Steam guides let players create, share walkthroughs and tips
It’s almost unsurprising at this point, but Valve have managed to improve Steam once again. This time, they added Steam guides, user-created walkthroughs and tips accessible through the Steam overlay.
All the Steam guides are written by players. The guides are rated through a like-or-dislike system, and the best-rated guides show up at the top of the Steam guides overlay.
Guide creators are able to divide guides into categories, making them easier to navigate. It’s also possible to insert images, screenshots, videos, and tables into guides.
I jumped into Orcs Must Die! 2 to test out the new feature. The guides are very visible and accessible. They all work through Steam’s in-game browser, which works seamlessly even during hectic in-game situations.
Obviously, there aren’t many guides to go through right now since the feature has only been up for a day, but I expect that to change as more players embrace the feature and begin putting up their own guides.
The actual Steam guides are very easy to navigate. On the right hand side of the browser, there’s a table of contents that can be used to click through different categories, which guide creators choose when putting together a guide. On the top of the screen, there’s a navigation bar that allows users to rate, favorite, report, and share Steam guides.
The only possible hurdle for Steam guides is the community response. It remains to be seen how many people will make guides, particularly for games that don’t have many active players. It will also be interesting to see how the rating system works out.
What do you guys think? Are you excited to see how communities respond to Steam guides? Will you use Steam guides? Make sure to comment below.
