Video Games Are Bad at Explaining Themselves
Video games as a genre are extremely poor at explaining themselves. When you buy a new game you’ll often find little or no information regarding the basic systems and mechanics. The industry assumes that their customers are by default familiar with the fundamentals of playing a modern video game. Hence if a game has a tutorial, it is often based around videos rather than detailed verbal instructions. You are are briefly shown a clip of a specific move being successfully undertaken but it is seldom shown in a wider context. The industry also expects the fan community to take on the role of curating and disseminating information about its games. The move away from forums and bespoke websites to Discord highlights this. Discord is a primarily a real time communication tool and not good at maintaining a historical data archive. If you want an answer to a specific gaming question, you’ll more than likely find it on YouTube in a video made by a fellow gamer.
Video games as a genre are extremely poor at explaining themselves. When you buy a new game you’ll often find little or no information regarding the basic systems and mechanics. The industry assumes that their customers are by default familiar with the fundamentals of playing a modern video game. Hence if a game has a tutorial, it is often based around videos rather than detailed verbal instructions. You are are briefly shown a clip of a specific move being successfully undertaken but it is seldom shown in a wider context. The industry also expects the fan community to take on the role of curating and disseminating information about its games. The move away from forums and bespoke websites to Discord highlights this. Discord is a primarily a real time communication tool and not good at maintaining a historical data archive. If you want an answer to a specific gaming question, you’ll more than likely find it on YouTube in a video made by a fellow gamer.
This issue has been highlighted recently as I’ve watched my grandchildren try new games on my computer. They play primarily on their phones or the Nintendo Switch 2. Hence their major frame of reference are interacting with games via a touch screen or a controller. As a result, PC gaming via a keyboard and mouse is quite abstract for them and also physically difficult for their small hands. The problem is further compounded by their often being no viable tutorial directly available in the games they play. My PC having two monitors helps in so far as you can run a video on one screen while playing a game on another but videos are often a lottery. Information is not always up to date and not everyone who creates YouTube content are skilled communicators. Furthermore, although it is useful to have access to online resources, this does explain or justify why a game such as Fall Guys does not have an integral tutorial?
When playing Roblox with my granddaughters, I often ask them how to do a specific task in games such as 99 Nights in the Forest. Sometimes they’ll know and other times they will not. Most of their knowledge comes from “just trying things” which can be a great way to learn but it can leave you with serious gaps in your knowledge. This matter is compounded as I play with them on the PC, which often has different or even additional controls. Online searches have sometime led to all of us finding out something that we previously didn’t know. Discovering information this way can be fun but it can also be very frustrating. I hit a brick wall today trying to figure out exactly how you used the various game passes in Chivalry 2. I eventually found a Reddit post that cogently explained the specific steps required to activate the pass and how you subsequently accessed unlocked gear. Again, isn’t providing such information incumbent on the developers?
I was going through my bric-a-brac cupboard recently and found the installation disks for several games from the middle 2000s. All had comprehensive manuals. In fact the in-depth instructions that came with the MMORPG The Lord of the Rings Online where so well written, I chose to play the Lore-master class purely on the strength of the written summary. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (the 2009 version) has an excellent tutorial level dovetailed into the start of the game, where you’re character has to visit the firing range to undertake basic weapons proficiency. It’s an excellent example of seamlessly integrating practical instruction into a game and making it part of the story and overall experience. If you remember such things, it is a stark contrast to how things are done these days. The videos game industry’s casual attitude towards having to explain themselves to their paying customers seems a least, ill considered and at worse, frankly disrespectful.
However, let us end on a positive note. As I was writing this post I collated a list of games that I’ve played over the last twelve months. Most of which were completely new to me at the time. After some consideration, I remembered that those games that made the best effort to school new players in their respective gameplay, were often so called AA titles. Sniper Elite: Resistance has a bespoke level at the start of the game that provides examples of the most essential mechanics and systems. Tainted Grail: The Fall of Avalon integrates a tutorial into the game prologue as you character escapes incarceration. The more I think about it, the biggest offenders for not making any effort to explain themselves are once again, the big triple A game developers. However, the tide of public opinion is beginning to change against this sector of the video game industry. Perhaps this in another potential lesson that can be added to an already lengthy list, that they can learn.
