History Main / NoPlotNoProblem

* {{Casual Game}}s in general, because people want to play the games. If they wanted a story, they would pick up a book, or watch a show, or even just play some other game that's got more story in it.

* Deconstructed in {{Tron}}: The games played at Flynn's gaming hall are this trope in the physical world, but once you are inside the Grid you discover that these simple games are surrounded by all kinds of drama.

** While not directly related (or related at all) to the game, the characters in DDR do have backgrounds, though this is most likely an ExcusePlot for the pairings.

** The first Chaos Faction game had no plot whatsoever other than, 'just beat the crap out of your opponents.' Chaos Faction 2 had a miniscule subplot revolving around the BigBad, Vortigon, returning, but it too focused much more on the actual combat, other than the stage-specific scenarios.

** many "resource simulation" games, like ''SimCity'' or ''RollercoasterTycoon'', will begin with a blank slate.
** ''[[{{Ptitlennp3clhl}} Crush, Crumble, and Chomp!]]'', where the whole point of the game is for the player to smash everything in sight. The closest thing to a plot are the cities, which only have a passing resemblance to their RealLife counterparts.

** ''TeamFortress2'' is notable for its success without any single-player component at all for years, until the introduction of a single-player training mode in 2010. An ever-expanding story that went from the The ExcusePlot of "Two corporations run the world and employ mercenary teams when need to apply force" has expanded on the [=TF2=] website to forge personal links between the characters and create an AlternateHistory that includes bitter dispute among the powerful family behind those corporations, Australia becoming a world power through mastery of {{Unobtainium}} and [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking gravel]]. None of all this has any bearing on the game itself, which pretty much remains plotless.

* one XKCD [[http://xkcd.com/311/ strip]] jokes about making a '''real''' action movie
* The [[http://chir.ag/stuff/sand/ Falling Sand]] "game" isn't really a game- different types of sand falls. That's pretty much it.

* {{Tetris}} is given some kind of plot in this [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VE_1KlWFJyA movie trailer]] and possible [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Alw5hs0chj0 explanation]] of its inner workings.

* {{Minesweeper}} is given the [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LHY8NKj3RKs movie treatment]].
* PacMan's {{backstory}} is imagined to be an [[http://cache.kotaku.com/assets/resources/2008/05/pacmanexplained-thumb.jpg astronaut]] hallucinating the ghosts of his fellow crewmates and ravenously eating anti-anxiety pills.

* CasualGame in general, because people want to play the games. If they want a story, they would pick up a book or watch a show.

** Some franchises also have plotless installments, also called Dream Matches once in a while. This allows them to return fan-favorites who for some reason can't return in canon games.

* SeanMalstrom's argument is that ''all'' video game plots suck, so video games should pretty much just do away with it all together. He has even given ''{{Metroid}}'': ''Zero Mission'' an awful lot of flack for having an unacceptable number of {{cutscene}}s. Said cutscenes, combined, [[WallBanger don't even clock in at anywhere over five minutes]].

* CasualGame in general, because people don't have time to bother with story during their 5-minute smoke break.

** ''TeamFortress2'' is notable for its success without any single-player component at all for years, until the introduction of a single-player training mode in 2010. An ever-expanding story that went from the The ExcusePlot of "Two corporations run the world and employ mercenary teams when need to apply force" has expanded on the [=TF2=] website to forge personal links between the characters and create an AlternateHistory that includes bitter dispute among the powerful family behind those corporations, Australia becoming a world power through mastery of {{Unobtainium}}, and [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking gravel]]. None of all this has any bearing on the game itself, which pretty much remains plotless.

** ''TeamFortress2'' is notable for its success without any single-player component at all for years, until the introduction of a single-player training mode in 2010. An ever-expanding story that went from the The ExcusePlot of "Two corporations run the world and employ mercenary teams when need to apply force" has expanded on the TF2 website to forge personal links between the characters and create an AlternateHistory that includes bitter dispute among the powerful family behind those corporations, Australia becoming a world power through mastery of {{Unobtainium}}, and [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking gravel]]. None of all this has any bearing on the game itself, which pretty much remains plotless.

