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[Kinaetron]

I'm currently putting together the first playtest for my game and I was wondering if I should tell the players the controls or not. The game is quite an early prototype so it doesn't have a tutorial in it yet.

[SirNiko]

Is discovery of the controls meant to be a puzzle element in the game? If yes, then do not tell the players the controls initially.

If no, then tell the players the controls. Packaging a txt file with the exe is the most convenient way to do so.

[Kinaetron]

Cool, so telling people the controls it is then. Also its a live playtest so I  will  just tell them in person.

Thanks !!

[LiquidAsh]

I suggest approaching your playtesting as a scientific experiment.  You should have specific questions in mind, that you even have hypotheses about, and you want to find out whether you are right or not.  Not telling players the controls would be a great way to test whether you controls are intuitive and how well players can figure them out.  If you expect that players will need a tutorial (that you haven't developed yet) to figure out your game, then it probably makes more sense to tell them how to play (in lieu of that future tutorial).

[Kinaetron]

That my friend is the exact reason why I've been bouncing back and fourth about telling the playtesters about the controls, while for the most part it is the standard set up, there are some elements that definitely need to be explained.

But I think I've settled on a good compromise, I'II tell them the absolute necessities so that they can get through the level and then just see how they get along.

[ஒழுக்கின்மை (Paul Eres)]

preferably the *game itself* should tell the players the controls, that's kind of expected behavior for games. if a game doesn't tell you the controls in-game, it feels anachronistic. if i have to guess what the controls are for an indie game because the game doesn't tell me, i won't go looking for a text file explaining it, i just will delete the game

[mirosurabu]

I very much agree with LiquidAsh.

However, accessibility should definitively be one of your concerns. You really should watch for how well your game speaks to your players. And for this, you will have to minimize your chatter with playtesters as much as possible in order to combat the observer bias.

[Kinaetron]

I agree a good tutorial is crucial for a game to be accessible to the player and will implement one as soon as all of the mechanics are in the game. At the moment I want to perfect the controls for the game as they are crucial. As its going to be a live session going to make it a point to explain the controls to all of the players as thoroughly as possible and then let them have at it with as little interference as possible.

[Sankar]

I'll answer this question with a very personal opinion.

On my first playtest, I would prefer not to tell people anything about the game. I wouldn't teach the controls or say what they should do, The reason is to collect information about how intuitive my product is.

Sure, people can easily learn about game controls in-game. But if the Game already clicks with people without the tutorial, that would mean my game is intuitive.
On my final version, obviously I would put some sort of tutorial, but if the game is already intuitive enough, people won't have to adapt/learn new controls, its already something familiar to them and in my opinion, it can help the game.

For example:
Everytime I start a New Game, I expect to be able to scroll thru menus using the WASD keys and the Arrow Keys. I usually try to move the mouse too, so I know if its a Keyboard only game.
I expect to be able to make my selection using the Enter Key or the Spacebar, I expect to "go back" using the Esc key, and the Backspace Key.
I expect to be able to turn off the music using the M key.

In Game, if a game is lets say a Plataformer. I expect both the WASD and the Arrow Keys to move, the SpaceBar to Jump, the Shift to Run, the Tab to open my Inventory, The P/Esc and Pause Keys to Pause the game.
I expect to be able to use the keys next to the WASD Keys as "action keys" (E open doors, etc...) and the NumPad as action Keys too (Since I'm used to have this layout in more Arcade Games)

Sure, I'm talking about my PERSONAL experience with Keys Layout and Obviously talking about Keyboard and Not Joypads. but the same logic applies to any other control device, and since this is a test and not your final product, you can try to have a more focused research.

[Kinaetron]

Yeah I get what you mean, my friend pretty much pitched me the same line of thinking when I proposed it to him and initially thought it was a good idea. Having some time to I realized the thing we really want to test is if the mechanics in the game work well and in terms of that we need a few barriers as possible which of course includes the controls.

[Vino]

If you expect to get any useful feedback out of your playtesting then you need to do as much as you can to simulate the person who goes to your website and downloads your demo without you even knowing about it, and tries to play your game with absolutely no input from you or even realization who you are or that you exist at all.

So no, don't tell them the controls. Like Paul said, the game itself needs to tell them the controls.

[Kinaetron]

The playtest is there primarily to make sure that the control mechanics work within the game, once that is done we will make it a point to create a tutorial. The reason why I'm offput to building one at the moment is that the controls could be changed dramatically based off the playtesters reaction to them.

[Vino]

Part of your decision whether or not to go with a certain set of controls is how well playtesters are able to learn the controls. If you don't have a tutorial for them then you aren't getting the whole picture.

It doesn't have to be a standalone tutorial. Many games include separate tutorials but these days the trend is "teach as you go along" tutorials. Watch the developer commentary in Portal 1 for a good idea of this, Valve is quite good at this kind of thing.

[baconman]

Well, F1 is the obvious "help me" key, so you can just add a popup explaining the controls to a press of that; and maybe even track how many times it's used that way.

[mirosurabu]

The playtest is there primarily to make sure that the control mechanics work within the game, once that is done we will make it a point to create a tutorial. The reason why I'm offput to building one at the moment is that the controls could be changed dramatically based off the playtesters reaction to them.

Just scribble a manual and give it to them. I found that if I spend a lot of time talking to playtesters I would spoil the whole process without knowing that.

And yeah, it's definitively not necessary to start with accessibility first. In fact, I'd say it's much better approach to game design.

[Kegluneq]

How many people are doing this playtest?
If you're really torn between the two, have half the testers know the controls, and half do not. This way you can get a good control group to gauge how intuitive your game may be.

[Kinaetron]

Hmmm not too bad an idea Kegluneq, thanks. I'II probably end up writing out the controls playtest it to see how people get on and then based off that refine the controls, build a tutorial and give it another try.

[Vino]

Well, F1 is the obvious "help me" key, so you can just add a popup explaining the controls to a press of that; and maybe even track how many times it's used that way.

While F1 is an obvious "help" key I don't think it applies to games. I don't remember ever seeing a playtester press F1 to get help in a game.

edit: and I've done or sat in hundreds of playtests.

[Sankar]

Monkey, If you are torn between both ideas. You could try a best of "Both Worlds"

The Game Starts with no Tutorial, just the character and something pointing to the right. IF the charaacter takes more than 30 seconds - one minute to move (but keystrokes have been detected) then you show the Movement Controls...
And you can repeat this for every challenge, probably lowering the time for hints to show up, so the player won't get that frustrated. By quantifying how many people needed help. what keys they pressed and of course talking to them aftwards, I believe you can get a good amount of data.

[Kinaetron]

I'am going to start off not telling them the controls to see how intuitive they are and if required I will tell them the controls