History Main / ExcusePlot

* None of the ''VideoGame/{{Kirby}}'' games have much of a story, but quite possibly the best, excuse-iest plot by far would be the story for ''Kirby: Squeak Squad''. Kirby's strawberry shortcake is stolen. He decides this is obviously the work of King Dedede [[spoiler:(it isn't)]] and sets off to defeat him. The entire remainder of the game consists of Kirby's relentless pursuit of his cake, completely oblivious to everything else that happens.

** Of course, the actual reason was somewhat serious, but it was part of a plot of a different module (which could be used as a sequel to this one if the [=PCs] ''do'' find out. [[spoiler:Primus, the ruler of the modrons, had been murdered, and his throne usurped by a "mysterious shadowy entity" who ordered the March early to search for something. The entity was actually Orcus in his guise as the undead demon Tenebrous, who was trying to find his Wand. Orcus' return became the main plot of the epic two-part module ''Dead Gods''.]]

* The NES ''VideoGame/MegaMan'' games. Eventually, it became clear that Capcom was having difficulty coming up with new excuses for their latest MissionPackSequel. ''VideoGame/MegaMan9'' and ''VideoGame/MegaMan10'' just openly embrace this.

* Played with heavily in [[VideoGameDeadpool the Deadpool game]]. There ''is'' an actual plot involving Mister Sinister trying to destroy humanity and the X-Men recruiting Deadpool to help them stop him, but Deadpool doesn't care about the plot at all. He's much more interested in just having fun and is only getting involved because of a personal quarrel with Sinister. In a way, the game's story is more about Deadpool and his [[AmbiguousDisorder bizarre psychosis and]] [[CloudCuckooLander way of viewing the world]] than it is about fighting Sinister.

* Played with heavily in [[VideoGame/Deadpool the Deadpool game]]. There ''is'' an actual plot involving Mister Sinister trying to destroy humanity and the X-Men recruiting Deadpool to help them stop him, but Deadpool doesn't care about the plot at all. He's much more interested in just having fun and is only getting involved because of a personal quarrel with Sinister. In a way, the game's story is more about Deadpool and his [[AmbiguousDisorder bizarre psychosis and]] [[CloudCuckooLander way of viewing the world]] than it is about fighting Sinister.

* WHile the original ''SpyroTheDragon'' trilogy did feature a cast of memorable, unique characters, the plots generally boiled down to "Hey, look, there's a bad guy doing a bunch of bad guy things! Now go kill everything in your path while collecting gems and X type of collectible!"

** ''VideoGame/UnrealTournament''. You are playing a futuristic BloodSport, here is your rocket launcher.

Some video games have epic, sweeping plots that could easily have been made into an action {{Miniseries}} instead of a video game. Others just seem to have a plot because people feel a little silly doing things for no reason, even if the real reason they're playing is [[RuleOfFun because it's fun]].

* Many early {{Pinball}} machines could be said to fall under this trope, as their themes are often superficial. Averted with more modern pinball games, since the use of computerized controllers allow for more complex plots and gameplay.

* There was a popular ''{{Planescape}}'' module called ''The Great Modron March'' where the event in the title begins decades before it is supposed to, and the PCs are supposed to help the modrons? They'll probably never learn just ''why'' the event is happening early, and there are a variety of hooks as to what motivation they have (like being hired as bodyguards by people interested in it) but WordOfGod admitted that the ''real'' reason the PCs are going to want to help the modrons is because it's ''[[RuleOfCool just so cool]]''. (And admittedly, it is.)

* In ''DinerDash Flo Through Time'' - The plot is as follows: A broken microwave sends Flo and Grandma through time. And apparently a lot of their customers since we have teenagers and jerks talking on cellphones in the middle ages...

* The old arcade Whack-A-Mole game ''First Funky Fighter'' has a beautiful lady kidnapped as your main reason to punch suckers out of a massive bunch of wacky crocodiles and sharks!!

* The official plot for the {{FPS}} ''{{Sauerbraten}}'' is as follows: "You kill stuff. The end."

* Averted in ''Krakout'', a horizontally-oriented ''Breakout'' game for the {{Commodore 64}}. LampshadeHanging on the title screen: "Sorry there is no scrolly message but we decided to give you an amazing game instead."

* ''[[VideoGame/AngryBirds Angry Birds]]'': The Pigs stole the Bird's eggs to eat, and you have to recover them by flinging the Birds with a slingshot at the Pigs' buildings to defeat them.

** All your trope are belong to ''ZeroWing''. The ending involves dancing potatoes though.

* The plot of ''Persona4Arena'' is explained as Teddie setting up the tournament and inviting all the characters to see who is the best Persona user. Oh, and some of the characters from ''{{Persona 3}}'' want in on the fun too. [[spoiler: Except not. The Teddie who set up the tournament is an impostor (as is the commentator, Rise) and the real one has gone missing. That Teddie is the shadow of a girl who was thrown into the TV, and the tournament is her dungeon. And the P3 characters are there investigating the theft of one of Aigis' sister units...]]
* SnowboardKids. What little plot there is in the first game is AllThereInTheManual. Snowboard Kids Plus has cutscenes or the prologue and everyone's endings, though, and in Snowboard Kids 2, there are cutscenes before and after each course.
* Pretty much the point of the Mission Mode from ''Video Game/DynastyWarriorsGundam''. It had several out of character moments just for the sake of fighting. For example Zechs Merquise's mission involves destroying every mecha that fires energy just to prove melee is the way to go. Master Asia wants to beat up every under age pilot as some kind of hardcore psychologist. A girl can also invite the player to beat up her own older brother Judau Ashta as a punishment. Even couples fight for ridiculous or unexplained reasons.