“Choice moments” like you describe here are basically single lane roads becoming two-lane roads. The reason these are so common in gaming are because of the hig

“Choice moments” like you describe here are basically single lane roads becoming two-lane roads. The reason these are so common in gaming are because of the high difficulty of producing true branching. Even the CYOA branded books suffer from this difficulty. However, branching narrative can definitely work. Most collaborative storytelling games (the “not on rails” subclasses of “D&D”) are almost by definition branching narratives. It’s both the social element AND the endless possibility of collaborative storytelling/invention that make those games so successful. Video games have a higher barrier to accomplishing this feat. Imho simulations like The Sims, CDDA, or Dwarf Fortress are able to accomplish it best.