In 1941, the Argentine writer Jorge Luis Borges wrote a story called “The Garden of Forking Paths” that was basically a “wouldn’t it be cool” vision of a story that could include all of its different possible outcomes; when a decision was made, the story could follow each of the forking paths that result.
The Table of Contents
The Rise of Forking-Path Storytelling
Over 80 years later, Borges’ vision has come to full fruition in video games and beyond. I enjoy games that empower players to make story-impacting decisions are now not only commonplace and popular but
also a driving force behind breakthroughs in digital storytelling. The influence of branching narratives extends far beyond video games, shaping interactive movies, streaming experiences, and AI-powered stories, representing the biggest evolution in storytelling since the rise of film and television.
Early Interactive Fiction and Text-Based Experiments
Forking-path games (a genre often called “interactive fiction”) like Adventure and the commercial Infocom games (Zork, A Mind Forever Voyaging, etc.), which featured optional content, variable sequencing, and often multiple endings and subplot outcomes. In the 1980s, multiple paths and endings became even more common with the brief heyday of hypertext fiction (more literature than game) and the commercial success of video games with graphics.
Multiple Endings Before Modern Consoles
From easy-to-design variable endings like Metroid’s to gameplay-based variable endgame world scenarios in the early Nobunaga’s Ambition games (1988’s Nobunaga’s Ambition II apparently featured 38 endings!), we started to see different methods of allowing player input to determine the narrative presented to them.
The 1980s were also the golden age of the print gamebook genre (which had been growing since the mid-70s), ranging from the popular “Choose Your Own Adventure” texts aimed at kids to Fighting Fantasy and Lone Wolf RPG-lite gamebooks aimed at solo gamers.
Video Games Become the Home of Branching Narratives
From the 90s on, though, video games became the undisputed home base of forking-path storytelling. The RPG (and RPS), strategy, visual novel, horror, fighting, and adventure genres all explored how multiple story paths could fit their styles.
Companies like BioWare offer forking-path dialogue trees as well as action options that help determine which of a few major paths and which of a whole lot of minor customizations are triggered in a given
playthrough of a Mass Effect or Dragon Age game. 2014’s Dragon Age: Inquisition was advertised as having 40 endings, though most of those involve minor tweaks to a handful of major endings (all of which involve the same key post-credits scene), and CD Projekt’s Witcher series works similarly (with Witcher 3 boasting 36 endings).
When Story Takes Priority Over Gameplay
Heavy Rain, a 2010 PS3 that’s difficult to describe (story-heavy action-adventure?), lets your actions have major impacts throughout, even to the point of getting half the player-characters killed without causing the story to end, but does so by making that almost the game’s sole focus (gameplay is minimal and focused on exploration and quick time events).
Branching Narratives Go Mainstream
Even a traditionally linear series like Call of Duty decided to get in on the action with Black Ops II. In the 2020s, the gamebook genre experienced a further resurgence, finding new life in interactive apps and cross-platform experiences. Remakes of classics like Sorcery! and innovative new titles such as 80 Days, To Be or Not to Be, and AI-driven interactive novels have reached broader audiences thanks to advancements in mobile and cloud gaming.
Why Players Care So Much About Choice
Players love to hate on the degree of influence their actions can actually have in forking-path game stories (see the outcry upon the release of the trilogy-ending Mass Effect 3 for a major example), but this just reinforces the degree to which many players want this kind of narrative experience. If they didn’t care, they wouldn’t freak out when they don’t get everything they hoped for.
Interactive Media in Gaming Today
This investment in a forking-path narrative illustrates my main point: video games and interactive media now offer us the opportunity to test out how different actions affect narratives. In a way that other media like print and film can’t (though both have tried with relatively limited success).
Right now, we are fully in the era of interactive media, spanning not just games but also AI-powered storytelling platforms, immersive VR experiences, and choose-your-own-adventure TV shows. These inventions are changing how we understand cause and effect, and how we experience key decisions within meaningful stories.
What the experts are saying about Interactive Storytelling:
- Jason Schreier (Video Game Journalist): "Today’s games offer deep stories that can make players feel emotions like those found in movies and books. They pull players into the story and make them feel like they are part of it."
- Hideo Kojima - The Creator of the Metal Gear Series (Game Designer and Director) said, "Video games are a new way for people to interact with stories. The future is about making players not only see the story but also live it."
- Neil Druckmann, the Creative Director at Naughty Dog, said, "We want to create experiences that connect with players' feelings. It's about taking them on a journey they'll remember even after they stop playing."
- Druckmann’s approach is clear in The Last of Us. Joel’s controversial ending creates a powerful emotional journey that players still discuss years later.
Where Interactive Storytelling Goes Next
What are some of your favorite (or most hated) forking-path videogames, interactive stories, or immersive media experiences, especially those from the last few years? How do you feel about the latest advances in interactive storytelling, from AI-powered narratives to VR story worlds? What do you like about these new approaches, and what still frustrates you?
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