* ShootEmUp: ''SpaceInvaders'', ''{{Asteroids}}'', ''GeometryWars''.

** ''[[{{Ptitlennp3clhl}} Crush, Crumble, and Chomp!]]'', where the whole point of the game is for the player to smash everything in sight.

** Some franchises have plotless "Dream Match" installments once in a while. This allows them to return characters that [[KilledOffForReal for some reason]] can't return in canon games.

* {{SeanMalstrom}}'s argument is that ''all'' video game plots suck, so video games should pretty much just do away with it all together. He has even given ''{{Metroid}}'': ''Zero Mission'' an awful lot of flack for having an unacceptable number of {{cutscene}}s. Said cutscenes, combined, [[WallBanger don't even clock in at anywhere over five minutes]].

* PuzzleGame: ''{{Tetris}}, ''{{Bejeweled}}''.

Most media have some kind of setting. A world, a time, some characters, maybe some backstory... but not here. There's only one thing for you to see or do here. No frill, no fluff. Most often seen in RetroGaming, originally due to programming constraints but now mostly for style in the CasualVideoGame. When used in video games, the main reason for not having any story or characters is generally because the player's not going to be interested- the Casual Game is meant for pick-up-and-play while waiting for the bus or something. Expect RuleOfFun to be invoked, and often. This is a trope that video game producers may have to consider more in modern times, as nearly every modern game is expected to provide some form of story instead of just pure gameplay.

Compare ExcusePlot, {{PWP}}.

* Chess, checkers, GO, and other ancient board games.

* DrivingGame: Trackmania, SanFranciscoRush
* PuzzleGame: Tetris or Bejeweled
* RhythmGame: {{Beatmania}}, PumpItUp, DanceDanceRevolution.
* ShootEmUp: SpaceInvaders or GeometryWars
* FightingGame: While the manuals may contain some backstory for the characters, gameplay itself generally consists of nothing more than beating the other player up. Otherwise it can be tough to make excuses for why every good guy wants to fight every other good guy.
** The SuperSmashBros. series didn't even have an ExcusePlot until ''Brawl''.

** many "resource simulation" games, like SimCity or RollercoasterTycoon, will begin with a blank slate.

** TeamFortress2 is notable for its success without any single-player component at all for years, until the introduction of a single-player training mode in 2010. Some ExcusePlot has been gradually added on the website, but the game itself pretty much remains plotless.
** {{Halo}}'s multiplayer maps avert this. They are canon.

* {{SeanMalstrom}}'s argument is that ''all'' video game plots suck, so video games should pretty much just do away with it all together. He has even given ''{{Metroid}}'': ''Zero Mission'' an awful lot of flack for having an unacceptable number of cutscenes. Said cutscenes, combined, [[WallBanger don't even clock in at anywhere over five minutes]].

* PacMan's backstory is imagined to be an [[http://cache.kotaku.com/assets/resources/2008/05/pacmanexplained-thumb.jpg astronaut]] hallucinating the ghosts of his fellow crewmates and ravenously eating anti-anxiety pills.

** In an interesting subversion, Chaturanga, the precursor to modern chess, has a "setting" in South Asia (presumably India) and is named for a battle in the epic ''Mahabharata''.

Since this is used so often in video gaming, let's not list every single example, just genres, notable exceptions, or inversions. Or specific references to this in other media.

* FightingGame: While the manuals may contain some backstory for the characters, gameplay itself generally consists of nothing more than beating the other player up.

* DrivingGame: Trackmania, SanFransicoRush

* DrivingGame: Trackmania

** TeamFortress2 is notable for its success, without any single-player component at all. Some ExcusePlot has been gradually added on the website, but the game itself pretty much remains plotless.
*** They recently added a single-player practise mode. It's the same as the multiplayer, but against bots. It allows for people who are new to the game or genre to practise before facing people that have been playing for weeks, months, years.