Feature: Meet the Man Making PS5 Manuals for Your Physical Games

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Like a lot of people, I have strong memories of reading the instruction manuals that came with PlayStation 1 games. I was always so excited for new releases that I’d read the booklet completely, trying to learn everything I could before I finally got to play at home.

It’s become rare to find physical manuals these days with everything going digital. However, some companies are still prioritizing providing information with their products – for instance, all new Evercade games include a booklet detailing the content on each game cartridge.

As a longtime gamer, I’ve noticed it’s getting rarer and rarer to find anything extra included with physical game copies these days. It feels like those cool manuals and bonus goodies are really becoming a thing of the past, even though we still love collecting physical games!

Sandeep Rai, a writer known for his PlayStation books like the popular ‘Vita Means Life,’ is passionately working to preserve the tradition of well-crafted game manuals, drawing on his own cherished childhood memories.

I’ve always been a sucker for game manuals, honestly. It probably comes from being a kid and getting a new NES game – I remember reading the manual front to back on the car ride home with my parents! There’s just something about them that feels really nostalgic to me.

Rai was really disappointed to find out that PS Vita games didn’t include instruction manuals. Inspired by another creator, he decided to make his own manuals for the games he loved.

Honestly, I wasn’t sure anyone else would even want these, but I was mostly doing it for myself – I really missed having them! It’s amazing, but each of my PS Vita manuals actually ended up selling hundreds of copies. I was so surprised and happy!

This dedicated creator has written over 50 guides, starting with the PS Vita and continuing through the PS4 and now the PS5. He’s covered a wide range of games, including popular titles like the recent Resident Evil Requiem and niche favorites like Stellar Blade.

He shares that his most popular guides are for the games Bloodborne and Astro Bot, and he’s sold hundreds of copies of each one.

Figuring out how many copies of each manual we’ll need is difficult, and we have to order at least 100 at a time. While it’s cheaper to order more, it’s hard to know how many people will actually want them. I really wish I’d ordered between 600 and 700 Astro Bot manuals initially, but I’ve ended up having to place several new orders instead.

Rai notes that forecasting how well guides will sell isn’t always straightforward. He points out that his guide for Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 didn’t initially sell well, but sales increased significantly a few months after the game launched. He’s also observed renewed interest in his Kena: Bridge of Spirits guide following the announcement of a sequel.

Rai sells each manual for about £5 (around $6.75), and they’re well-made, bringing to mind the helpful booklets from the 1990s.

He doesn’t just explain how to play the game; he fills each manual with tons of extra details and designs them to fit the game’s world. For instance, the Stellar Blade manual lists every outfit you can unlock, and includes even more information.

I love how he’s inspired by those old Nintendo manuals – you know, the ones from the 90s that we all used to pore over! It’s awesome to see him drawing from something so nostalgic and beloved by fans like me.

He explains that he designs his game manuals to be visually appealing, using lots of pictures and including background information on the important characters.

The Killzone manual for PlayStation 2 was a big influence on me. It was designed to look like a propaganda newspaper, and I used that idea when creating the Helldivers 2 manual. I wrote it as a handbook for new recruits, styled like propaganda, and even added ads for Liberty Helmets.

Rai’s work requires skill, but he always follows a few guidelines before starting a new project.

First, he needs to genuinely enjoy the game he’s writing a guide for. Second, he always thinks about whether people would actually want to buy a physical booklet about it.

He admits he’s made mistakes along the way. While he’s a big fan of the Ys series and created guides for Ys VIII and Ys X, those didn’t sell very well. His guide for Monster Hunter Wilds also underperformed. Overall, though, he’s generally been able to find people interested in the guides he makes.

Rai has found a successful spot for himself, and people are loving his booklets, as shown by the great reviews on Etsy.

He sees it as proof that people still appreciate having a physical manual with their games, even now that everything is digital.

It’s been really surprising and encouraging to see that even though most games are now digital, people still want physical manuals, he says.

I miss when physical copies of games used to come with instruction manuals – they really made the package feel finished. Since those are rare now, I’m happy to provide that kind of helpful information myself.

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2026-04-25 18:08