10 Greatest Video Game Tutorials of All Time

Image via Bethesda Softworks Published Aug 2, 2026, 6:22 AM EDT Lucas Kloberdanz-Dyck is a writer for Collider. He grew up creating lists, stories, and worlds, which led to his love of anime and video games. He attended Sheridan College where he earned an Honours Bachelor of Game Design. Lucas and his group won 1st place for technical innovation at LevelUp Toronto 2023, and he was also an intern for the Oakville Film Festival of Arts. Sign in to your Collider account The most important part of a speech is the beginning and the end, and while a video game isn't the same as a speech, the beginning and the end of a game are just as important. These aspects can make or break a gaming experience — for example, Batman: Arkham Asylum loses credibility due to its lackluster ending. However, even more important is the beginning and its tutorial, which set the pace for the rest of the game. Many gamers have dropped titles because of the long and boring tutorial, which either holds the player's hand or is so overly long and tedious. However, on the other hand, some video games know exactly how to kick things off, which is why this list will rank the ten greatest video game tutorials of all time. Based on aspects such as pacing, gameplay, teaching, testing, challenging, memorability, progression, and overall quality, these video game tutorials are so good that players won't even know they're playing them. 10 'Cuphead' (2017) Image via Studio MDHR Platformer games are known for being child-friendly, but games such as Cuphead prove the opposite, being so challenging that even the most veteran of gamers struggle. The tutorial is set in a blueprint-like world that adds a bit of relevant flair and style to the quirky game. Players learn how to string jumps, parries, and dashes together in order to escape. Cuphead is known for being extremely difficult and unfair, so the least the players need are the basics. This tutorial offers that, allowing them to understand the flow of gameplay that is essential to even stand a chance at beating this thing. It offers all players really need to know, and that simplicity is fully shown in the tutorial, making it an informative, crucial, and thematically fun opening section. 9 'Fallout 3' (2008) After the TV show, the Fallout franchise is one of the most popular, and many players are revisiting the old games, including Fallout 3. Instead of giving players a tiresome mechanics rundown, this game starts with players crawling around as a toddler. It continues by selecting stats, going to a birthday party, and eventually needing to escape, all in one concise tutorial. Fallout 3 teaches the basics and allows players agency by selecting the stats in inventive ways. But what makes it an excellent experience is the unique approach of having the childhood of the player be the actual tutorial. It's a creative way to get them invested in the vault and the characters, establishing a lore inside that makes the switch to the wasteland even more shocking, because after that is when it becomes one of the best action video games ever. 8 'Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon' (2013) Image via Ubisoft Far Cry 3 is arguably the best game in the franchise, and after its success, Ubisoft wanted to add on to the experience, releasing expansions such as Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon. This expansion was a parody of the 1980s and their action movies, cartoons, and video games, with the tutorial fitting with that theme. Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon didn't have an excellent tutorial because of the way it taught the player, but rather, it is a hilarious way to poke fun and pay homage to the 1980s. It was intentionally very hand-holding and forced players to do things like look around. The self-aware and deliberately absurd approach makes the whole thing hilarious, enhanced by the fact that the protagonist actively complains about it. This parody-style tutorial is memorable, iconic, and fitting for the vibe, something which more games should do. Image via Bethesda Softworks The Elder Scrolls VI is still a long way away, but while fans wait for that, they can relive one of the greatest video game tutorials again in The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim. Waking up in a carriage, players learn about a man shot in the knee and their impending execution. However, not long after that, a dragon crashes the party, letting the player escape and embark on their grand fantasy adventure. In terms of memorability, The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim is the greatest video game tutorial, full of recognizable moments ingrained in gaming culture. However, this tutorial is more than just iconic; it gets players used to the world, gameplay, and choices through a chaotic moment in a brilliant set piece. Skyrim is one of the greatest games of the century, and it sets the exhilarating pace right from the opening moments. 