Show, Don’t Tell
It's a technique taught in both writing and game design. The easy thing to do is tell your audience an idea; the better approach is to show your audience.
When I started buying video games, they came with instruction manuals similar to board games. These days, many small indie games settle for a text overlay. Those with larger budgets may employ an NPC character with a few word balloons and a voice-over.
The problem is that it's not very compelling. Players tend to skip past the thinly veiled tutorials and jump straight to the gameplay. Even worse, it can break immersion in the world you have worked so hard to build. Nothing tears down the fourth wall faster than a character who instructs you to "press the B button."
The better approach is to show the player. This approach is not simple. It will require much more work and creativity and may even require several rounds of trial and error.
Why is it so much better? Because it moves the player from a passive role to an active participant. Instead of talking at them, you plant seeds in their mind, allowing them to make connections independently. It's the difference between teaching someone how to ride a bike from a manual versus sitting them on a bicycle, where they learn the feel of balance.
Half-Life 2 and The Witness are two games that do this well. Both games have this "invisible tutorial" that where you learn almost by osmosis.
One moment, in particular, stands out in Half-Life 2. It's a rather gruesome one, to which I apologize. During the game, you acquire a gravity gun, a weapon that enables you to pick up items in the environment, such as crates, barrels, etc.) and fling them as a projectile. You enter a building where the upper half of a zombie is pinned to the wall by a saw blade. (I warned you that it was gruesome.) Two additional saw blades are stuck in the wall, which block your path. As you use your gravity gun to dislodge one of the blades obstructing your way, a zombie walks into view. The setup is straightforward, and in a few short seconds, you have learned what you need to do.
The Witness takes this technique to the nth degree. The design of the game is entirely nonverbal. The puzzles begin at a rudimentary level and slowly build and build through the course of the game. It gets to the point where if someone asks you to explain the solution to a puzzle, it would require several paragraphs of text to explain all of the puzzle's nuances. All of which you learned without a single word of instruction.
Jesus seems to be the ultimate example of show, don't tell. For thousands of years, God has been communicating to us through the law, Moses, and the prophets. But He knew it wasn't enough. We not only needed a permanent solution for sin—we needed an example. So even though it would cost Jesus everything, He humbled himself and stepped into His creation. He saved us, and at the same time, He showed us how to live.
