Article: There are many different ways to do the tutorial and many different philosophies about the best way to go about it. You can hide the tutorial within a story about the player character getting training (aka Fable), or you can simply display instructions (aka Mass Effect). You can even try to hide the tutorial altogether blending it seamlessly into the game or display all of the tutorial all at once. No matter what you do, make sure that it feels natural within your game. The world is the environments in which your player will play the game. How expansive will your world be? How challenging? How will you indicate that an area should be explored? That it shouldn't? These are things you'll need to consider. These are the internal rules of the game. You'll want to decide on a rule system and make sure that it's balanced and consistent. The best way to do this is to look at what other games do right or wrong in this area. The levels are the individual chunks of the game, the "episodes" that the player has to get through to make it to the end of the game. The levels should be engaging and just the right amount of challenging. They should also be physically laid out in a way that makes sense. You'll need to design all the content, like the items that can be interacted with, the characters themselves, the environmental items, etc. This can be extremely time consuming so plan ahead! Try to find clever ways to recycle things without making them seem repetitive. The interface includes things like the menus and UI. You want these to be easy to navigate and natural to use. Take cues from your favorite games but remember that generally the simpler the better. If an 8-year-old can figure it out, you're set. Having controls which feel natural are key to players really enjoying and getting the most out of your game. Remember to keep things simple and streamlined. When in doubt, conform to standardized control systems.
What is a summary of what this article is about?
Design the tutorial. Design the world. Design the mechanics. Design your levels. Design the content. Design the interface. Design the controls.