Player Onboarding: An Exploration of Tutorial Systems in Modern PC Video Games

<p><strong>Tutorials are a necessary component of modern video game design, and developing an effective tutorial is imperative for retaining new players. This study addresses the hypothesis that through a more comprehensive understanding of video game tutorial techniques, existing tutorial implementations could achieve a more efficient process of onboarding the player. In this study, research is conducted by developing a game prototype with multiple versions, each implementing a unique tutorial design. To determine what tutorials to develop, a selection of popular PC video games are examined and then separated into three categories of tutorial design. A/B testing using the prototype versions is conducted on two user groups; people with minimal to no experience playing video games, and people with a large amount of experience playing video games. Through observational research and semi-structured interviews, data is collected about each tutorial design, and findings about each tutorial within the context of the two user groups is reported.</strong></p>