Board Game Arena

Hello. I have been through the tutorial, and am still confused. I would like some help.

First, at the end of the tutorial, there was a nice message saying who to contact for more information, and the name looked like it was highlighted to do something. But when I clicked it, I did not get a "send message" window, it moved to the next panel and I lost the person's name.

Second ... well, the tutorial explained the *mechanics* of the game mostly well, but ... not the "why" or "what to try for" aspect of the game. Wax, for example, was either never used or if it was, I did not notice it. With all the skipping of "you saw this already", I really don't know the basic flow of turn-by-turn, just the pieces. And I don't know any of the "why we chose option X" other than "this tutorial wants to demonstrate all the pieces no matter how incompetently".

In other words, I know enough to play incompetently, and be a disaster for anyone expecting their opponents to at least know the basics.

So where can I find the basics of how to play? Not just the interface, not just the technical rules, but basic half-competent gameplay?

BGA continues with the next step of a tutorial (not just Apiary, but all tutorials), whenever you click somewhere inside the textbox.

The author of the tutorial is Nekonyancer, you can contact him from here: https://boardgamearena.com/player?id=11941354

My impression is that BGA tutorials are intended to explain the game mechanics and not to go into strategy at all.

Many (not all) games have links to additional references -- strategy guides, game analyses, and more -- on the game page or in the forums. There's often a basic strategy guide in BGA's wiki. Board Game Geek also has strategy discussions for many games.

There are specific rules to make a tutorial, and it says not to dwell on strategy, this is open information, I marked it #7:
Summary
Choose a game you master
Write the tutorial scenario first
Explain rules in the right order: theme, goal, overview, generic rules to specific rules
Jump into the game (show game moves)
Do not explain something until necessary
Do not have to explain what BGA is taking care of
Focus on rules, not on strategy tips
You don't need to play game until the end
Create a game replay specifically for the tutorial
Add replay comments ("advanced replay features")
Use all comments capabilities (placement option, text styles, icons, images,...)
Make the player DO his/her moves
Write in English
Shorter = Better
Encourage the players
Make your tutorial official
Do not change your tutorial (too much) once it official
Monitor your tutorial stats

I haven't played the tutorial, but it sounds like OP is confused with the goal/overview part. It doesn't sound like they are asking for general strategy.

Okay, I played some of the tutorial and I think its doing an okay job. Apiary is a pretty complex game, so maybe after 120+ slides it's not surprising that one might overlook or forget about the 2 slides of overview/goal from the very start.

Many (not all) games have links to additional references -- strategy guides, game analyses, and more -- on the game page or in the forums.

This is good advice, I often prefer to watch 1 or more how-to-play videos before attempting some of these bigger games.