Even choice IF can hit this with some people. My first playtester had many years experience of working with computers and still couldn’t get past the first screen. Turned out the last computer game he’d played was for the TRS-80 and without some instructions right there on screen, he could not tell that what he needed to do was click on a choice to proceed*…
It’s OK for different games to assume different levels of familiarity with its medium, as long as it’s reasonably clear (either directly or through implication) what sort of game people can expect to find when they press “Play” (if a hardcore game shows signs of being hardcore before a new player engages with it, that can save a lot of trouble). However, the tips for being newbie-friendly are great for people deliberately trying to make their games more helpful to new or less confident players.
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- My game is supposed to be accessible for a wide variety of people, including people who’ve never picked up a computer game before. So I put in some instructions on that first screen. Problem solved! (There is a more thorough tutorial for anyone wanting it, as well as options to get the backstory and to do the first action needed in the game). I haven’t done adaptive hints, for narrative reasons.