
An analysis of unclear lessons in video games (2019) - Tomte
https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2019/10/when-easy-mode-isnt-enough-an-analysis-of-unclear-lessons-in-video-games/
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Kaiyou
I think the best games are the ones not outright telling you how stuff works.
Figuring this out is part of the experience and then, when you learn a new
mechanic you can go play the game again and feel how powerful that knowledge
really is. Like the wall jumps in Metroid III (SNES).

Unfortunately game designers are often lazy, just printing some instructions
on the screen instead of making the game in a way that the player will
naturally learn these things.

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scrollaway
I forgot the name but there was this game released in .. 2017? A metroidvania
in which you have all the tools at your disposition from the beginning of the
game, but aren't taught how to use them / know they exist until later in the
game. So a player who has already finished the game could refinish it very
fast.

Game Maker's toolkit made a video on it.

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Cpoll
Could you try to hunt this down, I'd love to know.

I looked through Game Maker's Toolkit's YT videos, but without knowing quite
what I was looking for, I couldn't find it.

~~~
scrollaway
(copying my other comment): Just found it, it's Toki Tori 2.
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=084BUNlI7Gk](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=084BUNlI7Gk)

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azhenley
I was hoping for more actual lessons here.

For those interested in game dev lessons, I wrote up some of the things I
learned from making Flash games a decade ago:

[http://web.eecs.utk.edu/~azh/blog/8lessons8games.html](http://web.eecs.utk.edu/~azh/blog/8lessons8games.html)

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gundmc
I really recommend clicking through and watching the referenced embedded video
that forms the basis for this article. It's very well done and much more
substantive than this summary.

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ax7f3JZJHSw](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ax7f3JZJHSw)

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AdrianB1
The summary: Some games are simple and intuitive, some are not; that is the
only lesson.

