It’s sort of hard to talk about these interactive experiences - and to specifically talk about the importance of choice - without spoilers. Just so you know ahead of time, there will be heavy spoilers for every single one of these games.
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All of these games are more than that, though, so I want to cover each one in a good amount of depth. Honestly, this list might as well be called “Five Games That Lucas Really Likes,” because I could write a whole article on each of them, and I love games that make their choices feel meaningful. Because of the agency they give players, all of these are good examples of how games can interact with the player, and where games can go as a truly interactive medium. So I’m pointing out five games that use choice in interesting ways. I think dialogue trees have become pretty standard at this point, though games don’t always make those as meaningful as they are in the games I mentioned in the previous sentence. Notable examples include Star Wars Jedi Knight: Dark Forces II (1997) and Fable (2004), and later games like BioShock (2007) and Dishonored (2012) would expand upon these moral systems in profound and interesting ways.Īnd then there’s the concept of dialogue trees, which you’ll see in Mass Effect (2007) and Telltale’s The Walking Dead (2012).
![steam way to the woods steam way to the woods](https://woodworkjunkie.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/DSC_0067-Medium.jpg)
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In the late-1990s and into the aughts, a lot of game developers were toying with the idea of moral choices having an impact on gameplay. But as games have evolved, the mechanics that drive meaningful decisions have only grown more complex. If you really get down to it, the player has always been able to make choices, from steering through mazes in Pac-Man to deciding if you want to ditch the Tanooki Suit for a Fire Flower in Super Mario Bros. Player choice is a constantly evolving concept in the games industry.