I just found this GMTK video and it’s about a difference that I’ve been trying to get at for a while, but never really found a good vocabulary for

what they call “explicit choices” are what I’ve been calling “Bioware choices”: where the game beats you over the head with the fact that you’re making a choice, and gives you a menu where you choose an option from an exhaustive list

although I’m not totally happy with the term “invisible choices” for the opposite - where you choose through gameplay mechanics instead of through a menu. because even in some of the examples given, the “invisible choices” can be very visible. you may not know every option available to you, but you’re often at least made aware that there’s a choice to be made. I think a better term might be “choice through gameplay” because you use the existing gameplay mechanics to “choose” what happens next

and in the case where it’s more of a tense situation with lasting consequences for failure, instead of a “choice” exactly, a good term might be “fail-forward game design” - named after the concept of failing forward in TTRPGs

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6HZuSzlN2eI

@kasdeya "Implicit Choices" feels like it might fit. Because the choice is implied by your actions in game. Like a lot of secret endings in games imply that you care more and tried harder by finishing up more side quests. The side quests were each individually their own mechanic and choice, but together they imply your character choosing a better path. Or perhaps it's as simple as taking route A before route B changes the story.

@kasdeya "implicit choices" was right there