Progressive Disclosure in Stage Design

I've recently been designing a new the beginning stages of the game with the concept of progressive disclosure in mind. Given that my game flow idea, detailed at the end of Semester 2, has been scrapped, I feel it necessary to properly illustrate to new users the game mechanics. I've put particular attention in to making the game mechanics obvious and easy to learn whilst keeping the levels somewhat interesting and challenging to play. As a means of instruction I've titled the levels so that they relate some meaning to the completion of the stage. To make this effective the stage name should be shown at all times somewhere on the heads up display.

STAGE 1 - ROLL TO THE GOAL
As the first stage, the only thing I want the user to concern themselves with is the basic movement of the player object, hence controls are limited to only to the left and right keys. In the final build it will desirable to have a graphc overlayed somewhere on the level indicating visually which keys to use and their function. The stage is straight forward to allow the user to get a hold of the rolling mechanic whilst establishing the end goal object as the user's target, as it is the only other object on the screen.

STAGE 2 - OPPOSITES ATTRACT
This stage introduces one of the fundamental mechanics of the game: opposite polarities attract. The player object is set to red (positive) for the entirety of the stage offering no new control options over simply rolling left and right. The level is designed to force the player towards the blue (negative) polarity fields as the only means to reach the goal. The level illustrates the ability to stick to and roll along a surface when polarities are opposite. Particularly important is establishing for the user that the left and right movement controls rotate the player object clockwise and counterclockwise, as opposed to left and right movement. This is illustrated to the user when rolling across the ceiling. The trip wires are also introduced here, with little penalty should the user fall into it and be reset to the beginning, as the stage is relatively short and straight forward.

STAGE 3 - SIMILARS REPEL
The other fundamental mechanic of the game: similar polarities repel. I've kept the player's polarity locked to red like in the previous stage, with all fields in the stage also red. The immediate instinct for the user is to roll left towards the goal, whereupon the effect of like polarities will be demonstrated. Switches are also introduced in this stage, as the only other interactive object it becomes the target for the user once they concede that they can't reach the goal.

STAGE 4 - POSITIVE MANIPULATION
This is the first stage where the user is given control of their polarity, though at this stage it's only neutral or red (another control graphic should be displayed showing which key to use). The idea behind this stage is for the user to master polarity manipulation at their own pace, constraining it to only one polarity in order to simplify the process. One concern is that some users have failed to get through the level for it requires precise control to get across the mounds on the ceiling. Redesign may be required to make the solution more apparent.

STAGE 5 - NEGATIVITY FOR THE WIN
This is the first stage where the user is given control of negative polarity (a further key graphic should be utilised). The primary aim is to teach the user to subtly manipulate polarity control in order to float through the stage.

Further stages need to be designed to introduce the other game elements, presenting the mechanic in an obvious way whilst keeping the stage challenging and fun to play. It is a careful balancing act that needs to be done in line with other level design and is arguably the most important part of the entire game design process.