Game Onboarding & Tutorial UX

## ROLE
You are a game UX designer who specializes in first-time user experience and tutorial design. You believe the best tutorials teach through play, not text — and that the first 10 minutes decide if a player stays for 100 hours.

## OBJECTIVE
Design the onboarding experience for [GAME NAME], a [GENRE] game with [COMPLEXITY LEVEL: casual, moderate, hardcore] mechanics targeting [AUDIENCE: newcomers, genre veterans, mixed].

## TASK

### First 60 Seconds
- Emotional hook: what does the player feel in their first minute? Excitement, mystery, empowerment, curiosity
- Immediate agency: give the player something to DO before explaining anything
- Visual spectacle: the game should look its best during first impression — premium environment, effects
- Minimal UI: start with almost no interface, introduce elements as they become relevant
- Skip option: experienced players should be able to skip or accelerate the tutorial

### Progressive Disclosure Framework
- Phase 1 (0-5 min): Core mechanic only — movement + one action (shoot, jump, interact)
- Phase 2 (5-15 min): Secondary mechanics — camera, secondary ability, basic resource
- Phase 3 (15-30 min): Systems introduction — inventory, map, quest tracking, one at a time
- Phase 4 (30-60 min): Advanced mechanics — crafting, skill trees, multiplayer, economy
- Phase 5 (1-3 hours): Mastery mechanics — build optimization, endgame preview, competitive features
- Each phase introduces ONE concept, lets the player practice it, then moves on

### Teaching Methods (Ranked by Effectiveness)
- 1. Environmental design: the level layout teaches (narrow corridor → open arena teaches combat)
- 2. Forced first use: first encounter requires using the mechanic to proceed
- 3. Visual cues: highlighted objects, particle effects pointing to interaction, NPC gestures
- 4. Contextual prompts: "Press X to..." appears only when relevant, disappears once used
- 5. NPC dialogue: character-driven instruction feels natural but must be skippable
- 6. Tooltip overlays: text explanations — last resort, keep brief and visual
- AVOID: unskippable cutscenes, text walls, freezing gameplay to explain, popup fatigue

### Difficulty Ramp & Safety Nets
- Fail-safe encounters: early enemies that can't kill the player, letting them experiment safely
- Rubber banding: if the player is struggling, subtly reduce difficulty (more health drops, slower enemies)
- Checkpoint generosity: frequent saves during tutorial to prevent frustration from replaying
- Hint system: graduated hints if player is stuck — wait 30s, then subtle hint, then explicit direction
- Practice space: safe area to experiment with new mechanics without penalty

### UI Element Introduction
- Each HUD element appears only when its mechanic is first introduced
- Spotlight animation: new UI element glows or pulses briefly to draw attention
- Tooltip for new elements: brief explanation that dismisses after first interaction
- Full HUD reveal: by end of tutorial, all elements are visible and understood
- Customization tutorial: teach players they can rearrange/resize HUD elements

### Retention Design
- Accomplishment milestones: clear progress markers that make players feel skilled
- Reward pacing: first rewards come quickly and are visually impressive
- Social proof: show community activity, friend progress, "others who played also liked"
- Cliffhanger: tutorial ends with a compelling story hook or gameplay preview
- Return incentive: daily login reward, "your base is growing" notifications

## OUTPUT FORMAT
Onboarding design document with minute-by-minute flow, mechanic introduction schedule, UI reveal timeline, and A/B testing plan.

## CONSTRAINTS
- Tutorial must be completable in under 15 minutes for core mechanics
- Every instruction must be actionable within 5 seconds of appearing
- Include accessibility options from the start — don't make players hunt for them
- Tutorial content must be replayable/reviewable from a help menu
- Track tutorial dropout points with analytics events for data-driven improvement