SHOT DOWN

While Resogun is designed to be as immediate as possible, earlier versions of the game included a tutorial level. “It was about half as long as a normal level, and players needed to complete it to start the ‘real’ game,” Krueger explains. “We had onscreen prompts, abilities that unlocked gradually, and tailormade enemy waves to help demonstrate the game’s mechanics. But during testing, most players ignored all of this anyway and just wanted to play the game as soon as possible. So we scrapped the standalone tutorial level, and ended up integrating basic tutorial elements and introductory enemy patterns into the first level. This worked much better, since it eliminated downtime and just threw players into the action. We’re often working on a tight budget so we need to pick our battles very carefully. So, rather than fleshing out tutorials, it feels more productive to spend that time improving the game.”