Do you care about how many options there are?

[Fenrir34]

Just a random question, but doesn't anybody care about how many choices you get in a game? I know some like a lot because it makes the game difficult, but is it better to have a few? If so, how many, or if not, still tell me how many?

[Juneberry]

I think it depends on the game and what the choices are for. If it's a kinetic story where the choices don't do much, I wouldn't really see a reason to have a lot- unless, say, there are lots of endings but the rest of the story is kinetic. Then you might want a lot of choices that vary the endings. It really depends on the necessity in the story and what they do. :/

[Asceai]

I'm not personally that supportive of difficulty in a medium where you interact simply by picking choices and you can instantly undo anything you have - I think it's more likely to make the game annoying before it makes the game tense (the latter being the desired outcome)

That said, it can work, IF the setting is appropriate for a lots-of-choices high-stakes game. If you're writing a thriller, a lot of choices, many of them resulting in dead ends, some of them resulting in death a few choices from when you pick them, go for it!

On the other hand, if it's a romantic comedy, maybe tone it down a little =P Difficulty by itself isn't an asset in these types of games; if it doesn't suit the game, it's just annoying.

[Fenrir34]

I think it depends on the game and what the choices are for. If it's a kinetic story where the choices don't do much, I wouldn't really see a reason to have a lot- unless, say, there are lots of endings but the rest of the story is kinetic. Then you might want a lot of choices that vary the endings. It really depends on the necessity in the story and what they do. :/

That does make sense. But I wonder if one could have few option but many ending. Actually that would most likely not work. It's just hard writing options sometimes that make sense and aren't stupid

[Fenrir34]

I'm not personally that supportive of difficulty in a medium where you interact simply by picking choices and you can instantly undo anything you have - I think it's more likely to make the game annoying before it makes the game tense (the latter being the desired outcome)

That said, it can work, IF the setting is appropriate for a lots-of-choices high-stakes game. If you're writing a thriller, a lot of choices, many of them resulting in dead ends, some of them resulting in death a few choices from when you pick them, go for it!

On the other hand, if it's a romantic comedy, maybe tone it down a little =P Difficulty by itself isn't an asset in these types of games; if it doesn't suit the game, it's just annoying.

You right. It's better to have many choices for a horror and thriller game. Since I'm doing a romance, I think I should keep them toned down. I used to think though, that the more choices one had the more interested people would be in the story. But it's the story that keep them with it. Options are good, but I've got to remember not to do to many. Thanks

[trooper6]

Options don't necessarily mean more difficulty.

Choices can do different things.
You can have choices that are about a puzzle in order to increase difficulty.
You can have choices that are about creating branches in the story.
You can have choices that are about giving relationship points to determine friendships or romances.
You can have choices that are about defining the protagonist's character or personality.
You can have choices that are part of a battle system.
You can have choices that are part of a skill system.
And who know what else?

So what choices you make should make sense for what you are trying to do. I don't think it has to do with genre. You could make a horror game with few choices or a romance game with lots of choices. If you can't think of good choices and would rather just make a KN, or a VN with very few choices,do that. I may not play it, but you should make the story you want to make.

If the quality is good, people will play it.

[RVB]

When I play a VN, I like the choices. I don't like long stretches of time when I'm reading and doing nothing. So I think how many choices can be dependent on just how long of time is in between them. Some, of course, should have major impacts on how the story plays out, but there can be others just for fun's sake, or for dialogue differences. Even if the story flows down the same path again for either choice, it can still break up the monotony if there are stretches of time for what is going on.

The yaoi VN Dramatical Murder has stretches of time that last upwards 30 or so minutes. While some people like minimal choices, I found myself skipping through the scenes by continuously pressing enter because at that point I didn't care anymore what was going on in the story, because where are my choices and why is the character making stupid ones without my input. Usually you're creating the illusion that the player in the main character, or they make choices for the established character...so when they're not enough choices, they may feel pushed into the background. That's what makes VNs better than regular books! There's a sense of involvement.

All-in-all, choices are important to me, so I will further praise stories that allow choices to be made and a higher level of interaction than ones that make me sit for stretches of time on end without doing anything. There is a balance, of course; I won't want to have to be arsed every five minutes to make a choice when all I want to do is get buried into the plot a little, but I think a good rule of thumb is... if the character has to make a choice, have the player make the choice. Whether its tiny and affects gameplay or not... sometimes the tiniest things will make someone feel important!

[Broodelin]

Options in games are practically my only not creepy fetish, but I understand when you make them less prevelent if you have a particular story to tell or a mood to get across. Choice (especially role-playing choices that actually make a difference) are pretty much a home run for me. It's the easy, cheap way to get into my wallet. There are, however, some games that I adore without question that have little to no options to choose because they're strong and well-crafted stories (or just plain fun!) that would actually get derailed if I, say, were able to suddenly put on a sombrero and start a jig or tell the love interests to screw themselves so I could spend my time working on my (virtual) homework.

[Fenrir34]

Options don't necessarily mean more difficulty.

Choices can do different things.
You can have choices that are about a puzzle in order to increase difficulty.
You can have choices that are about creating branches in the story.
You can have choices that are about giving relationship points to determine friendships or romances.
You can have choices that are about defining the protagonist's character or personality.
You can have choices that are part of a battle system.
You can have choices that are part of a skill system.
And who know what else?

So what choices you make should make sense for what you are trying to do. I don't think it has to do with genre. You could make a horror game with few choices or a romance game with lots of choices. If you can't think of good choices and would rather just make a KN, or a VN with very few choices,do that. I may not play it, but you should make the story you want to make.

If the quality is good, people will play it.

