Solvium 751
Synopsis
LARSON Industries, a powerful interplanetary mining company, is extracting solvium, a rare and valuable ore, from a remote, seemingly uninhabited planet. The player takes on the role of The Surveyor, an operative sent to investigate a newly opened shaft deep beneath the surface. Officially, the task is routine: assess structural integrity and locate additional solvium deposits.
Purpose
This project examined how tutorial design affects player performance and satisfaction in logic-based puzzle games by comparing explicit instruction with player-led discovery. Two identical versions of the same game were created, differing only in how mechanics were taught: one used direct (video) tutorials, while the other relied on learning through experimentation. By isolating instructional method as the sole variable, the study investigated how different approaches to teaching game systems influence problem-solving performance and player satisfaction.