Three signals on the first scroll, and the ten-minute budget they protect
A long walkthrough can be a working document or a quiet waste of an evening. The difference is almost never the topic. Two pieces on the same contest format, the same scoring rule and the same captain multiplier can sit next to each other in a library and be worth, respectively, fifteen minutes of careful reading and ten minutes of regret. The signals that separate them live on the first scroll, in three places a reader can read in under a minute.
The triage below treats the first scroll as a budget audit. Reading time is finite. A reader who can read three visible signals in the first minute can decide whether the next ten minutes are worth the time, and can walk away from the walkthrough when the answer is no. LetsGame editors run this triage on every walkthrough before reading it themselves, because the cost of finishing a bad walkthrough is not the ten minutes spent. The cost is the next walkthrough the reader does not have time for.
Nothing here claims a current event, live offer, current contest, named scorer or named brand partnership. The triage is built from the structural parts of any walkthrough a reader can read on the first screen: a headline, a first paragraph, a list of subheadings and a photograph. The exact words the reader sees are not specified. The three signals are.
Signal one: does the headline name a decision or name a topic
The first signal is the headline, and the test is one sentence long. A headline that names a specific decision the reader is about to make is a working walkthrough. A headline that names a topic the walkthrough will discuss is a candidate. The decision-named headline says "should you set the captain before the toss or after." The topic-named headline says "a guide to captain choice." Both headlines can lead to the same paragraph. Only one of them tells the reader, before the first click, what they will leave with.
The reason the headline test is the cheapest test the reader will run is that the headline is the only piece of the walkthrough the reader sees before committing. Everything else sits behind the headline. A reader who treats the headline as a topic description has, in many cases, signed up for a walkthrough that will spend three paragraphs explaining what the topic is, two paragraphs explaining why the topic matters, and only the final paragraph answering the question the reader opened the walkthrough with. The decision-named headline skips the first five paragraphs and gets to the answer.
Scenario test: a reader who has ten minutes and a captain choice to make before the deadline. Headline A reads "should you pick the captain before the toss or after the toss: a worked example for first-time captains." Headline B reads "captain strategy for first-time players." Both headlines are honest. Headline A is a walkthrough. Headline B is a magazine article. The reader who picks Headline A leaves the walkthrough knowing which side of the toss to pick the captain from. The reader who picks Headline B leaves with a vocabulary they cannot yet apply.
Signal two: does the first paragraph name a constraint or name a promise
The second signal is the first paragraph, and the test is a paragraph long. A first paragraph that names a specific constraint the walkthrough will respect is a working walkthrough. A first paragraph that names a promise the walkthrough will keep is a candidate. The constraint-named paragraph says "this walkthrough assumes you have ten minutes and a captain choice to make." The promise-named paragraph says "this walkthrough will change the way you think about captain choice." Only the constraint-named paragraph tells the reader what to skip.
The reason the first-paragraph test is the second cheapest is that the first paragraph is the only piece of the walkthrough the reader sees on the first scroll. Everything else sits below it. A reader who treats the first paragraph as a promise has, in many cases, signed up for a walkthrough that will treat the constraint as decoration. The reader will be told, in the second paragraph, that the walkthrough is for everyone. In the third paragraph, the walkthrough will name every constraint the reader does not have. In the fourth paragraph, the walkthrough will start over and walk toward the constraint the reader actually brought. The constraint-named first paragraph skips the first three paragraphs and starts at the right place.
Scenario test: a reader who has read the rules and the worked example and now wants the checklist. First paragraph A reads "this walkthrough assumes you have read the rules section once and the worked example once, and now need the four actions you have to take in the next ten minutes." First paragraph B reads "this walkthrough will walk you through everything you need to know about captain choice in the next ten minutes." Both first paragraphs are honest. First paragraph A is a checklist. First paragraph B is a recap. The reader who picks First paragraph A finishes with the four actions written down. The reader who picks First paragraph B finishes with a list of things they already know.
Signal three: does the subheading list name the order or name the topics
The third signal is the subheading list, and the test is a list long. A subheading list that names an order the reader will follow is a working walkthrough. A subheading list that names a set of topics the walkthrough will cover is a candidate. The order-named list says "first, the rule; second, the example; third, the checklist." The topic-named list says "the rule, the example, the checklist, edge cases." Only the order-named list tells the reader what to read first.
The reason the subheading-list test is the third cheapest is that the subheading list is the only piece of the walkthrough the reader sees in a single glance. A reader who treats the subheading list as a topic list has, in many cases, signed up for a walkthrough that will treat the order as flexible. The reader will be told, in the introduction, that the order does not matter. In the body, the walkthrough will quietly assume the reader has read the first section. In the conclusion, the walkthrough will refer back to a concept the reader has not yet reached. The order-named list catches the contradiction on the first scroll.
Scenario test: a reader who wants the checklist first and the worked example later. Subheading list A reads "first: the four actions, second: the rule behind each action, third: the trade-off each action makes." Subheading list B reads "the rule, the worked example, the checklist, edge cases, frequently asked questions." Both lists are honest. List A is a checklist a reader can read in any order. List B is a walkthrough a reader has to read in the order it was written. The reader who picks List A skips to the first subheading and finishes in four minutes. The reader who picks List B reads the first two subheadings to reach the checklist and runs out of time before the third.