This is a nice guide. It'll help with future game making for me. Thanks

[Fenrir34]

When I play a VN, I like the choices. I don't like long stretches of time when I'm reading and doing nothing. So I think how many choices can be dependent on just how long of time is in between them. Some, of course, should have major impacts on how the story plays out, but there can be others just for fun's sake, or for dialogue differences. Even if the story flows down the same path again for either choice, it can still break up the monotony if there are stretches of time for what is going on.

The yaoi VN Dramatical Murder has stretches of time that last upwards 30 or so minutes. While some people like minimal choices, I found myself skipping through the scenes by continuously pressing enter because at that point I didn't care anymore what was going on in the story, because where are my choices and why is the character making stupid ones without my input. Usually you're creating the illusion that the player in the main character, or they make choices for the established character...so when they're not enough choices, they may feel pushed into the background. That's what makes VNs better than regular books! There's a sense of involvement.

All-in-all, choices are important to me, so I will further praise stories that allow choices to be made and a higher level of interaction than ones that make me sit for stretches of time on end without doing anything. There is a balance, of course; I won't want to have to be arsed every five minutes to make a choice when all I want to do is get buried into the plot a little, but I think a good rule of thumb is... if the character has to make a choice, have the player make the choice. Whether its tiny and affects gameplay or not... sometimes the tiniest things will make someone feel important!

I'll admit that can be hard for me to do. I like having choices, but they determine the points you get for the characters. I guess I've got to train myself in making choices that are super important to the story.

[Fenrir34]

Options in games are practically my only not creepy fetish, but I understand when you make them less prevelent if you have a particular story to tell or a mood to get across. Choice (especially role-playing choices that actually make a difference) are pretty much a home run for me. It's the easy, cheap way to get into my wallet. There are, however, some games that I adore without question that have little to no options to choose because they're strong and well-crafted stories (or just plain fun!) that would actually get derailed if I, say, were able to suddenly put on a sombrero and start a jig or tell the love interests to screw themselves so I could spend my time working on my (virtual) homework.

It's true that KN's can be really good. I've played many of them which proves you don't need choices to have a good game. It's just hard to make ones people will think useless.

[Marionette]

I think it depends on the story. I mean as long as it makes sence, like theres a logical reason for having a decision point at that part of the story then any number of choices should be fine. I mean say your character is in the middle of a heated discussion, having lots of decisions in this would be fine, having options in this situation makes sence and giving the player control of these makes them feel more involved.
But there are some situations where random decision points would be bad, as they tend to break the flow of the story since they make the player change thier focus, so if the point of that part of the story is to keep the player immersed then having few decision points would be more preferable.


Unless of course you meant number of choices at once, then i think that once you get to about 5 they get harder to keep track of. And unless most of them are pointless, like doesnt do anything/gives the same output/returns to the same decision tree, then the player will likely find it harder to retrace their steps if they ever need to replay it, like for different endings etc.

And the more choices you give at once the more likely people are to just click one at random rather than properly considering the possible outcomes of their choices. lol

[Cafechan]

While some people like minimal choices, I found myself skipping through the scenes by continuously pressing enter because at that point I didn't care anymore what was going on in the story, because where are my choices and why is the character making stupid ones without my input.

I also find myself doing this, even if the story is interesting.

Even though I've been playing visual novels for years now and I generally know what to expect from them, as far as minimal player interactivity goes, I often get antsy at the back of my mind if I'm not given the option to choose something for a long time. I get distracted and start wondering when control will be given to me again.

In general, I think it really depends on the type of story you're telling, and the story's length. I can sit through hour long VNs/KNs with little to no choices and be okay, but any longer than that, and I start to drift away. I also have come to the opinion that choices with little-to-no story significance are better than long stretches without choices. So instead of a half hour stretch with no options, maybe I'll throw in a few "pointless" choices where the player can affect a few lines of dialogue and nothing more.

For example, Character A is talking about their long, sad backstory, so I give the player the option to say, "Wow, it must have been hard for you" or "What a baby! Get over your tragic past!" Then Character A reacts with either, "Yeah, it was rough, but I kept going" or "Haha, you big jerk! Well, you'll be happy to know I kept going" — then the story proceeds as usual. It was a very minor choice, probably one that has no effect on the endings or future branching, but I'm finding that 1) maintaining the illusion that the player is constantly in control is good, especially for long stories where their attention may wander 2) it makes it more challenging for them to determine which choices are just throwaways and which ones will make significant changes to the story branching.

There's no magic formula to knowing how many choices is the correct balance, and of course, you'd want to avoid -too- many pointless choices, or else the player will feel like none of them matter. You've just gotta read through your game and try to gauge where you think choices are appropriate... it's a very case-by-case issue, I think.

It also helps to have beta testers play the game. Ask them if there were any spots where they felt anxious to make a decision but couldn't!

[InvertMouse]

Many games, especially AAA ones, claim to have tons of options, but they end up leading to the same conclusion. They're only illusions of choice. In that case, I'd rather have even just a single choice in the game, but that decision truly changes the outcome of the story.

To sum up, as long as the options actually matter, even a small number is cool with me . Even linear is fine--Narcissu is my all time favorite VN.

[Le Hewitt]

I agree with most others on this topic, if each choice contributes something worthwhile to the work as a whole, then there can be as few or as many as suits the VN. However, I really do love choices that may not necessarily affect the story, but serve to meaningfully develop the protagonist. And this obviously works better when it does effect the story, even if not in a major way. For example, I'd love to be given a dare in a game and then instead of having a simple Yes/No option, you get a "Hell yeah!", "Well...Okay...", "I'd rather not...", or "Hell no!". Why? Simply because it adds the potential for some player decided personality. So long as you have established your protagonist well enough to allow this kind of freedom without making it just be the player breaking away from who the protagonist is described as. It's a delicate balance, and there has to be reflection on what those choices say about your particular version of the protagonist.