Multiple endings
The story concludes differently depending on player choices — from binary good/bad endings to dozens of epilogue permutations. Multiple endings make choices retroactively meaningful: the promise that decisions accumulate toward different destinations is what gives mid-game choices their weight, even before players see any divergence. Designers use them to reward replay, to let morality and reputation systems pay off, and to make a playthrough feel owned. Structural approaches: threshold endings computed from accumulated variables (karma totals), decision-point endings hinging on late explicit choices (cheaper, but can make earlier choices feel weightless), and layered systems like The Witcher 3's separate personal and world-state endings. Key decisions: how discoverable the conditions are, whether one ending is 'canon' for sequels, and epilogue granularity — Fallout-style slideshow epilogues are a cheap, effective way to acknowledge dozens of small choices. Pitfall: one obviously 'true' ending demotes the rest to failure states.
- Dev effort: Medium
- Timing: Real-time or turn-based
- Common in: rpg
Seen in
- The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt
- Nier: Automata
- Mass Effect 3