Line #85 Main/NoPlotNoProblem


1	%%This page's examples section is sorted alphabetically. It would be lovely if you'd maintain this, thanks.
2	%%
3	->''"The story we have here is that'' '''''THERE ISN'T ONE!''''' ''But that doesn't matter."''
4	-->-- '''WebVideo/{{Caddicarus}}'''
5
6	Most media have some kind of setting. [[InAWorld A world]], a time, some characters, maybe some {{backstory}}, or even just a bare-bones ExcusePlot... but not in a large number of VideoGames and some traditional games. No frill, no fluff, just an entire experience carried by the gameplay, maybe the sound and visuals in a supporting role. Story will likely get in the way of these games, at worst annoying the player with the interruption; [[PlayTheGameSkipTheStory given the chance to skip story, they will]]. Expect RuleOfFun to be invoked, and often.
7
8	In the days of RetroGaming, limited processing power restricted the amount of storytelling a game designer could employ, so by necessity many games of the era were either this or an ExcusePlot that relied on AllThereInTheManual and/or environmental storytelling. Today, much of the big money in video game production is aimed at big blockbuster-style story experiences, so this is more likely to be the aim of smaller productions or other games with a limited scope. Sports, puzzle and racing games are also common exceptions to this rule even in the AAA space because of how limiting the gameplay can be on any story they're trying to tell (but some have pulled it off).
9
10	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.
11
12	Not to be confused with ''[[http://www.amazon.com/No-Plot-Problem-Low-Stress-High-Velocity/dp/0811845052 No Plot? No Problem!]]'', a handbook guide to the very popular [[UsefulNotes/NaNoWriMo (Inter)National Novel Writing Month]] contest.
13
14	Some art movies and experimental films may also lack a plot. Art film directors may be tired of plot-driven commercial movies, so they make a movie that meanders through a bunch of seemingly unconnected sequences.
15
16	Compare HighConcept, PlayTheGameSkipTheStory, PornWithoutPlot, and RandomEventsPlot. Contrast with ExcusePlot, which is when a game ''does'' have a plot, if one that is just an excuse for the gameplay -- these games don't even have that, focusing solely on the gameplay.
17	-----
18	!!Examples:
19
20	[[foldercontrol]]
21
22	[[folder:Anime & Manga]]
23	* ''Manga/FuanNoTane'' consists entirely of just little individual snippets showing [[SurrealHorror strange creepy things happening]], with no explanation, conclusions, or reoccurring characters.
24	* ''Anime/MakuraNoDanshi'': There's no real plot to the story, and whatever background details that come up in each episode don't really matter in the long run.
25	[[/folder]]
26
27	[[folder:Comic Strips]]
28	* ''ComicStrip/SpyVsSpy'': The entire strip involves two (sometimes three) nameless monochrome spies trying to kill each other in convoluted ways. Why they're doing so is never explained and anything that happens in each strip [[NegativeContinuity never carries over]].
29	[[/folder]]
30
31	[[folder:Film -- Animation]]
32	* ''Animation/ClubOfTheDiscarded'': This film doesn't even have a story. Several mannequins go through the same mechanical motions daily courtesy of StopMotion, none of the characters have names or motivations and then there's the bizarre ending where all the mannequins (old and new) are gathered around a television watching static on the screen.
33	* While most segments of ''WesternAnimation/{{Fantasia}}'' have a bit of an ExcusePlot to show animals / dinosaurs / mythological beings frolic around to classical music, ''Music/ToccataAndFugueInDMinor'', is just abstract figures and colors appearing to the tune of the music with absolutely no coherent plot. The only segment with a solid story is ''The Sorcerer's Apprentice'', also the most well-known segment, somewhat for this reason, probably more due to Mickey Mouse as the apprentice.
34	[[/folder]]
35
36	[[folder:Film -- Live-Action]]
37	* Many of the earliest films in movie history made no attempt to tell a story, but consisted solely of the filmmakers capturing scenes they thought were interesting. Some of the Film/LumiereFilms (1895-6) consist of nothing more than a train pulling into a station or people getting off a boat. ''Film/ATripDownMarketStreet'' (1906) is exactly that, a 13-minute trolley ride down Market Street.
38	* James Benning's ''Film/ThirteenLakes'' is a film that consists of nothing but 10-minute long static shots of 13 different lakes across the United States.
39	* Music/FrankZappa's directorial debut, ''Film/TwoHundredMotels'', is entirely made up of incredibly bizarre segments and situations with equally strange imagery and editing all taking place on an [[NoBudget obviously cheap movie set]] with next to no connection between any of them. In interviews, Zappa claimed to have secretly recorded his band mates while they were high or drunk for inspiration while writing the script and intended the film to highlight the editing possibilities of videotape. Granted the plot was the result of the film never being properly finished, but considering Zappa's body of work the final cut probably wouldn't have been that different from what was released.
40	* ''Film/{{Baraka}}'': In his review Creator/RogerEbert said it should be the presentation on the "golden record" of the next spacecraft to go outside the solar system, as it is a wordless montage of Earth's greatest sights and sounds. That Ebert included it in his list of the greatest movies ever made is proof-positive that it succeeded with aplomb.