6 'Prey' (2017) Image via Arkane Studios Horror games are hit or miss with their tutorials, but the one that earns a spot on this list is Prey, which is also an immersive simulator. Gamers wake up, get dressed, and continue with their mundane life, that is, until they see a coffee cup kill someone. After repeating the process, they break the glass only to realize they are trapped on a space station with a shapeshifting alien. The teaching of mechanics is fairly simple, but it relates not just to the meta lens, but also to the in-game importance, since the company was testing the player. Prey hammers home the main takeaway for this game in the tutorial: don't trust anything. It has players breaking the illusion of the glass and shows the main alien as a coffee cup, showing that the enemy can literally be anything, which is a great way to send a message in the tutorial. 5 'Super Metroid' (1994) Image via Nintendo Nintendo is the king of family-friendly games, and one way to handle that is through manageable and effective tutorials. However, their classic games were a bit harder, including Super Metroid, but the tutorials were still fantastic. Dropping into a fight with Ridley right away, Samus escapes but must now explore the isolated planet of Zebes. This tutorial works in many ways, from the unwinnable boss fight that acts like a baby bird falling out of the nest, being forced to learn to fly. After that, it teaches the laws of metroidvania with zero text, just pathways, dead ends, upgrades, and no more dead ends. By the end of this point, players know how to play the genre as a whole, proving why Super Metroid is the best metroidvania video game. 4 'Mega Man X' (1993) Image via Capcom 2D platformers were home to some of the best and most intuitive tutorials, because right after Super Metroid is Mega Man X. This new video game series of the legendary titular character has players wandering around an open highway, letting them loose to jump, run, and fire their gun around wildly until they encounter an imposing boss who they are unable to beat. One of the best ways to learn is by doing, and that is precisely what Mega Man X does. It leaves players in an open area with just their curiosity to guide them, naturally learning the controls through button mashing, highlighting how much the game trusts their intelligence. Plus, the unwinnable boss fight humbles the player, showing them that there is still a long way to go beyond what they just learned. 3 'Portal' (2007) Image via Valve Valve released some of the most innovative video games of this era, but that means it needed to deliver a tutorial good enough to teach players something they have never done before in Portal. Placed in a glass box, players slowly observe the world around them before they get outside to have their fun, which includes toying with the portal gun. "Monkey see, monkey do" is a rather crude saying for this, but it applies, as the game forces players to watch the mechanics first, and then do them, which builds a cognitive understanding before the tactile experimentation. Portal takes things one step at a time, integrating the players into the mechanics, and the only punishment for failing is lost seconds, which is a great way to continue encouraging playing rather than giving up, which is exactly the core theme of Portal. 2 'Super Mario Bros.' (1985) Image via Nintendo As mentioned earlier, Nintendo has some of the best tutorials in video game history, including the most popular, which is without a doubt World 1-1 from Super Mario Bros. Inside a strange world with blocks and mushroom creatures, players slowly learn the mechanics and features by progressing through the level. Super Mario Bros. has the level design guide the player through the level, learning the mechanics at the same time. This level is famous for being one of the most intricately crafted worlds, letting the player know the rules and controls through seamless moments and design tactics. World 1-1 is so legendary and easily the most famous video game tutorial, with it arguably being the best as well. 1 'The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild' (2017) Image via Nintendo World 1-1 from Super Mario Bros. nearly took it, but Nintendo made an even better tutorial decades later in The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. Waking up after a hundred years, Link leaves his cave and goes into the open world, where he must adventure around the area to find weapons, materials, shrines, towers, and a paraglider if he wants to get off the starting area and into the rest of the world. A lot of games have tutorials that are long and dragging while others rush the player out, but in Breath of the Wild, players don't even know they are in the tutorial. The Great Plateau is an entire section of the map that serves as the tutorial, taking hours to complete, which is why it just feels like playing the game. By giving players hours to explore and get lost in the Great Plateau, they naturally learn the controls and systems, especially when the puzzles force them to use their new power-ups. The tutorial is more like a vertical slice of the rest of the game, and that is why, when players leave, they know exactly what they want to do, just on a bigger scale. Breath of the Wild is one of the best video games this century, and the great tutorial is one of many reasons why.