Dialogue and Conversation Trees

Adventure games have strong storylines with significant dialog, and sometimes make effective use of recorded dialog or narration from voice actors.^[1] This genre of game is known for representing dialog as a conversation tree.^[24] Players are able to engage a non-player character by choosing a line of pre-written dialog from a menu, which triggers a response from the game character. These conversations are often designed as a tree structure, with players deciding between each branch of dialog to pursue.^[1] However, there are always a finite number of branches to pursue, and some adventure games devolve into selecting each option one-by-one.^[25] Conversing with characters can reveal clues about how to solve puzzles, including hints about what that character would want before they will cooperate with the player.^[1] Other conversations will have far-reaching consequences, such as deciding to disclose a valuable secret that has been entrusted to the player.^[1] Characters may also be convinced to reveal their own secrets, either through conversation or by giving them something that will benefit them.^{[citation needed]}