Watch the full video where our UX Lead, Joan Costa, walks through how we structure FTUE playtests at Antidote!
What is First Time User Experience (FTUE)?
FTUE is how new players interact with your game in their first session, typically the first 10-60 minutes. It encompasses onboarding, tutorials, initial gameplay and everything that introduces players to your game’s world and mechanics.
If players face long loading times, confusing instructions or unclear objectives in those first minutes, they’ll quit. But if the experience feels smooth and intuitive from the start, they’re far more likely to keep playing.
For this reason, FTUE is arguably the most important validation you can do. You can have incredible late-game content, but if players never get past the tutorial because it’s too complex or boring, that content doesn’t matter.
What Makes a Good FTUE
The challenge is finding the right balance, teaching players everything they need to know without overwhelming them or creating barriers to actually playing.
From our experience, here are the key elements of effective FTUE:
1) Remove Stoppers and Barriers
Every moment where a player thinks “I don’t know what’s happening” or “This is too complicated” is a potential exit point. FTUE testing identifies these stoppers, moments where players feel lost, confused or frustrated enough to quit.
2) Match Player Expectations
If players discovered your game through a trailer showing fast-paced action, but your tutorial is 20 minutes of text explanations, there’s a mismatch. FTUE validates whether the initial experience aligns with what marketing materials promised.
3) Context Matters by Genre
A match-3 mobile game should get players into gameplay within seconds. An RPG like Baldur’s Gate needs more onboarding to explain complex systems. The key is providing the minimum necessary information to start playing, not explaining every advanced mechanic upfront.
Good Examples: Nintendo’s Mario games and Valve’s Portal integrate tutorials naturally into gameplay. You’re learning mechanics while playing, not sitting through separated instruction sequences. Similarly, Street Fighter doesn’t dump every combo on you immediately. You learn basic attacks first, then master advanced techniques over time.
4) Teach, Don’t Just Show
Many mobile games fall into the “tap here, tap here, tap here” trap. Players click through highlighted UI elements without understanding what they’re doing. When the tutorial ends, they don’t actually know how to play. Effective FTUE teaches players why they’re doing something, rather than what they should press or click.
What We Measure in FTUE Testing
When conducting these studies, we like to focus on the following metrics:
1) Completion and Drop-off Points
- Can players complete the tutorial and initial missions smoothly?
- Where do they get stuck or confused?
2) Clarity and Understanding
- Do players understand game objectives, mechanics, and controls after onboarding?
- Can they articulate what they’re supposed to do and why?
3) Satisfaction vs. Expectations
- Does the game deliver what players expected based on marketing materials?
4) Engagement Signals
- Are players actively exploring and experimenting, or passively clicking through prompts?
- Do they want to continue playing after the session ends?
5) Time Investment Before Fun
- How long does it take from launching the game to actually enjoying gameplay? If players spend over 15 minutes on downloads, sign-ups, patches and waiting before playing, that’s a critical issue.
How Antidote Structures FTUE Studies
1) Session Duration
We recommend 45-60 minute sessions. This includes initial game interaction and tutorial completion, playing beyond the tutorial to experience the gameplay and enough time to form opinions on whether they’d continue playing.
2) Target the Right Players
This is critical. If you’re making a FIFA-style game and test with players who only enjoy FPS games, their feedback won’t be relevant. FTUE testing requires recruiting your target audience, so the players who would buy your game.
3) Unmoderated Sessions Work Best
We typically recommend unmoderated sessions. Give players clear initial instructions, then let them interact naturally with the game without interference.
This reveals authentic player behavior. Some players explore side content before main missions, some rush through tutorials without reading, some experiment with mechanics etc. This natural interaction shows how real players will engage at home.
4) Player Count
Typically 10 players is sufficient. If you’re testing different player profiles (e.g. casual vs. hardcore), you might go to 16-20 players with 8-10 per profile. FTUE issues tend to surface clearly with relatively small sample sizes.
5 Common FTUE Problems We Identify
1) Information Overload
Too much text, too many systems explained upfront or complex mechanics introduced simultaneously.
2) Friction Before Gameplay
Excessive steps between launching the game and playing, downloads, account creation, patch installations, match queuing etc.
3) Tutorial Separation
Onboarding that feels disconnected from actual gameplay. Players complete tutorial tasks in isolated environments, then feel lost when dropped into the real game.
4) Clicking Without Learning
Players tap or press highlighted areas without understanding why, completing “tutorials” that are not related to real-life gameplay.
5) Mismatch Between Marketing and Experience
Trailers show action-packed gameplay, but the game starts with 20 minutes of story exposition and slow progression.
Real-Life Applications
Due to confidentiality agreements and NDAs, we can’t name specific games for some examples, but we can share how we structured these tests and the results they delivered.
Ankama’s North American Market Launch
Challenge: Ankama wanted to launch their game into the North American market and needed to understand what changes were required for successful entry into this new region.
Our Approach: Conducted FTUE playtests with 10 players from the North American target audience to identify barriers preventing engagement and retention in the critical first session.
Changes Implemented: Based on collected insights and feedback, Ankama optimized their onboarding experience specifically for North American player expectations and preferences.
Results: Ankama experienced a successful North American relaunch, with a 25% increase in new player retention with over 200,000 downloads.
You can read the full case study here.
Mobile City Management Game
Challenge: Players were clicking through multiple onboarding steps without understanding core mechanics.
Our Approach: 45-minute unmoderated sessions with 10 mobile players, observing where players clicked without reading or understanding.
Changes Implemented: Removed several tutorial steps, shifted from “tap here” guidance to “learn by playing” approach, made players actively participate in decisions.
Results: Players understood core mechanics better despite shorter onboarding. Engagement in early gameplay improved because players felt agency instead of being railroaded.
Open-World PC Game
Challenge: Players felt lost in the initial open-world environment. The game didn’t effectively communicate objectives, character abilities, or how to approach early tasks.
Our Approach: 60-minute sessions with 10 PC gamers who enjoy open-world games, multiple testing rounds to iterate on improvements.
Changes Implemented: Removed separated tutorial environment and integrated teaching into the actual game world, refined how initial objectives were presented, improved clarity on character abilities.
Results: Final version successfully taught players core systems while maintaining the open-world exploration feel.
Need Help Optimizing Your FTUE?
If you’re unsure whether new players understand your game within the first 30 minutes or if you’re seeing high drop-off rates after tutorial completion, FTUE testing reveals exactly where these problems occur.
Our team can help with organizing FTUE studies from recruitment through insights delivery. Testing with your actual target audience, identifying specific friction points and providing actionable recommendations.