Roblox
I frequently see advertising and promotional material for Roblox. For example, they have gift cards for the game at the supermarket checkout, along with similar products for Minecraft and Fortnite. However, I’ve never really paid any attention to it because I’m not the target demographic. This changed recently when I asked my ten year old, twin granddaughters what they were playing on their phones. They, like countless other children their age, play Roblox, so I did a quick search online to see what all the fuss was about. Apparently, Roblox has approximately 111.8 million daily active users and 380 million monthly active users worldwide. In light of such a prodigious playerbase, I thought I should look into this game further. So I installed Roblox on my PC, via the Windows Xbox app and asked the twins to give me a tour, as well as their thoughts on things.
I frequently see advertising and promotional material for Roblox. For example, they have gift cards for the game at the supermarket checkout, along with similar products for Minecraft and Fortnite. However, I’ve never really paid any attention to it because I’m not the target demographic. This changed recently when I asked my ten year old, twin granddaughters what they were playing on their phones. They, like countless other children their age, play Roblox, so I did a quick search online to see what all the fuss was about. Apparently, Roblox has approximately 111.8 million daily active users and 380 million monthly active users worldwide. In light of such a prodigious playerbase, I thought I should look into this game further. So I installed Roblox on my PC, via the Windows Xbox app and asked the twins to give me a tour, as well as their thoughts on things.
It turns out that Roblox is actually an online platform and game creation system, rather than just a game per se. Users can play a vast number of games and activities that have been created by other players. These are known as “experiences”. Players can create and customise an avatar to use across millions of different games, which range from racing and role-playing to simulations and obstacle courses. The platform also includes social hangouts and messaging features. Roblox also accommodates the trading of virtual items. There is a large, self-sustaining virtual economy based primarily on a freemium model, where users purchase and spend the virtual currency called Robux. Creators earn that currency by developing user-generated content. Due to the vast playerbase the monetisation is very high profile. More on this later.
Roblox is available on all major platforms. The graphics are simple and the game doesn’t have demanding specifications. My granddaughters play via their phones, whereas I installed it on the PC, mainly because I cannot cope with playing games on a touch screen device. Creating an account was easy. Because I was using the Xbox app, my age has already been verified. As a result adults are segregated from younger players with regard to voice chat and text chat. Children can add “trusted connections” to their friends list which then enables both voice and chat services. However, players under 13 cannot use voice chat and those of 13 years or older have to verify their age and phone number. A lot of “experiences” do not support voice chat. However, players can use third party apps to bypass these restrictions. Text chat is heavily filtered with infractions being swiftly sanctioned.
What of the actual “experiences” themselves in Roblox. Well there’s a wide variety, covering multiple different genres. Stylistically, many are a curious fusion of mobile games and old school console classics. Some have the hallmarks of being “home brewed” whereas others are very slick and professional. “Obbys” or obstacle courses to you and me, are very popular and are surprisingly satisfying. Simple, uncomplicated activities are often very therapeutic and “obbys” certainly scratches that particular itch. I played a FPS called Gunfight Arena and it contained a surprisingly large amount of features, such as weapon customisation, ammunition upgrades etc. Survive 99 Nights With Deer proved quite a challenging survival game, despite its basic functionality. Sometimes less is more and just as satisfying. Pet collection games are also popular and there seem to be a lot of fishing games.
“Experiences” are ranked by player voting and there is a chart facility in Roblox to find what is new, trending or a community favourite. Again all games have user statistics, so it is easy to discern how well a title is doing. At the time of writing Survive 99 Nights With Deer has 9.1 million visits. Which leads me onto a couple of negative aspects of Roblox. For every good “experience”, there are several asset flip games of no real value. Content does get deleted but I suspect that it’s a question of constantly trying to keep up with it. Sadly some “experiences” are egregiously monetised. Pop-up messages constantly remind you of paid upgrades and game enhancement. Cash shop buttons are placed deliberately next to touchscreen controls and in-game advertising is invasive. Due to the large playerbase Roblox attracts marketing from major brands such as Nike and Gucci.
I like the concept behind Roblox. A safe space for kids to hangout with friends, where they can play, create and express themselves. But it becomes very clear that the captive audience is a massive cash cow for content creators and companies that want to market a product or raise brand awareness among the young. My granddaughters don’t seem to notice or care about this aspect but it is jarring to me, hailing from an older era of gaming. However, there are many diverting “experiences” that are rewarding for casual gamers. Then there is the social aspects of the platform which is very important to the young. Hence I cannot be dismissive of Roblox in all honesty. And I did find the “Obbys” to be somewhat addictive. It just shows that video games continuously evolve to meet market needs and this is what is currently appealing among younger players.