The impact of tutorials on games of varying complexity

TLDR

Teaching new players is a key challenge in video game design, yet the impact of tutorials on learnability and engagement remains poorly understood. The study aimed to assess how different tutorial designs influence player engagement and retention across games of varying complexity. The authors implemented eight tutorial designs across three games of differing complexity and measured their effects on engagement and retention. The study found that tutorials significantly boost playtime—up to 29%—only in the most complex game, while having little effect on engagement in simpler games, suggesting that tutorials may not be worthwhile for games whose mechanics can be learned by experimentation.

Abstract

One of the key challenges of video game design is teaching new players how to play. Although game developers frequently use tutorials to teach game mechanics, little is known about how tutorials affect game learnability and player engagement. Seeking to estimate this value, we implemented eight tutorial designs in three video games of varying complexity and evaluated their effects on player engagement and retention. The results of our multivariate study of over 45,000 players show that the usefulness of tutorials depends greatly on game complexity. Although tutorials increased play time by as much as 29% in the most complex game, they did not significantly improve player engagement in the two simpler games. Our results suggest that investment in tutorials may not be justified for games with mechanics that can be discovered through experimentation.