Games without tutorial Thread

Hello Folks, I have a question for you experts: Do you know of games that offer no tutorial to the player?

I ask because I have a semiotics course to attend and this would be pretty interesting to present. Examples of games without tutorial (or with very little explanation) are: Monument Valley, Limbo, Don't Starve.

I've been searching the web but it's quite hard to find such topic. Any contribution would be really appreciated, also, I think being able to do a good game AND being able to explain it without words is really Great!

Thanks in Advance, Erikari.

TBH there are many old games which don't have tutorial but instead have instruction manual which explains game controls. I don't know if those are what you wanted but just saying

OTOH what is actually you mean by tutorial? is it special level/mode which explains basic controls & rules etc? or anything which explains how to play the game?

Risk of Rain for example. There is got to be a bunch of such games. Also depends on what you mean by tutorial. A completely separate tutorial? Some games have tutorials integrated into the very first missions. Does that count?

Edited by: feillyne

Kingdom is a nice example. It has a bit of minimal intro text to get you started, but it's very much a learn-as-you-play game.

The walking simulators - like Dear Esther and Firewatch - tend not to have tutorials, largely I think because they have so few mechanics, but also because they like to eschew gamey conventions. And point-and-clickers, from Monkey Island to Kentucky Route Zero, also tend to be tutorial-free (again, I think that's got a lot to do with simple mechanics).

There's definitely a spectrum of tutorials though, from putting a couple of prompts up on the first playthrough (like Dungeon of the Endless, or any Amplitude game really) to a bespoke first level or prologue (like XCOM or Heroes of the Storm).

I will mostly echo what others said. I know I am making a game right now where I am attempting to communicate as much as I can through visuals during gameplay. The one thing users need to know when starting the game are the controls, which may require a prompt later. I do think if you game is not super complex (I'm thinking Downfall) using limited prompts is way more immersive. Civ V needs them.

We tend to think that the way the tutorial is organized largely depends on your key audience. Younger generations are playing games more frequently and they're definitely familiar what to do in a new game, because they play tons of games and many features are similar in different games. So they can understand intuitively what to do in this or that new game. For elder generations the situation differs.

Well the best games have tutorials that you don't realize are tutorials, they just feel like an early level of the game. Their teaching you to play without you even realizing it.

A great reference is (my most linked youtube video) by Egorapture....yeah that one

Every call of duty multiplayer has no tutorials

Hello guys, thank you very much for your answers! Unfortunately they came a bit too late for what I needed >.<

I agree with Thr111 that was what I was looking for! the examples I used in the end were:

Level 1-world 1 of Supermario Bros, Limbo, Monument Valley, HalfLife 2, Don't Starve as I needed to display how the user can get the right hints without being told what to do and under what kind of thinking process the user does it

Thanks anyway, I regret not having posted this earlier Q.Q I think it's an interesting game design topic overall.

Half Life 2? I haven't played it in a while, but doesn't it tell you the controls on screen as you need them?