FTUE quest design

Challenges and learnings of improving the onboarding experience of Skull and Bones

Overview

Project: Skull & Bones

Feature: FTUE Quest Improvements

Role: Quest Designer

Team Size: 2 Quest Designers, 1 Narrative Designer, 3 Cinematic Designers, 2 Writers

Duration: ~12 weeks

Engine / Tools: Proprietary Engine

Purpose: Improve player acquisition by reducing friction in early quests through clearer flow, stronger narrative context, and more effective tutorialization.

Design intent

Problem Space:

Player data showed a significant churn during the onboarding phase. Further analysis indicated that many players were disengaging before fully understanding the core mechanics and the game’s primary loop.

Objective

The goal was to update the onboarding flow for the next season to ensure new players could:

  • Learn the core mechanics and game loop organically

  • Progress confidently without feeling overwhelmed

  • Understand the narrative “why” behind each action, reinforcing purpose and motivation

Outcome

🏆 The updated FTUE achieved the highest player rating compared to onboarding experiences from previous seasons.

Constraints & considerations

As the game was already live, it presented a few complications that had to be taken in consideration

  • the existing quest structure could not be entirely rebuilt from scratch

  • I had to also consider live players who might be mid-way through the previous onboarding flow and ensure that they can still progress once the new flow goes live

breakdown

Establishing a Baseline

The first step after being brought on to support this feature was to play through the full onboarding experience end-to-end in order to understand the current state of the flow.

During this pass, I focused on identifying areas where new players might encounter friction or confusion, as well as gaps in how mechanics and the core game loop were being introduced.

Reframe Perspective

Having worked on the game for approximately 2.5 years at that point, I was conscious of my own familiarity bias. To counter this, I deliberately reframed my evaluation through the lens of a first-time player, prioritizing moments where prior knowledge would otherwise mask issues in clarity, pacing, or tutorialization.

This initial assessment informed the subsequent restructuring of quest flow, narrative beats, and tutorial delivery to better support early-game comprehension and player confidence.

Scoping & Timeline

From the outset, we aimed to include this feature in an upcoming user test. This allowed the team to:

  • Validate whether the changes were addressing the intended problems

  • Collect actionable data early

  • Make necessary scope or pacing adjustments before the flow went live

Design Improvements

While several improvements were made across the onboarding flow, this breakdown focuses on two areas where I was the primary design driver:

  • Improvements to tutorialization

  • Updating the Quest flows to include new gameplay beats to teach core mechanics

Tutorialization

My approach to this was to make a list of all the critical mechanics and features the player must know for them to progress confidently in the game. Once I had that, I marked out the points within the current flow where a tutorial would fit best, especially for things that currently have no proper tutorialization.

One example is the Quadrant mechanic where players need to rotate their camera to other sides of the ship to fire the respective quadrant weapon.

Quest Flow - Additional Gameplay Beats

If there was no ideal point where I could teach the player something, I would design additional gameplay beats to teach said mechanic and propose it to my director. One example is the Ship Crafting feature

Playtesting & iterations

A key goal throughout development was to ensure that players were confident using the game’s core mechanics, not just aware of them. Teaching mechanics too early or too densely risked overwhelming players, while teaching them too late could result in frustration during combat.

Initial Approach & Findings

In the first iteration, I introduced a comprehensive tutorial prompt at the very start of the experience, outlining all key controls and actions upfront. While this ensured that players were technically exposed to the mechanics, playtests revealed a clear issue:

  • Players struggled to recall specific controls when they later encountered real combat situations

  • The volume of information early on led to cognitive overload, especially for new players

This resulted in hesitation during encounters and reduced player confidence.

Iteration & Adjustments

Based on these findings, I shifted toward a contextual, paced tutorial approach, where mechanics were introduced only when they became immediately relevant.

Key changes included:

  • Breaking tutorials into smaller, focused prompts

  • Tying each prompt directly to the player’s current goal or situation

  • Using moments of low pressure to teach before escalating challenge

For example:

  • As players approached a target, a “slow down” prompt was introduced to encourage positioning

  • Once players were aligned, an “aim and shoot” prompt guided them through firing their weapon in context

This approach allowed players to apply mechanics immediately, reinforcing learning through action rather than memorization.

Outcome

Subsequent playtests showed that players:

  • Retained mechanics more effectively

  • Entered combat with greater confidence

  • Required fewer repeated prompts or external guidance

By pacing tutorialization alongside gameplay beats, the onboarding flow felt more natural and less instructional, while still achieving its learning goals.

learnings & Takeaways

FTUE design demands heightened care

  • Even minor friction during onboarding can cause players to churn. Decisions that might be acceptable later in the game can have outsized impact during a player’s first session.

Tutorial pacing is as important as tutorial content

  • Teaching everything early is less effective than teaching the right thing at the right moment. Contextual learning significantly improves comprehension and retention.

Players learn best through action, not explanation

  • Tutorials that immediately allow players to act on instructions resulted in stronger understanding and confidence than passive prompts.

Designing for new players requires intentional perspective-shifting

  • Familiarity with the game can be a blind spot. Actively reframing problems from a new player’s perspective was critical in identifying friction points.

Iteration informed by playtesting leads to better onboarding outcomes

  • Observing player behavior — rather than relying solely on design intent — helped validate assumptions and guide meaningful improvements.