Asking if you want to continue the game? - Yes - No

[PMscenarios]

This used to be a thing in older games, where you'd get choices like "Do you wanna get up? -Yes -No", or "Do you take the sword and start your adventure? -Yes -No", where answering "no" either ended the game for you or put you in a loop of the first dialogue until you answered "yes".

As a player of visual novels I get really annoyed when the protag makes an important choice without giving me input on the matter - "it's a choice-based game, right? Why can't I choose?", especially if I know they're walking into a stupid situation.

But, at the same time,as a writer you want the player to continue the story, and if the prompt is basically "Do you want to continue the game's story? -Yes -No" I can see the merit in letting the story continue uninterrupted.

A few games have "fake" ends at choices, where they just give you a little epilogue of "well, you chose not to continue the story, so nothing's changed. The protag's life will always go on wondering what could have been", and I have to be honest, after doing one such false end I don't bother picking them again, but I still appreciate that they're there.

How about you? Do you prefer the choice, even if it isn't really a choice at all?
Do you look at the false end if provided?

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[Scribbles]

lol, I try to put as many choices and outcomes into my stories as possible. But it's hard to write for and hard to code, though I think a lot of people want too much control over their narrative.

I'm not really sure what you mean by "fake" endings though? If the adventurer doesn't take the sword then there is no story, having it loop back and forcing the player to choose "take the sword" seems pointless, I guess I'd rather have the "and they lived happily ever after never leaving the house" end then being forced into doing something I didn't want the character to do I guess. I think it's fun to see what happens when you pick the "weird" option.

[Donmai]

I remember someone saying to be working on a VN based on Faust, and someone else suggesting to add this choice: "Sign the contract / Don't sign the contract". What?

[Katy133]

I generally don't like "Do you want to continue the game?" choices because you're stuck between the feeling of...
a) You always want to play the game to it fullest extent (because as a player, we want to explore the story to get full information on it),
And b) You want to click the "No I don't want to continue" choice just to see what the response is.

If the designer uses it to subvert something, then I like it, but typically, it often feels like filler. An example of this would be the player getting a supposedly "good" ending, and then being asked if they liked this ending, or if they want the plot to continue. Choosing to continue shows that the "good" ending has a darker side to it (A Series of Unfortunate Events uses this).

This used to be a thing in older games, where you'd get choices like "Do you wanna get up? -Yes -No", or "Do you take the sword and start your adventure? -Yes -No", where answering "no" either ended the game for you or put you in a loop of the first dialogue until you answered "yes".

I like how the Monty Python and the Quest for the Holy Grail game (7th Level) makes fun of this: When you first play the game, you had the main menu choice of "Get the Holy Grail" or "Register" (a common button in 90s games). If you clicked "Get the Holy Grail," a "DING-DING" sound plays, followed by a narrator saying "Congratulations! You've just won the game!" And then you're sent to your desktop. You were actually meant to click "Register," which lead to a "fake" registration form made up of literally over 100 weird Monty Python-style questions.

I also like what's known as "schmuck bait": Giving the player a choice to do something dumb, which leads to a bad end or dreadful (yet obvious to predict) consequences.

[Mammon]

Fake endings can be good, as long as they're long enough to be considered an ending rather than an add-on. If it's just one scene or with some games just a few paragraphs, then the question is just one of those pointless ones that annoy me more than they add. If it's actually something funny or unexpected, or if the ending is long enough/fulfilling enough to be a decent ending, then such endings are appreciated.

While I know that writing several scenes without whatever supernatural plot there is and without most of the main cast involved might be less interesting to write about, I do appreciate it when the MC gets an ending where they chose not to do it without being told it lead to their death or a very hollow and boring life.

[Imperf3kt]

Do you like yes / no questions

Yes: goto start
No: continue


I prefer no choices at all. Instead, weave the flags into the narrative.

For example, you are an adventurer and the story tells you that you are approaching an enemy archer.
At this point - without a prompt, except the dialogue nodding toward it, a player can open their inventory and equip a shield.

If they equip the shield, the inevitable arrows are blocked and our protag continues his merry journey. If the player fails to do so, then they are assaulted by a barrage of arrows, one of which takes to their knee, thus ending their adventure.

This is both more interesting than;
1: do this
2: don't do this
As well as making the player feel like their choices had more of an impact on how the story progressed by immersing them deeper in the decision making.
It also makes the player concentrate on the story and not half asleep click through it, only skimming the important bits.