The Rise and Fall of Tutorials: Why Players Are Less Interested in Them

The moment we start a new game, we create many expectations: beyond the emotional, financial, and time investment, the first impression of a game can be decisive. Since the days of arcades and early home consoles, players needed to quickly understand what to do—there were no lengthy explanations, it was all through direct action. One button made the character jump, another attacked, and the rest was learned through practice.

In recent years, a discussion has taken over the industry: the way tutorials are presented to players and the impact on audience retention. With increasingly complex games, systems, and interfaces overloaded with information, tutorials have become an almost mandatory step. But something has changed in player behavior: the more a game tries to teach before people play, the greater the chances of it being abandoned before it really begins.

More and more games are facing a problem: abandonment within the first few minutes. And, in many cases, the culprit isn't the difficulty, the story, or the technical quality, but the long, fragmented, and overly explanatory tutorials. Instead of guiding, they interrupt and alienate players.

A recent discussion among Japanese developers revealed a worrying trend – the more a game tries to teach everything before letting the player play, the greater the chances of it being abandoned, and they end up being seen as a barrier that hinders rather than helps. In this article, we'll see how tutorials need to be reimagined so that games don't fall into oblivion before they even begin.

The Paradox of Explanation, Flow State, and Extensive Tutorials

The origin of this problem often lies in a disconnect between designers and user behavior. Japanese programmer Itchie, who has worked at companies like Square and SNK, shared a personal problem he encountered while developing mobile games. He noticed a high dropout rate early in the game; perhaps players weren't understanding the instructions, so he included more explanations in the tutorial. The result surprised him: players didn't even read the on-screen instructions; the real reason for dropping out was the waiting time without being able to play. So, Itchie reduced the tutorial time to thirty seconds, and player retention improved significantly.

This case shows that it's not about clarity or quantity of information, but about how the player engages with the game. Passive waiting, without emotion or interaction, is one of the biggest enemies of the initial experience. To understand why long instructions fail, it's necessary to look at the concept of "Flow State", where players seek a balance between challenge and skill: when a game becomes stuck and offers neither risk nor reward, it breaks the flow.

Shimaguni Yamato, another experienced developer, highlights the need for "more clarity", without eliminating the mystery and excitement. Xenoblade Chronicles 2 is often cited as an example for presenting complex mechanics through tutorials that interrupt the narrative even after dozens of hours of gameplay. Game systems, however complicated they may be, are better absorbed when the player is already involved and the need to learn arises from the desire to progress, not from an obligation in the first few minutes of the game.

The anxiety of the modern gamer

This behavior didn't appear out of nowhere; gamers live in an environment with an excess of options, such as subscription services, digital stores, and free games offering hundreds of experiences. If a game doesn't quickly grab their attention, it gets replaced. Lengthy tutorials act as an obstacle for many players, especially the more experienced ones. Reading detailed explanations before taking action generates immediate frustration, and the feeling that remains is: "I'm not playing yet".

Another point comes from Hiroyuki Matsumoto, CEO of Flight Unit and character designer for franchises like Atelier, who says that gamers hate tutorials because they want to play, not study. Matsumoto, with experience as a player, states that "even when the basics are explained at the beginning, most of the information isn’t grasped". Passive learning—reading texts, watching explanation windows, or memorizing commands—simply doesn't work well in certain games.

Small visual elements are often much more effective – a red circle indicating a goal, a quick warning before using an item, or a mistake that teaches more than any text. The player learns by making mistakes, trying, and repeating, something that has always been part of the essence of video games.

Nintendo and the art of the invisible tutorial

When discussing this topic, the name Nintendo comes up as a reference. The company perfected what experts call invisible design; instead of stopping the game to teach, the level design places an obstacle that can only be overcome with a jump, and the player learns by doing. Nintendo went so far as to omit tutorials completely in franchises like Mario Kart, where the interface and visual feedback are the automatic learning. This philosophy is based on the principle that the instruction manual shouldn’t be a separate section of the game, but rather the very architecture of the first levels.

In The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, the player learns by observing the environment, testing possibilities, and being rewarded for their curiosity. Other games follow the same philosophy: initial levels that function as practical lessons, without text boxes or pauses – the game teaches as it happens.

When the Game Teaches and When It Becomes a Test of Patience

Some games present tutorials in a natural way, like Dark Souls, which teaches the basics in a few seconds but lets the player discover the rest through practice. This creates a sense of accomplishment and reward, since learning is directly linked to exploration and challenge.

Portal introduces concepts gradually, integrated into the puzzle design. The player learns while solving problems, without realizing they’re being instructed. This way of teaching maintains the experience and avoids the feeling of being stuck in a lesson.

Long tutorials have become a test of patience, and those who can't stand that initial sequence abandon the game—even if it's incredible, even if after the introduction there's an engaging narrative and deep mechanics. In a market with daily releases, independent games and smaller productions suffer even more because, often, if the tutorial doesn't make a good first impression, the player is unlikely to return.

Developers need to rethink how they present their mechanics, seeking creative solutions that don't alienate players. Fragmented tutorials, simple visual instructions, or even like Nintendo does—without explanations—letting the gameplay teach naturally. It's a constant challenge, because every day games evolve and so do players, and we don't know what the thinking of future gamers will be like.

This discussion highlights a shift in game design, where the current challenge isn’t to explain everything, but to create experiences that spark curiosity and a desire to continue. Players don't need to understand all the systems in the first few minutes; they need to feel like they're playing, making decisions, and actively participating. Tutorials still have a place, but they should be subtle, distributed throughout the game, and, whenever possible, integrated into the gameplay.

Perhaps the most important question for a developer isn't "Did the player learn everything?", but rather, did they have enough fun to want to keep playing? That's the key to a game's success or failure.

What do you think about this topic? Do tutorials bother you? Leave your opinion in the comments.