What onboarding is
Onboarding is everything a game does to help a new player become a capable one. A tutorial level is part of it, but so are the first menu, the first prompt, the way early challenges are arranged and the help available when someone gets stuck. The central problem is simple to state and hard to solve: the player knows nothing at the start, and the game has to teach enough to continue without boring the player or overwhelming them.
This matters for learning in general, not just entertainment. A tutorial is a compact lesson, and the same ideas apply to educational software and to any activity that teaches a skill.
One idea at a time
The most dependable principle in tutorial design is to introduce one new idea, let the player practice it, then add the next. A game that shows ten controls on its first screen asks the player to hold ten things in mind while also trying to understand the goal. Most people cannot do that well.
A typical sequence in a simple action game might look like this:
- Move the character.
- Jump over a gap.
- Jump onto a moving platform.
- Avoid a basic hazard.
- Combine the earlier skills in a short challenge.
At each step the player has a single thing to learn, a safe place to try it and a clear sign that they succeeded. The final step checks that the pieces work together. This arrangement is built into how many games structure their first levels, and the idea is closely tied to the game’s core gameplay loop: players should reach the satisfying main activity quickly, with its skills assembled gradually.
Learning by doing
People tend to remember what they do better than what they read. For that reason, many designers prefer to let the player try an action almost immediately instead of presenting a long text screen first.
Common approaches include:
- A safe practice space. An early area where mistakes carry no penalty lets the player experiment freely.
- Context prompts. A short hint appears when an action first becomes relevant, such as “press the button to climb” at the foot of a ladder, so the hint arrives when it can be used right away.
- Demonstration through the world. A designer might place a gap, a hazard and a safe path so the player works out the rule by looking. This approach is discussed further under implicit tutorials.
- Required first use. The game may not progress until the player performs the new action once, which confirms that they have tried it.
Text still has a role, especially for complicated systems such as crafting menus or character stats. Keep it brief, put it close to where it applies and let the player review it later.
Pacing and the first few minutes
The opening of a game is where many players decide whether to continue. Designers usually try to get the player doing something engaging quickly, so a long, non-interactive introduction is risky. At the same time, the game should not escalate the challenge faster than the player learns.
Pacing questions to consider:
- How long until the player first does something meaningful?
- How many new ideas arrive in each minute?
- Is there a moment of success early on, so the player feels capable?
- Does the difficulty rise in step with what has been taught? This relates to the shape of the difficulty curve over the whole game.
A common mistake is front-loading everything. Teaching a mechanic only when it is needed, sometimes called just-in-time teaching, is often better than teaching all of them upfront, because players forget instructions they cannot use yet.
Optional help and different players
Not all players need the same amount of guidance. Experienced players may find a slow tutorial insulting, while newcomers to the genre may need more than the designer expects. Ways to handle this include:
- A skip option for the tutorial, with a way to return to it later.
- A help menu or a reference page that restates controls and rules.
- Adjustable hints, so players can choose how much guidance they see.
- Starting difficulty options, similar in spirit to assist modes.
Players also differ in reading level, language, vision and motor ability. Clear text, readable fonts and the option to repeat instructions help. Pacing and clarity matter especially for cognitive accessibility, where short steps and obvious goals make a real difference.
Common problems
Designers and testers often point to a handful of recurring tutorial problems.
- Wall of text. Long instructions are skipped or forgotten.
- Forced hand-holding. Slowing the game to a halt to explain obvious things frustrates capable players.
- Teaching with the wrong tool. A mechanic taught under pressure, for example while an enemy attacks, is hard to learn.
- No feedback. If the player cannot tell whether they did the action correctly, they cannot learn from the attempt.
Testing the tutorial
Designers rarely get the first draft right, because they already know the game. The most useful check is to watch a new player without helping. Notice where they hesitate, what they misread and what they skip. This is the same approach as a regular playtest session, with the focus on the first fifteen minutes.
Helpful things to record:
- Where players stop and look around uncertainly.
- Which instructions they ignore.
- Whether they can describe the goal in their own words after a few minutes.
- Where they quit, if they do.
Hypothetically, if five of six new testers fail the same jump, the problem is probably the teaching and not the players. If one of six does, it might be an individual difficulty.
Lessons beyond games
Tutorial design offers a model for anyone who teaches: state the goal, introduce one skill at a time, give a safe place to practice, provide feedback right away, and add complexity as confidence grows. When judging whether a learning game does this well, the checks described in how to evaluate an educational game are a useful complement.
A good tutorial often goes unnoticed. The player feels they simply figured the game out, which is exactly what the designer hoped for.