Onboarding
Also said as First-time user experience, FTUE, New player experience, First session
Everything that takes a stranger to being someone who knows how to play and wants to keep going. The start of that, the first few minutes, is often called the first-time user experience, or FTUE.
New players are at their least patient and know the least, and you lose more of them here than anywhere. Each screen between launch and play was put there by someone with a good reason, and together they drive people away.
Say it
“Have the player jumping within ten seconds of launch. Move the account, the difficulty and the story behind the first level, and ask for each one only when it matters.”
Where you’ve seen it
Hearthstone opens with scripted matches against characters who chat and react, with most choices already made for you. You are playing, and winning, inside the first minutes, and only then does it open up.
Not to be confused with tutorial
A tutorial is one way to teach. Onboarding is the whole road in, including the logos, the name entry, the first reward and the first time you want to come back.