Got it! Well, that’s what I get for zooming past tutorials.
I really like that the structure of that room locks you in it, so you’re forced to learn the mechanic rather than bouncing off and exploring in the wrong direction. Here’s a few things I think could make it more intuitive:
- Pickaxes don’t naturally signify climbing, so you could change it to some other item that does (but I like the pickaxe and it fits your theming)
- You could use mental priming by having another pickaxe (or a few) (possibly broken for styling) wedged up and down that vertical corridor you want players to climb up
- You could mention climbing as the first part of the tutorial so players like me who are fast skip will at least see that. Then move the rock into a position where they must break it after climbing. Because a pickaxe DOES naturally signify breaking rocks, and I’m a lot more likely to try that intuitively even if I missed tutorial text. Essentially, give me the important, less intuitive stuff in text format first so I don’t miss it.
- Video tutorial (show me climbing with the pickaxe)
There’s probably some more stuff you could do here with iteration, but that’s some stuff just off the top of my head. Thanks for the experience!