For a change of pace, the above screens were taking during my first time experience playing “Whale Trail”, a mobile game for iOS.
The good bits:
- Games can often get away with intro slides because they serve as a prologue for a character-driven story. In this case Whale Trail shows 4 intro screens upon game load that read like a children’s book.
- The best FTUE element is the playthrough tutorial, which is typical of games but underused in other experiences. The tutorial provides a safe environment for a player to fail, learn and test the game’s limits, all at their own pace.
- Progressive hinting is provided throughout the playthrough as players reach learning points. For example, once the player has made it through the first portion of the playthrough, villainous “clouds” are introduced along with a tip card that says, “Clouds reduce your Whale Trail!”.
- The completion moment of the playthrough reinforces an early success for the player.
- Once the player enters normal gameplay mode, they can still learn and practice by trying Missions or Challenge Levels.
To be improved:
- Whale Trail offers no way to skip the introductory story or the playthrough tutorial; other, arguably more complicated, games like Plants vs. Zombies allow skipping for players who just want to get started.
- There is a high frequency of progressive hints during the tutorial, which can disrupt the experience as the player gets into the flow of gameplay. Whale Trail may consider integrating some less critical tips in a modeless fashion, instead of forcing the game to pause.