Tutorials as Onboarding: Level Design for New Players

Onboarding is a challenge. But if you nail the initial experience, you’ve already won half the battle. Don’t make players wade through walls of text or clunky menus. Your game’s first level is its most important tutorial.

Level Design as Teacher

Forget dedicated tutorial zones. New players want to play. Your level design is the instruction manual they’ll actually use. Consider every corridor, every enemy placement, and every environmental detail as a carefully crafted lesson. Think of yourself not as a world builder, but as a curriculum designer.

Visual Cues: Guiding the Eye

Players are naturally drawn to points of interest. Use this to your advantage. Bright colors, contrasting textures, and leading lines can subtly guide them towards objectives.

For example, in Mirror’s Edge, the “runner vision” highlights objects used for traversal. This isn’t just for show. It teaches players to identify climbable surfaces and plan their routes. This also demonstrates how color can be used to communicate affordances to the player.

Contrast that with a poorly designed level where pathways are ambiguous and objectives blend into the background. Players will get lost, frustrated, and potentially quit before they even understand the core mechanics. It’s better to be a little heavy-handed with the visual cues in the beginning. You can always tone them down later.

Limiting Choices: Preventing Overwhelm

Throwing too many mechanics at players at once is a recipe for disaster. Introduce new elements one at a time, allowing them to master each before moving on.

Early levels should focus on a small subset of core actions. If your game features complex combat with multiple weapon types, combos, and special abilities, start with the basics: movement, a simple attack, and maybe a dodge.

Many games, like the early Metroid titles, effectively limited player choice by restricting access to certain areas until they acquired specific power-ups. This isn’t just about gating progress. It’s about pacing the learning curve.

Gradual Introduction: Building Competency

Don’t just show players how to do something. Create scenarios that force them to use the new mechanic.

Imagine a puzzle game where the first level only involves moving blocks. The second introduces rotating blocks. The third combines both. Each level builds upon the previous one, gradually increasing complexity and reinforcing learned skills.

A common mistake is front-loading all the information and then expecting players to remember it all. The tutorial should be spaced out and practical.

Common Pitfalls (and How to Avoid Them)

Many games fail to onboard new players because of a few key mistakes. Recognizing and addressing these pitfalls can significantly improve the initial experience.

• Overwhelming Players: Too much information, too many mechanics, too little time to practice. The solution is to break things down into smaller, more manageable chunks.
• Unclear Objectives: Players should always know what they are supposed to do. Ambiguous instructions or poorly defined goals lead to frustration. Use clear visual cues, concise instructions, and logical level design to guide them.
• Forcing Failure: Creating situations where players are almost guaranteed to fail is rarely a good idea in a tutorial. It can lead to discouragement and a feeling of incompetence. Instead, design challenges that are difficult but achievable with a little effort.
• Ignoring Player Agency: Players want to feel like they’re in control. Avoid overly restrictive tutorials that railroad them through a predetermined path. Offer opportunities for exploration and experimentation, even within a controlled environment.

A failed game I worked on included a detailed explanation of the combat system at the very beginning. This immediately overwhelmed new players. We should have introduced each mechanic during specific encounters in the game.

Examples from Existing Games

• Portal: A masterclass in tutorial level design. Each chamber introduces a new mechanic in a clear, concise, and engaging way.
• Super Mario Bros. Level 1-1: Simple, intuitive, and teaches the core mechanics of jumping and collecting coins without a single word of instruction.
• The Last of Us: Starts with a simple walking section to introduce the character and world. Then gradually introduces the stealth and combat mechanics.

These games succeed because they understand the importance of teaching through gameplay.

The Onboarding Checklist

Before releasing your game, ask yourself these questions about your tutorial levels:

• Comprehension: Do players understand the core mechanics after completing the tutorial? Can they accurately perform the required actions?
• Engagement: Are players actively participating and enjoying the experience? Are they motivated to continue playing?
• Retention: Are players retaining the information presented in the tutorial? Can they apply it to later stages of the game?
• Clarity: Are the objectives clear and easy to understand? Are visual cues effectively guiding players?
• Pacing: Is the tutorial paced appropriately, introducing new mechanics gradually and allowing time for practice?

If you can answer “yes” to all of these questions, you’re well on your way to creating an effective and engaging onboarding experience. The first impression is critical, make it count.