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2D Side Scroller : Tutorial Levels


SO YOU GOTTA BOAST ABOUT IT!

Getting the player to learn how to play your game is one of those challenges that every game designer faces. I decided to attempt to use the subtle method of giving the player no choice but to do the action and implying through affordance and context what to do without telling them what to do. For example at the beginning of the game the player spawns on the left against a wall. It follows then that they must move right. The player then falls into a pit. They must use the jump key to escape, then into another pit, same deal as the first except now they cant directly jump out as they have a jump off of the raised block because the wall is 3 blocks high. This teaches the player their limits without simply telling them. The pits are also just too long to jump over so a player cant accidentally miss this lesson.


Next, the player enters a room where the ceiling slopes down nearly to the floor heavily implying crouching and affording them a small space to move through. Once the player drops into the next section they are stuck unless they try walking against the box. This teaches them that they can push boxes and quickly follows it up with a season in pushing a box to stand on it to reach a high place.


My hope is that my game wordlessly communicates its ideas and teaches the player all the ways it expects them to act. The player shouldn't ever get to stage and feel completely lost as to what to do. I also did things like keeping every level start and end a the same height as this helps orient the player and reinforces the directional progress they are making.
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