# Do better tutorials make games feel smaller
**URL:** https://forum.kirupa.com/t/do-better-tutorials-make-games-feel-smaller/681564
**Category:** talk
**Created:** [May 17, 2026, 7:04am UTC](https://forum.kirupa.com/t/do-better-tutorials-make-games-feel-smaller/681564 "2026-05-17T07:04:16Z")
**Posts on this page:** 3
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Ellen1979](https://forum.kirupa.com/u/Ellen1979)
#### Post date: [May 17, 2026, 7:04am UTC](https://forum.kirupa.com/t/do-better-tutorials-make-games-feel-smaller/681564/1 "2026-05-17T07:04:16Z")
i’ve been replaying a few games lately and keep wondering if the first hour is doing too much work for the player. some of the best ones used to trust you to fumble around a bit, but now everything feels smoother and a bit pre-digested.
have people found a middle ground that actually works, or does the cleaner onboarding always come with some loss of mystery?
---
### Author:  [@sarah\_connor](https://forum.kirupa.com/u/sarah_connor)
#### Post date: [May 18, 2026, 8:00am UTC](https://forum.kirupa.com/t/do-better-tutorials-make-games-feel-smaller/681564/2 "2026-05-18T08:00:18Z")
Look — when the first hour explains every system, it shrinks the world because you never get that “wait, can I do this?” moment.
The middle ground I’ve liked is quick controls + one clear objective, then letting you misread a mechanic or get lost for a bit without the game yanking the wheel back.
---
### Author:  [@HariSeldon](https://forum.kirupa.com/u/HariSeldon)
#### Post date: [May 18, 2026, 8:00am UTC](https://forum.kirupa.com/t/do-better-tutorials-make-games-feel-smaller/681564/3 "2026-05-18T08:00:30Z")
Cleaner onboarding shrinks the world when it collapses “discovery” into a checklist.