5 Worst Ways to Start Your Game
The average player spends less than two hours playing a game before passing judgement on its quality.
You have less than two hours to captivate the player. So how do you achieve that? How do you show what’s unique about your game, offer an enjoyable experience and leave a great first impression in this short frame?
Well, that’s not today’s topic. Today’s topic is how not to do it. Let's delve into the common missteps that should be avoided.
(DISCLAIMER: I don’t suggest the games I mention are bad. On the contrary, some of these are my all time favorites.)
1. Starting with a 45-minute unskippable cinematic
The usual suspects that comes to mind when someone says long cinematics is, of course, Hideo Kojima games. Metal Gear Solid 4 and 5 are notorious with their long cutscenes.
Us indies do not need to worry about this one since most of us don’t have the budget even for a short cinematic, let alone a long one. Cinematics sure are great when done right. But forcing player to sit and watch for more than 10 minutes is a crime. It’s the best way to bore players before even letting them play the thing.
Giving players a chance to interact, learn controls, or experience the game mechanics is crucial in the first hour.
2. Starting too hard
To start playing Driver (1999), first you need to beat the tutorial which wants you to complete a list of moves. Sounds not that hard, right?
The problem is that these moves have vague names, and the game doesn’t explain what they are. Plus, you have only one minute to complete all the list. Players had to spend hours before figuring what the moves are, starting the tutorial over and over again. Developers had to make it easier in later ports to prevent further frustration.
3. Starting too slow (with forced linearity)
Whenever someone recommends Red Dead Redemption 2 to others, you’ll hear the same thing: It’s a great game, but you need to be patient with its slow beginning.
I actually enjoy that slow prologue, but I understand why some people can’t get through it. Objectives are overly linear with even the smallest action being described to you. It provides no choices or sense of agency, making players feel like they're on a fixed path with little control. It’s doing a great job setting the mood and atmosphere of the game but unfortunately loses many players along the way.
4. Starting with too much exposition
Pillars of Eternity 1 is the most underrated CRPG. And there is a reason for that.
It’s one of my favorite games but even I gave up playing in my first try. It starts with lore-heavy exposition, throwing long texts after texts and making you feel overwhelmed on the get-go. Every NPC you talk has a long story to tell, full of game world-specific terms and lore. The game also fails to explain its core mechanics which makes you feel blind when creating your character.
It's nice to have a detailed lore. But, shoving all of that into the player's face right from the start can be a bit overwhelming. The most sensible approach is to provide players with the essential elements of the lore that are relevant to the story and leave the rest to the players.
5. Starting with uninspiring environments
Another great Obsidian game, Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic 2 also fails to captivate players with its dull and uninteresting environment in the beginning.
The opening should showcase the game's world in a way that makes players eager to explore. SW: KoTOR 2 does the opposite. The tutorial level is too long and offers you nothing interesting. All you do is to run through same-looking gray corridors. To start experiencing the compelling dialogues, great NPCs and fantastic story, you need to go through the boring tutorial. (Or download a mod that enables you to skip it!)
Honorable Mentions
Being forced to open an account: It’s been a while since I’ve encountered this, but it’s one of the most annoying things to see when you first open the game.
Starting with a memory loss: While not inherently bad, the trope of a protagonist with memory loss has become somewhat overused. (I have to admit my first game also starts with amnesia).
Starting with a boring tutorial: Tutorials that consist mainly of reading copious amounts of text can be a turn-off for players.
There are many ways to start your game terribly. These are just the ones that come to my mind. Share me yours on the comments! We’ll explore the best ways to start your game in the next post.
Videos
Why Do We STILL Hate Tutorials?
How to Change Post Processing through Code (C# Unity Tutorial)
Every 2D Node Explained in 9 Minutes !
Other
Bosses (YouTube)
Making Immersive Games 101: Maintaining the Magic Circle
Me
Reading: Tress of the Emerald Sea by Brandon Sanderson.
Watching: Cyberpunk Edgerunner, which is surprisingly good.
Playing: Finished Phantom Liberty. It was much better than I expected. CDPR is really good at capturing human moments. Let’s analyze how they do it in future posts.
Listening:
Thanks for reading!
And that’s it from today’s issue of GameDev’s Journey. I hope you enjoyed it and found it useful. If you did, please like and leave a comment. Reach out for suggestions, objections, questions, or just say hi!
But regardless, thank you so much for reading, and have a great game dev journey!