Interactive Storytelling for
Video Games
Chapter 9: Branching Path
Stories
Josiah Lebowitz
Chris Klug
What is a branching path
story?
 Branching path stories have multiple decision points
throughout the story, allowing the player to make a series of
decisions as he progresses through the game.
 Some decisions may have little to no effect on the main plot
while other can cause it to branch off in a different direction
entirely.
 Unlike open-ended and fully player-driven stories, branching
path stories follow a rigid writer controlled structure of
branches and decision points.
 When written well, they form an excellent balance between
writer control and player choice.
Choose Your Own Adventure
Books
 Released by Bantam Books (1979 –
1998) and Chooseco (2005 on).
 The most well known use of branching
path storytelling.
 Readers are frequently prompted to
choose between multiple options, turning
to different pages depending on their
choice.
 Stories are relatively short and simple
due to the numerous pages needed for
each branch and ending.
 The vast majority of endings tend to
involve the hero dying or giving up.
Creating Branching Path
Stories
 After creating the basic story structure, examine it and decide
where it’s going to branch and what purpose each branch is
going to serve.
 Ensure the different branches aren’t too similar to each other.
 Each branch should provide an interesting and entertaining
experience.
 Story length can grow rapidly as branches are added, greatly
increasing the amount of time and money needed to finish
the game. It’s important to always keep time and budget
constraints firmly in mind.
The Types of Branches
 Branching path stories make use of three different types of
branches.
 Minor Branches: Quickly rejoin the main branch (only offering
different versions of a single scene) without any serious impact
on the main plot.
 Moderate Branches: Eventually rejoin the main branch, but take
their time doing so (offering multiple scenarios which lead to the
same eventual outcome), without seriously impacting the main
plot.
 Major Branches: Break away from the main branch entirely,
forming new main branches with their own sets of minor and
moderate branches.
Minor Branch
Moderate Branch
Major Branch
FRONT MISSION 3
 Released by Square in 2000
(PS).
 Minor branches are used to offer
alternate battles.
 Moderate branches lead to
different sets of battles and
affect which characters join the
hero’s party.
 The two major branches feature
many different characters and
set the heroes on opposite sides
of several conflicts, offering very
different perspectives on the
events of the story.
Deciding Where to Place
Branches
 Minor Branches: Looks for places where the hero may face a
small decision that won’t seriously affect the main plot (such as
what to say in a conversation or how to spend his afternoon).
 Moderate Branches: Look for places where decisions the hero
makes could cause him to go off on different paths that will
eventually rejoin (such as stealing a magic artifact, bargaining
for it, or earning enough money to buy it).
 Major Branches: Looks for places where the hero must make a
choice that will drastically change the progression and outcome
of the rest of the story in unique and interesting ways (such as
choosing which of two opposing armies to side with).
 DON’T add pointless branches. Make sure each one is unique,
entertaining, and adds something to the story.
How many branches should a
story have?
 The number of branches depends heavily on the type of story
being told and what key factor differentiates between the
branches (who the hero loves, who he sides with, whether he
becomes good or evil, etc).
 Don’t include branches that are repetitive, boring, and/or
don’t add much to the story.
 Keep time and budget constraints firmly in mind and plan the
number of branches accordingly.
Japanese Visual Novel Games
 Visual novel games are a popular genre in Japan but hardly
any receive English releases.
 Visual novels are released primarily on the PC by small
independent developers.
 They’re essentially very long and complex branching path
stories written in a first person novel format with
accompanying visuals, sound, and music.
 Visual novels contain some of the deepest and best
structured uses of branching path storytelling in the industry.
 Fan translations of a few popular titles can be found online.
Fate/Stay Night
 Released by Type-Moon in
2004 (PC).
 One of the most popular
visual novels of all time.
 Has a higher word count
than the entire Lord of the
Rings trilogy.
 3 major branches (based on
which girl the hero teams up
with).
 5 full (good) endings.
 40 bad endings
 60+ hours of gameplay.
The Strengths of Branching
Path Stories
 Provides the player with a large number of choices of varying
importance.
 Allows the writer to maintain careful control over the structure
and pacing of the story.
 Lets the player explore many different possible progressions
and outcomes of the story.
 Offers the player a chance to experience the story from
multiple angles and perspectives.
 The best synthesis of traditional and player-driven
storytelling.
Heavy Rain
 Released by Quantic Dream
in 2010 (PS3).
 Contains a compelling story
of four people searching for a
serial killer.
 Plays like an interactive film
or extended quick-time
event.
 The story continues
regardless of the player’s
performance, adjusting the
outcome of events
accordingly.
The Weaknesses of Branching
Path Stories
 Ensuring that each branch provides a unique and compelling
experience is very difficult.
 Reusing too many locations, characters, quests, etc across
branches can make them feel repetitive and dull.
 Highly shocking and emotional moments can lose much of their
impact when the player knows he can simply go back and make
a different choice.
 It can be difficult for the player to tell which choices will lead to
the desired outcome.
 Most players only complete game once, causing them to miss
out on a large portion of the story and content.
 Branching path stories are expensive and time consuming to
create unless the branches are short and repetitive.
The Bouncer
 Released by Square in 2001
(PS2).
 A beat ‘em up with a strong
action movie vibe.
 Allows the player to choose
between three characters, each
with their own story scenes and
endings.
 All three paths are extremely
similar.
 The game is very short.
 The player must complete the
game multiple times in order to
fully understand the story.
Things to Consider
 List several games you’ve played which use branching path stories.
 Pick two of the games from your list. Make a simple flowchart of their
branching structure. Mark each branch as minor, moderate, or major.
 Pick one of those two games. Are there any branches that you consider
to be boring and/or unnecessary? Explain your reasoning for each of
those branches.
 Did the presence of the different branches make you want to replay the
game so you could see the other outcomes? Why or why not?
 Do you think the use of a branching path structure significantly
enhanced or detracted from the game’s story? Explain your reasoning.