branching paths
Roads that split
Branching paths are routes that diverge from a common point, offering different directions forward.
The term appears frequently in video games and interactive fiction where player choices lead to different storylines or outcomes: The game has multiple branching paths depending on your decisions.
More broadly, it describes any situation where a single course splits into alternatives: Her career offered several branching paths after graduation.
- forkingDividing into branches
- fork in the roadWhere a road divides
- divergingSeparating from a common point
- crossroadsMeeting of routes
- road not takenPath deliberately avoided
choices · life choices · decision · decision tree · choose your own adventure · maze · labyrinth · split · junction · detours · wandering · trails · options · destiny · alternate · routes · twisting · possibilities
- game designmechanics, level design, game balance, balancing, playtesting
- game narrativestory, narrative, plot, storyline, dialogue tree
- game writingdialogue, strategy guides, walkthroughs, lore, backstory
- gamebooksmultiple endings, choices, alternate endings, narrative choices, page numbers
- parallel worldsparallel worlds, alternate universe, alternate reality, parallel dimension, alternate world
- replay featuresreplayability, replay value, new game plus, multiple endings, replay mode
branching pathssingle track
Solitary rail or path
linear path · straight line · one-way street · direct route · straight path
branching pathsfixed path
Unchanging route or trajectory
no choice · fate · determinism · predestination · rails
branching pathsconvergence
Process of approaching sameness
confluence · funnel · bottleneck · gathering · consolidation
branch, branches, branched, branching, path, paths, pathway, pathways