Show or Tell? A Comparison of Direct Instruction Tutorial and Learn By Doing Increased Impasse Versions of Initial Levels of a Puzzle Game

Game designers often utilize tutorials to explicitly introduce players to game mechanics. Another design approach is to begin by throwing players into the "shallow end", introducing them to mechanics through active engagement in easier levels. To compare these different approaches, we created two modified versions of the first 7 levels of the puzzle game Baba Is You: a tutorialized version, and an increased impasse version. Seventy-five players spent up to 20 minutes playing one of the modified versions or the original game and were asked to fill out a survey on their engagement level, perceived difficulty, and understanding of the core game mechanics. Analyses show that players of the tutorialized version made fewer mistakes and rated their version at a lower difficulty than players of the original and increased impasse versions, while all groups scored highly on content knowledge and engagement. This suggests that direct instruction at the start of a game allows players to come to an understanding equal to a learn-by-doing approach more quickly, with fewer mistakes, and without sacrificing engagement. This study does not, however, show that tutorial players are more prepared to take on more challenging content without explicit guidance, a direction proposed for subsequent work.