Effective practices in game tutorial systems

Efficient game tutorial systems are an essential part of educational games, providing targeted instruction to increase the player’s proficiency in game mechanics while allowing more time for learning and game play. We have synthesized a system of effective practices for the design of educational game tutorials, and demonstrated their efficacy in a new tutorial system for an educational puzzle game called BeadLoom Game (BLG). When compared with a classroom introduction to the same material, students using the new tutorial system completed the tutorials in 75% less time while producing higher learning gains and higher levels of achievement. The practices devised and tested in our game tutorial system can be used to make educational games more scalable and effective.