The Tutorial - Learn to Play: Designing Tutorials for Video Games - page 23

commands from NPCs or tutorial systems, showing information in
flashcards, pop-ups in the form of heads-up display (HUD) instruc-
tions or hit point numbers, for example, or any other system that pro-
vides direct data to the player that is meant to be acted upon. Didactic
instruction is very important for beginning or novice learners, dem-
onstrated by something known as the worked- example effect . Without
delving deep into the psychology, people learning new things dem-
onstrate better performance on complex tasks when provided with a
fully solved example problem. For example, if I were to show you the
steps required to isolate X in the following equation like so:

( )

2

3423 x + yyb =

2

3432 x +=⋅ y by

( ) −

2

3 x =⋅ 3 b 24 y y

3 x = (332 by ⋅ − ) 4 y

( )

x = ( 32 b ⋅ y ) − 43 y

(Wow! That was way more steps than I intended!) you would be more
likely to solve a similar problem successfully, barring any previous
knowledge in the subject matter. * On the other hand, learners with
prior knowledge of the subject often find this kind of teaching redun-
dant, and it can actually damage their attention to the task. † Fortunately
for us, games are great at detecting when you are having trouble, even
via as rudimentary a system as counting the number of remaining lives.
Many games employ the didactic teaching method, such as Red
Faction: Armageddon ™ , Rogue Legacy ™ , Super Meat Boy, the Final
Fantasy ™ series , Spore ™, and more.

Exploratory

The opposite of didactic teaching, exploratory tutorials prompt the
player to do something in a way that is non-threatening, and in which

* Sweller, J. (2006). The worked-example effect and human cognition. Learning and
Instruction , 16(2).
† Kalyuga, S. et al. (2003). The expertise reversal effect. Educational Psychologist , 38(1).