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Abstract: "It has been well-noted that contemporary digital games tend to design for a relatively high skill threshold engineered to appease a well-entrenched and digitally literate audience (Hayes, 2005). Such design practices, however, serve to disenfranchise new and novice players wanting to learn to play. This novice-expert divide is a significant barrier to entry for individuals wanting to play digital games, and given that digital games are seeing increased use in pedagogical contexts (Akilli, 2007; Becker, 2007; Nieborg, 2011; Shelton, Satwicz, & Caswell, 2011; Ulicsak, 2010), such skill-based barriers further complicate the seamless incorporation of digital games into the classroom. In an effort to explore how we might bridge the gap between new and weathered players, I created three tutorials for World of Warcraft (2004) in an attempt to improve the existing tutorials for newer entrants to the game. These new tutorials offered different modalities of instruction, as well as instructional strategies in assisting newer players. Tutorials were designed using the Structured Sound Functions (SSF) model of instructional design, following the Attentional Control Theory of Multimedia Learning (ACTML). The tutorials were then analyzed for their effects on play outcomes, player engagement, and player motivations using the Dick and Carey (2011) three-stage model of formative evaluation. This work thus makes two important contributions. First, this research conducts a much-needed in-depth study of game tutorials, which is an area yet to be well-charted in the disciplines of either education or games studies. Secondly, by analyzing the results of the formative evaluation, I conclude that players react favorably to a faded or "just-in-time" instructional strategy-an approach to player scaffolding which showed significantly increased motivation for play, engagement, and play mastery among novice participants. Implications for game design and future research are disc

"we implemented eight tutorial designs in three video games of varying complexity and evaluated their effects on player engagement and retention. The results of our multivariate study of over 45,000 players show that the usefulness of tutorials depends greatly on game complexity. Although tutorials increased play time by as much as 29% in the most complex game, they did not significantly improve player engagement in the two simpler games. Our results suggest that investment in tutorials may not be justified for games with mechanics that can be discovered through experimentation."

towards a game tutorial to "adapts to the skill of the player and tailors itself to the individual player"

"ARM (Adventure Running Machine) is a game engine and editor which can be used to build top-down adventure games without knowing how to program. It includes documentation and tutorials for using the software. Games built utilize the HTML5 canvas for playability in most web browsers."