What to do when the triage returns "no," and the cost of finishing a bad walkthrough anyway
The triage returns "no" when at least one of the three signals fails the test. The reader who treats "no" as a binding answer closes the tab and moves to the next walkthrough. The reader who treats "no" as a soft signal and finishes the walkthrough anyway has paid the ten minutes the walkthrough was not worth, and has lost the ten minutes the next walkthrough was worth. LetsGame editors treat the triage result as binding, because the cost of finishing a bad walkthrough is not the time spent on it. The cost is the next walkthrough the reader never opens.
The triage returns "yes" when all three signals pass the test. The reader who treats "yes" as a soft signal will, in most cases, still finish the walkthrough. The reader who treats "yes" as a binding answer reads the walkthrough with a smaller budget and a closer eye. A binding "yes" still allows the reader to walk away at the second signal, the third signal or the fourth. The triage is not a contract. The triage is a budget audit the reader runs again whenever the walkthrough returns a surprise.
The second pass, run on the walkthroughs that passed the triage the first time
A walkthrough that passes the first-scroll triage is worth the next ten minutes. It is not necessarily worth the second ten minutes. The second pass runs the same three signals on the second scroll: the subheading after the first, the first paragraph of the body section and the first photograph. A walkthrough that passes both passes is worth the third ten minutes. A walkthrough that passes three passes is worth printing. LetsGame editors run the triage twice before they commit to a walkthrough in print, because the cost of printing a bad walkthrough is the cost of carrying a bad notebook to the next session.
The second pass is also the place the reader catches the walkthroughs that passed the first pass on style and failed the second on substance. A walkthrough can pass the headline test, the first-paragraph test and the subheading-list test, and still fail the body-section test on the second scroll. The body-section test is the same three signals in a smaller form. The subheading names a decision or a topic. The first paragraph names a constraint or a promise. The first photograph names a moment the reader can recognise, or a moment the reader will have to take on trust. A walkthrough that fails the second pass costs the reader another ten minutes, and another ten minutes is the next walkthrough the reader does not have time for.
When the three signals disagree, and the signal that wins the disagreement
The three signals disagree when one passes and two fail. The disagreement is more common than the clean pass, because most walkthroughs are written by editors who are good at one of the three jobs and quiet about the other two. A walkthrough with a decision-named headline, a promise-named first paragraph and a topic-named subheading list is a walkthrough where the editor was confident about the reader's question and uncertain about the reader's time. A walkthrough with a topic-named headline, a constraint-named first paragraph and an order-named subheading list is a walkthrough where the editor was confident about the order and uncertain about the headline.
The signal that wins the disagreement is the subheading list. The subheading list is the longest signal a reader reads in a single glance, and the signal the reader will have to navigate regardless of which two signals failed. A walkthrough with an order-named subheading list is a walkthrough the reader can navigate without trusting the headline or the first paragraph. A walkthrough with a topic-named subheading list is a walkthrough the reader has to navigate by trusting the body sections in the order they appear. LetsGame editors treat the subheading list as the tie-breaker because the subheading list is the part of the walkthrough the reader will spend the next ten minutes moving through.
Applying the triage to a walkthrough the reader has already half-read
The triage is also useful on walkthroughs the reader has already half-read. The reader who has spent five minutes on a walkthrough and is not sure whether to spend the next five can scroll back to the first screen and re-run the three signals. The triage takes under a minute, and the result is binding the same way the first run was binding. A walkthrough that fails the triage on the re-run was failing the triage on the first run. The five minutes the reader spent on the body sections are not recoverable. The next five minutes are still budgeted.
The re-run is also a way to catch the walkthroughs that pass the first scroll and fail the second scroll. The reader who has read past the first scroll and is not sure whether to keep going can scroll back to the second screen and run the second pass. The second pass is the same three signals on a smaller area. A walkthrough that fails the second pass is a walkthrough the reader should walk away from, even though the first scroll was promising. The cost of walking away is the next ten minutes the reader has not yet spent. The cost of staying is the next ten minutes the reader will spend on a walkthrough that cannot answer the question the reader opened the walkthrough with.
Keeping the triage small enough to run on the first scroll
The triage is short on purpose. A reader who treats the triage as a long checklist will spend the first minute building the checklist instead of running it, and the budget the triage was supposed to protect will already be spent. LetsGame editors keep the triage to three signals, in three places, in under a minute. A reader who wants to extend it can add a fourth signal, but the fourth signal has to be one the reader can read on the first scroll. A fourth signal the reader has to scroll to find is a fourth signal the reader will not run on the first scroll, and the triage will fail for the same reason the walkthroughs it screens fail.
The practical use of the triage is the moment a reader opens a walkthrough and decides whether to commit. The reader runs the three signals on the first scroll, makes the call in under a minute, and moves on. The reader who treats the triage as a habit will save the next walkthrough the triage would have cost them, and the next walkthrough is the one worth carrying into the next session. LetsGame editors treat the first-scroll triage as the cheapest way to keep reading time for the walkthroughs that earn it, and as the cheapest way to walk away from the walkthroughs that do not.
Readers who want to keep their reading budget for the walkthroughs that earn it can move from this triage into the wider guides library at LetsGame guides, where the long-form walkthroughs are listed in the order LetsGame editors would read them if they had to triage a fresh library in a single sitting.
