#Lets play spacechem how to#

The first one should be obvious: What is the player doing in this game? This question is one that should be a given for any video game ever made if you can’t explain to someone the rules of your game, then you have certainly failed.

As I thought about my own thought process when it comes to learning games, it’s built upon asking three questions. Unfortunately, you can’t just ask someone who hasn’t played your game about what they are having trouble with learning, as they have no idea what questions to ask.

#Lets play spacechem how to#

Many games have trouble with either hitting the player over the head with everything at once, or leaving so much not explained that the player has no idea how to improve. The problem with game designers developing tutorials for new players is the fact that it’s hard to figure out how to teach someone when you know everything already.

Thinking about this more, I’ve come up with a simple hierarchy of how designers can help design the flow of a game or a tutorial to teach someone the game mechanics effectively.īefore we begin, it’s important to note that what we’re going to talk about is a general solution that should fit most games and game design there will always be exceptions to the rules. Video games feature different levels of complexity based on the genre and design, and it can be very hard to teach someone how to play a title if it’s their first time.