What follows covers free learning games in the order you would actually need it, rather than the order it appears in the game.
Two answers to free learning games circulate online, and both were correct at some point. If the first attempt fails cleanly, that is more useful than one that half-works. There is a point where further refinement stops being worth the time, and it arrives early. Give the first attempt an honest try before deciding the method does not work.
The one-paragraph version
If you only do one thing from this page, do the first step properly.
What most guides get wrong here
Checking the result immediately costs seconds and saves the most common kind of wasted time. Start with the simplest option before touching anything that is hard to reverse. Understanding the reason behind a step lets you adapt it when your situation differs. Doing this properly once is faster than doing it approximately three times.
- Test one change at a time instead of five at once.
- Note the step where your situation diverged from the description.
- Have a fallback plan for the step most likely to fail.
- Change one thing at a time and check the result.
- Check the known-issues list first.
How to check it worked
A result that works but that you cannot explain will not survive the next change. People often blame the game when the actual cause is a setting they changed weeks ago. A change that works but that you cannot repeat has not really solved anything.
The result is consistent once the inputs are, which is less obvious than it sounds. Following the steps for free learning games without understanding them works until something changes, and something will.
When to stop optimising
The approach below has been checked against the current version rather than a patch from two years ago. Where two methods both work, prefer the one with fewer places to go wrong. Where a guide and the game disagree, the game is right and the guide is old.
The straightforward version
Most guides are written once and never revisited, which is worth remembering when one does not match. Details that seem cosmetic occasionally are not, which is why the order is specified. The version you are running matters more than the platform you are running it on.
Why it works
Keep the first attempt simple and add refinements only after it works. Where several approaches exist, the popular one is popular for being easy to explain rather than best. Anything presented as a hidden trick for free learning games is normally a step a popular guide left out. One clean run beats five rushed ones, both for results and for your patience.
The step people skip in free learning games is the one that makes everything after it reliable. If the explanation feels overcomplicated, it probably is — the working version is usually short.
Things that waste the most time
- Assuming a step took effect without checking.
- Treating a comment thread as more current than the official notes.
- Copying someone else's setup without checking that it fits your situation.
- Making a permanent change to answer a question a reversible one would have settled.
- Optimising before the basic version has worked once.
Anything else?
Does this still work after the latest update?
It did at the time of writing. If a step no longer matches, the underlying idea normally still applies even when a menu has moved.
Is there any risk to my save?
Not from the steps above. Backing up first is still sensible if the game makes it easy, purely because it costs nothing.
Is there a faster method?
Usually yes, and usually it is riskier. The route above trades a little speed for a much lower chance of having to start over.
Does the platform I play on change the answer?
The method is the same everywhere. Menu names and button prompts differ, and occasionally one platform gets a change a few days later than the rest.
If you take one thing away about free learning games, make it the preparation step; everything after it becomes much easier.