ABSTRACT
This chapter is devoted to the game mechanic of conversation trees. When a character communicates with the player and offers different replies from which to choose, the player has the power to change the way the story is told. But the degree by which the story changes is up to the game developer. A reply that leads nowhere is not a meaningful choice.
This chapter delves into the concept of meaningful choice and how a single response has a downstream effect on the rest of the game. The author also provides samples graphs of branching dialogue and a dovetailed story arc. But the chapter is mostly devoted to analyzing what makes different choices distinct from one another. Does one provide a change in the story whereas the other provides a different view inside the character?
The goal is always to provide choices that allow for differentiated content to encourage player replayability.
