I myself am not an expert in game design nor do I have education in design, but I believe my experience playing a LOT of video games my entire life has given me insight that others may not have when it comes to designing mechanics and systems that are fun to interact with. Though my role while working on Finned Folk is that of a programmer, I still plan on supporting the designers with my thoughts on design topics, using my experience with games to help design engaging experiences and mechanics. 

I believe that if one is analytical while playing video games and understands what is fun to them and how things click with others, this knowledge can be used to fine tune broader design concepts. Currently my significant other is playing through The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (BotW) for the very first time. She is new to Zelda games and does not have much experience playing games of a similar style. I have used this opportunity to silently observe how she approaches general gameplay and challenges in the game. This experience has been crucial to understand how inexperienced players handle a new game experience. Hints left by the developer to lead the player into playing the game a certain way might be completely ignored, for better or for worse. 

An example of this is in BotW, the player is taught very early about placing waymarks in the world by using the scope. This allows the player to keep track of points of interest easily. My significant other in this scenario though, completed the tutorial and completely forgot about the mechanic afterwards. She is not incorrect or playing the game wrong for not using the mechanic, but the question I am left with is did the developers do enough “hand holding” to teach the player the mechanics. The answer will vary from player to player, with some loving the open ended gameplay and hands off approach, and some players appreciating tutorials when provided. Most of the time the player is completely unaware they are not utilizing a mechanic or that the mechanic exists in the first place (even if there was an initial tutorial). Not everyone is analyzing every situation and some people play games and simply go with the flow. This is especially prevalent for games with a multitude of different mechanics and interactions and complex control schemes and player actions. It can be hard to remember everything that is taught to the player when starting a new game.

It is important to not bombard the player with too many new mechanics and pop ups at once especially at the beginning of a game, as the player is still learning the controls and has a lot to take in while navigating the game world. Having a tutorial log that is added to after tutorials are shown for the first time is a good way to allow players to review already taught mechanics. A tutorial log falls into the same trap as mechanics themselves though, as the player may not know that the log exists or where to find it in the menus. Some games remedy this by putting notifications on the log and menus when new information has been added. I believe this is a good way for the player to always know that there is a log to begin with and increases the probability that the player will understand a game mechanic if they clear the notification by reading the tutorial a second time. As I said before though, not all players want tutorial pop ups and many players will complain if there are constant disruptions in gameplay due to tutorials or constant notifications. 

The best solution to this problem is the introduction of tutorial settings, allowing for varying play styles and levels of hand holding selected by the player. If the player is able to decide for themselves how the game is taught to them, the player can not have negative opinions about the tutorials in a game. This allows for games to be more accessible and more successful due to people not dropping games due to having a hard time with controls or gameplay features. Here are some examples of settings the player could toggle before starting the game, or during gameplay.

• Full stop tutorials (The game will pause while the tutorial is being shown, or the tutorial will appear on the screen somewhere during gameplay)

• No Tutorials (for players that want to experience the game in the most hands off way)

• Limited tutorials (for players that want help learning major mechanics, but want to discover other mechanics by themselves)

• Smart tutorial repeats (Will repeat a tutorial if the player has not utilized the mechanic for an extended period of time. This could have sub settings for full stop or passive tutorial shown. Extra development and design work would need to be done to determine the circumstances for displaying a tutorial again. Using the BotW scope example, if the player does not use the scope after moving a certain distance the tutorial could appear again to remind the player that the mechanic exists. Specific tutorials could also be toggled on or off for this setting. This could also help for complex controls or abilities that the player may have forgotten about entirely.)

• Tutorial notifications (Not all players will want to repeatedly have to clear notifications for tutorials that are added to the tutorial log)

• On screen HUD controls (Toggle on or off for button reminders and prompts for mechanics like dodging)

• And many more!

I believe we can implement an incredible tutorial system into Finned Folk that allows players of all different skill and experience levels to have a tailored experience that reflects what the player wishes to get out of the game. Having more accessibility options is always a plus, but we don’t have to alienate more hardcore players that wish to have a more natural learning experience for our game.