I'm part of the Paper Strike team, where players draw runes to cast spells. It raises a tutorial question I'd like to hear other developers' thoughts on.

Copying a rune while its outline is visible and drawing it from memory seem like two different things to teach. Remove the guide too early and the first few minutes could feel like a memory test. Leave it on screen and players have a useful fallback, but also one more thing to watch during combat.

One approach would be to teach a single rune with a guide, let the player do something else, then ask them to use it again with the reference available if needed. That seems like a more useful check than asking them to trace the same shape five times in a row. I'd be interested in examples where that worked, or where it fell apart.

If you've worked on gesture controls or other unusual inputs, when do you remove the visual guide? After a few successful attempts, or when the player chooses to hide it? What helps you tell whether they've learned the movement or are still copying the prompt?