdom: The Great Plateau/Sky Islands serve as brilliant integrated tutorials. Players learn core mechanics (climbing, gliding, temperature, basic combat, runes/ultrahand) through exploration and solving environmental puzzles within a contained, low-stakes area. The game trusts the player to experiment.
Portal: Perhaps the gold standard. The entire game is an extended, brilliantly disguised tutorial. Mechanics are introduced one at a time through simple test chambers that force experimentation. There’s almost no explicit “tutorial” text – the environment and puzzles themselves are the teacher.
The Balancing Act: Accessibility vs. Freedom
The push for shorter tutorials isn’t about abandoning new players. It’s about better onboarding design. It’s recognizing that player attention is precious and engagement is highest when they feel empowered and curious, not lectured. Shorter doesn’t mean shallower; it means more focused, contextual, and respectful.
Can developers cut down on tutorial time? Unequivocally, yes. They can drastically reduce or even eliminate the traditional, lengthy, segregated tutorial sequence. The key is replacing sheer quantity with intelligent quality – designing the opening moments of the game to be inherently instructive through its environment, challenges, and progressive introduction of mechanics.
The result? Players spend less time being told how to play and more time actually playing, discovering the joy and depth of the game world for themselves. That initial burst of excitement isn’t dampened by a mandatory class; it’s ignited by immediate, meaningful interaction. That’s the win-win developers should strive for. It’s not about cutting corners; it’s about crafting a smarter, more engaging doorway into the incredible worlds they build.
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