This is a classic problem in game manuals as well. They have to act as both tutorial AND reference guide. Working through front the front to back is necessary

This is a classic problem in game manuals as well. They have to act as both tutorial AND reference guide. Working through front the front to back is necessary in order to learn the systems and things have to flow in a logical progression. Which deserves a particular style of writing and formatting. Embedding bits and pieces and forming a narrative as well as logical flow. But when you're in the middle of a game and need to know the exact rules surrounding a specific corner case and how it interacts with all the other relevant rules, suddenly a detailed narrative flow isn't what you need. You need a reference guide, or a mapping of how it ties in with other components. Unfortunately, this is quite difficult to execute for things even as simple as board game systems. For a textbook I imagine it's infinitely harder. A professor I had once talked about how each figure and diagram can take a week to polish to that is conveys the information in a detailed, yet succinct manner.