Lemma Soft Forums

So I have here this story, completely written, but I've been mulling it over for the past few days. It features three routes, and two choice options: one to either put you on Routes A/B or on Route C, and another to lock you into A or B. Of course, it seems likely enough that all three events could occur one after the other, as the main character just meets someone based on their actions.

I was starting to wonder, what's more interesting? To have a story tell three different ways of moving forward and ending, or to just do away with any pretense of choice and make it one cohesive, running story? As a reader, I personally favour not having any choices whatsoever and just reading, but then I know I am not the typical reader of this medium.

What sort of considerations should I have over the addition of choice options?

Both are perfectly viable. Neither option is bad. Think about what's best for your story.

In prose, theater, comics, and film, there is only one narrative. The story begins and (hopefully) ends, and audience almost never gets to influence it. There are only a few instances of experimental fiction with variable endings.

In gamebooks, many pencil-and-paper RPGs, and quite a few video games, the reader/player gets to influence the story. This can range from the simple act of turning pages in a gamebook to the moment-by-moment and significant decisions which can be found in complex games.

It's possible to offer an illusion of choice. But many people will consider this a copout. So unless your story is about a person who doesn't actually have free will, it may not be wise to present choices that lead to the same outcome.

It really depends on what crowd you're aiming for. I think VN's (stories with choices) are better received by those outside the VN community than KNs (stories without choices). I personally prefer VNs over KN's typically, but I do like KNs from time to time.

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Personally I think this would work best as a KN, as the two choices you provided seems unnecessary since all three routes would all end up at the same end anyway, and it would seem like you're forcing them to replay if they want to understand the entire story. The only benefit I can see from letting the reader choose between A B and C is that the story is broken into segments for those who do not want to read one really long story just to see the ending.

But then again, in the end it's really all how you would like to do things. It's your project, after all.

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I like no choice, because I hate having to redo the game to get the ending I want.

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