Guided Playthroughs

How many games have you mastered? In which you know where every item is, know how to complete every quest, or where the regular difficulty has become boringly easy? Sure, maybe you’re out of practice, but games you could jump right back in and get up to speed in a session or two. And how long did it take you to get to your current skill level? Dozens of hours? Hundreds? Consistent practice over years? Really think about it. You might just be a master, without a student.

Okay, maybe you wouldn’t consider yourself a master, but I’m sure if you’re reading this you have some hard-earned skills and knowledge in at least a few games. I am drawing your attention to this to get you to consider how valuable of an asset your knowledge and skills could be to a new player, and ultimately I hope to get you to consider sharing a guided playthrough with someone you know.

What I consider a guided playthrough is a playthrough of a game by two or more players, with at least one experienced player who guides and advises one or more less experienced players, sharing their knowledge, skills, and strategies with them. Guides will help their “student-players” in many ways, including providing examples of skilled play, giving feedback, and providing encouragement and information throughout the playthrough. By playing with a guide, I believe new players can gain deeper understandings of game systems and stories, refine their skills, and master advanced strategies more quickly than players starting off without a guide.

An important thing to keep in mind is that, as a guide, you are a resource, an example for the player you are coaching, not their secret weapon that they call in when things get difficult. Avoid beating levels, finishing quests, or killing bosses for your “students.” Sure, maybe they could learn something from watching an experienced player like yourself play through parts that they are stuck on, but when you finish the challenge for them, you take away deep learning experiences and satisfying moments of achievement for them. Perhaps you could make your way 95% through the challenge and deliberately fail at the end, on games with checkpoints, as this would allow you to provide an example of a successful strategy without robbing your student-player of their experience. Another good strategy is providing real time feedback on their gameplay – what mistakes do you see them making over and over again? What information or new perspective could you give them to help them a new approach?

A more passive option is to be “on call” for the player for when they need encouragement and advice. As someone who has been on both sides of this relationship, I can say from experience that just having someone you can call on for help when you get stuck in a game can empower you to take on bigger challenges and push your limits further in challenging games. In fact, the only way I got into the Soulsbourne series, now one of my all time favorite series, was through a friend of mine who gave me a guided introduction, initially using the strategies of providing examples of skilled play and providing real-time feedback to my play, and thereafter remaining on call for when I needed advice along my journey through the series.

Over the years I’ve gotten dozens of calls from friends needing help getting past challenges or figuring out what to do next in games I know well. It feels really good being able to help a friend, or at least point them in the right direction, knowing that they trust and value your advice, even if it is “just for a game.” I’m glad my friends know that I’ve got their backs and they’ve got mine. We make each other better gamers and develop our skills together, and I like to think that that doesn’t end with games; serving as resources for your friends, or turning to them for help with games they know, helps to break down the barriers so many of us have to asking for help in general, and, as the cliché goes, that’s what friends are for.