The two learning curves presented above show that I don't want players learning my game over time, as it increases the chances of them getting bored and discouraged quickly, but instead making them familiar with the gameplay within a short time scale, so that they can use that saved time mastering the game instead.
How to turn this philosophy into practice?
To make this research easier, let's look at what makes games hard to learn so that I can later on avoid those mistakes.
Too many mechanics
Players will put the game away without even trying to learn it let alone master it, once they see how much effort it'll take to understand all mechanics. In Challenges For Game Designers, we can read that:
"If a game presents many challenges too quickly, the player can become overwhelmed and frustrated" (Page 99).
I know from experience how overwhelmed and uncomfortable I can feel trying to play something that throws so many mechanics at me that I get what is called an 'analysis paralysis'.
If the game needs to have multiple mechanics, one way to solve this is to start with just one, introduce a new one over time and 'allow players to try out new mechanics in a safe space' (Game Design - Theory and Practice, Second Edition, page 128) so in a tutorial, or at an early stage of the game, where nothing can punish them for doing it wrong which is frustrating for players.
Rewarding is another good boost that could be used when introducing a mechanic - 'Rewarding players make them feel that, indeed they are on the right track with the game and encourages them to keep playing.' (Game Design - Theory and Practice, Second Edition, page 128). Rewarding doesn't necessarily make things easier to learn, but certainly encourages players to carry on learning.
Not only the physical mechanics can be overwhelming. User interface might give players a headache as well. Quoting Challenges For Game Designers again:
"(...)life meters, hit points, subscreens and heads-up displays may be unfamiliar and confusing to someone who has never played a video game before. If you include these elements in a game that targets certain demographic, you may have to take great care to explanation what they are and how to use them, without initially overwhelming the player". (Page 149).
Personally, I'm planning to base my games on one mechanic only, so that I'm not running the risk of finding my players emotionally defeated of trying to unsuccessfully learn too many at once, instead letting them concentrate and master that one particular mechanic only. Obviously doing that, brings a risk of boring the player quickly, and this is when tuning needs to take place which I'll talk about in my next post - 'What makes a game difficult to master'.
Unfamiliar controls:
In the book challenges for game designers, we can read that one of the things that makes a game hard to learn, isn't the game itself, but the controls:
'For a game-savvy six year old, a video-game controller might be as common as a fork. For older individuals, however, a game controller might be "for kids" and something they just don't understand'. (Page 149).
What that means is that no matter how fun and easy to learn the game is, if my target audience isn't familiar with the controller, they won't know what to press to make things happen in the first place, making the learning curve for the controller itself too long for players to bother before playing the actual game. Thankfully smart phones don't use any buttons as an input, but a touch screen instead, which all mobile owners know how to use, so unless I use a complicated button system within the game play, people should know how to use the controls (more about how games make use of smart phone controls can be found in my post 'Game mechanics used for touch screen devices').
It is also important to keep the controls consistent. In Game Design Perspectives I read that:
'Controls should remain consistent and easy to memorize so that players can repeatedly return to the game. For example if button A controls character jumping, in one part of the game, it should do so everywhere that jumping is required to avoid confusion.' (page 334).
It would be rather inconsiderate changing the, let's say swiping mechanic from jumping, to shooting a weapon. Players would be left totally confused and frustrated.
Too much text:
Since I'm aiming at the mass market which includes people from different demographics, too much text and explaining can become an issue especially for kids, who can't or just don't bother reading, as well as my foreign audience, whose knowledge of English language is limited.
'(...) often the last thing players want to do when they have just purchased a new game is to sit down and read an extensive instructional manual. Players definitely have a strong desire just to pick up the controller and start playing the game.' (Game Design - Theory and Practice, page 127)
This means that my games will have to use as little text as possible, having a visual presentation of how to play the game instead of a written tutorial.
'Players Expect to Do, Not Watch' (Game Design - Theory and Practice, Second Edition, page 17)
_____________________________
These are the main reasons I found, that explain why some games are difficult to learn. If I avoid them, and follow one principle - I should nail it. So what principle do I need to follow to make my games easy to learn?
Familiarity:
To make my games easy to learn for the very wide range of cognitive abilities of my target audience, I should make use of familiarity.
Quoting Game Design - Theory and Practice:
'Attempting to model reality may be one way to give players an advantage going into your game-world; through their own life experiences, players will know to some extent what to expect' (Page 127)
Players learn the game quicker if they can resemble it from the real world or another game. For example a player who played checkers will find it easier to play chess than a player who hadn't played none. Poker players will understand the rules of Blackjack quicker to those who never touched cards before. Same thing happens with games based on a sport. Quoting Gamasutra:
'Pong offers quick pick-up not because it is easier to learn than Computer Space (although that was also true), but because it draws on familiar conventions from that sport. Or better, Pong is "easy to learn" precisely because it assumes the basic rules and function of a familiar cultural practice.'
Football fans instinctively know how to play FIFA, because they know how football is played in real life (the only struggle is learning the controls, which I've mentioned). Seeing a bird flap its wings when tapping the screen makes sense without challenging anyone's cognitive ability, hence Flappy Bird's popularity across all demographics.
In conclusion I should worry about not overwhelming players with the complexity of mechanics; using visual elements over text, and keeping my game familiar with the outside world. In fact, Gamasutra states that "Mechanical simplicity is less important than conceptual familiarity", so thinking of a game that everyone will understand because of the similarities from the real world might be the key to success.
References:
M. Tim Jones (2010), Game Design - Theory & Practice, Second Edition, Jones & Bartlett Learning
Brenda Brathwaite and Ian Shreiber (2008), Challenges For Game Designers, Delmar Publishing
Francois Dominic Laramee (2002), Game Design Perspectives, Charles River Media
Challenge and Consequence 2: The Reckoning [ONLINE] Available at: http://problemmachine.wordpress.com/2012/06/16/challenge-and-consequence-2-the-reckoning/ [Accessed 7th October 2014]
10 Games That Take Minutes to Learn and a Lifetime to Master [ONLINE] Available at: http://entertainment.howstuffworks.com/leisure/brain-games/10-games-minutes-to-learn-lifetime-to-master.htm#page=10 [Accessed 7th October 2014]
Gamasutra: Persuasive Games: Familiarity, Habituation, and Catchiness [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.gamasutra.com/view/feature /132369/persuasive_games_familiarity_. php?page=1 [Accessed 7th October 2014]
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