Overview

First impressions aren't just crucial in games — they're everything.

When a top-tier sandbox RPG introduced a new tutorial, they needed players to hit the ground running, not get lost, stuck, or frustrated. Yet early signals suggested trouble: confusion, drop-offs, disengagement.

Rather than guess, they partnered with Lysto to identify the real issues, fast. Lysto’s structured remote playtesting, run with carefully matched player profiles, ensured relevant feedback, while AI-assisted analysis surfaced friction points quickly and accurately. This enabled the studio to act early and avoid months of potential churn after launch.

Challenge

The tutorial was supposed to be a simple guide into a complex world, but players weren’t connecting. They hesitated. They stalled. They dropped off.

The development team needed real-world answers to one key question:
Is our onboarding intuitive enough to keep players engaged, or are we losing them before the real game even begins?

Lysto's Playtest Strategy

No labs. No artificial setups. Just real players, in real environments.

Lysto ran remote unmoderated playtests with precisely the right players — filtered by genre preferences, regions, and gameplay patterns — to reflect the studio’s real audience. Each session captured live gameplay and was followed by structured surveys aligned to specific onboarding goals.

Lysto’s AI analyzed the data across sessions in near real-time, surfacing friction points, confusion moments, and emotional drop-offs that would’ve taken days to catch manually — all within a secure, access-controlled environment purpose-built for early-stage testing.

This accelerated the feedback loop, giving the studio the clarity they needed — fast, and from the players who mattered most. This dual-lens approach enables us to observe player behaviour and gauge player sentiment, identifying the gaps between the two.

Lysto’s research team reviewed both the gameplay recordings and the survey responses, combining firsthand behavioural observation with player-reported sentiment. This holistic approach helped uncover not just what players experienced but why it mattered.

Key Findings

1. Ambiguous input language led to confusion
The tutorial's average clarity score was 2.6/5 — well below the acceptable level for launch readiness. Even simple instructions like <attack using “M2”> led to critical misunderstandings:

“I tried pressing M and 2 on my keyboard because I didn’t realize it meant right-click.”

One ambiguous term. One missed action. A moment of confusion that spiralled into frustration.

2. Core systems left players hanging
Crafting and questing — two of the game's pillars — were barely explained. Without direction, players wandered, disengaged, or gave up.

“The crafting was not explained very well. I was confused.”
“The quest marker didn’t work, and I had no idea where to go.”

When systems break trust early, players don’t stay to see the late-game magic.

3. Narrative context was weak or absent
Without emotional anchors, the tutorial felt transactional rather than transformative.

“I didn’t feel like the story was present — it was hard to follow what was happening.”

Immersion isn’t optional — it’s what turns players into loyal fans.

4. Unclear navigation reduced player confidence
Without clear guidance, basic exploration became frustrating instead of empowering. Many players asked for better cues, structured intros, and more contextual hints:

“A better intro with important NPCs would’ve helped.”
“Give more tips. Even small hints would improve the experience.”

When navigation feels like guesswork, players lose confidence — Fast.

Impact Delivered

Armed with player insights, the studio took swift, high-impact action to address key friction points:

• Added onboarding prompts to guide players through early objectives more clearly

• Clarified crafting and questing systems, making progression more intuitive

• Introduced narrative cues earlier, anchoring players in the game’s world from the start

• Simplified UI and navigation, reducing decision fatigue and early-game drop-off

• Replaced ambiguous terminology (e.g., “M2”) with universally understood inputs

Each fix was laser-focused on reducing friction, restoring flow, and giving players the confidence to keep going.

The result? A tutorial that no longer leaked attention, but fuelled it.

Results

Though final launch metrics are still underway, early internal data revealed:

• A 20% lift in tutorial completion rates during beta rounds

• A notable reduction in early-player frustration reports

• A stronger first-hour player confidence curve, validating the improvements

The changes were fast, targeted, and high-impact — the exact kind of pivot early playtesting unlocks.

Conclusion

Building a great game is hard enough. Guessing what players need? That’s the risk you can't afford.

Lysto’s structured, data-backed playtesting supports remote and in-person requirements. Powered by AI for speed and accuracy, it doesn't just show you where players struggle — it provides the exact levers to pull to address the issue.With Lysto’s expert playtesting solutions, turning insights into strategy has never been easier — let's chat, we can help you take your game from concept to reality.

In a competitive market, better onboarding isn’t a luxury; it's a necessity. It’s the difference between "player lost" and "player for life."