41	* The events of ''Film/BeforeSunrise'' and each of its sequels can be summarized thusly: Jesse and Celine have {{Seinfeldian Conversation}}s over an ExtremelyShortTimespan. There's no driving conflict between them (barring a little in the third), just two people opening up to each other.
42	* The ''Bumfights'' series is a completely plotless montage of pranks on homeless people, interviews and shots of people fighting.
43	* ''*Corpus Callosum'' by Michael Snow is mostly composed of a tracking shot across an impossibly long segment of an office building where elements repeat, surreal happenings occur and early 3D effects are experimented with. Occasionally, we are shown a family's living room where objects disappear and similarly odd events occur to the family members. None of the characters are given any names or characterisation as they function more as extensions of the environment. We can hear a director giving instructions at various points and the fourth wall is regularly played with or broken.
44	* Alan Clarke's 1989 ShortFilm ''Elephant'' is just 40 minutes of random people shooting and killing other random people. We don't know anything about the shooters, or the victims themselves. Despite all of that, the film was very popular at the time. It even inspired Creator/GusVanSant to create a [[Film/Elephant2003 feature-length film with the exact same name]] in America, but this one actually has a plot.
45	* ''Empire'' by Creator/AndyWarhol is just a shot of the Empire State Building [[LeaveTheCameraRunning filmed over the course of 8 hours]].
46	* ''Film/TheHollywoodRevueOf1929'' is a feature-length VarietyShow in which almost every star signed to MGM at that time appears in a sketch. There is no attempt at a plot, merely a series of sketches and songs until the movie ends.
47	* 1929 film ''Film/ManWithAMovieCamera'' is a visual collage of urban life in the Soviet Union. The opening titles proclaim that the film was assembled "without help of a story", and in fact there is no plot, only a record of regular people about their daily life.
48	* ''Film/RoundhayGardenScene'': This 1888 film is only two seconds long and features some people walking around in a garden. It's the earliest surviving film and almost an example of a tropeless tale.
49	* ''Film/RussianArk'' is basically a 96-minute tour of the Hermitage in St. Petersburg, Russia. TheFaceless narrator and his companion wander from room to room, traveling back and forth through time, observing 300 years of Russian history. There's lots and lots of CostumePorn, SceneryPorn, and talk about art. There's also no story and no plot.
50	[[/folder]]
51
52	[[folder:Literature]]
53	* Creator/IsaacAsimov's ''Literature/AsimovsBookOfFacts'': The majority of the book is a collection of random facts, sorted by theme, but without any sort of narrative to connect them.
54	* There isn't a story to follow in ''Literature/AMillionRandomDigitsWith100000NormalDeviates'', the readers are just expected to use the random numbers presented to them however they see fit.
55	* Nearly the entirety of Literature/ARebours consists of Des Esseintes furnishing his home in accordance with his aesthetic tastes and his thoughts on religion, art, philosophy, literature, and more.
56	[[/folder]]
57
58	[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
59	* The Creator/TsuburayaProductions series ''Series/{{Redman}}'', which consists entirely of short, [[NoBudget cheap]] vignettes where the title superhero fights monsters. Since the fights have no context to speak of, this gives off an unnerving feel to the proceedings.
60	* Similarily, ''Film/UltramanVsKamenRider'', a retrospective TV special of Tsuburaya's ''Series/{{Ultraman}}'' and ''Series/KamenRider'' of Creator/ToeiCompany, has the short film "Super Battle: Ultraman vs Kamen Rider", which sees the two iconic superheroes teaming up to beat a CrossoverComboVillain.
61	[[/folder]]
62
63	[[folder:Music]]
64	* A lot of instrumental music that just features an abstract title ("First Symphony, "Concert For Orchestra", "Music/ToccataAndFugueInDMinor") and no explanation of a central theme. Enforced by composers like Music/JohannesBrahms, who strongly preferred to write "absolute music", or music that is not "about" anything, and thus never wrote an opera or a symphonic poem.
65	* ''Music/BadLipReading'' is WordSalad made from re-recording the audio for music videos, so 99% of videos have no distinguishable plot.
66	* ''Music/SongsOfTheHumpbackWhale'' is an album without any music or lyrics. It only features whales "singing" and consists of just a few selected recordings. It did become a bestseller though and was included in the UsefulNotes/NationalRecordingRegistry for its "historical, cultural and aesthetical significance."
67	* The most visible shred of a storyline in ''Music/WasMirBehagtIstNurDieMuntreJagd'' is in the first five movements, where Endymion worries that Diana has forgotten him in her rush to participate in the birthday celebration. The two eventually resolve to go together, and...that's pretty much it as far as plot is concerned.
68	[[/folder]]
69
70	[[folder:Pinball]]
71	* Prevalent in early {{pinball}} machines, due to the technical limitations of electromechanical designs. The pinball's theme would often have little to no bearing on the gameplay itself. The advent of solid-state computers eventually made this a DeadHorseTrope, as pinball designers were able to implement more complex rules and modes in their games.
72	* There isn't even any attempt to explain what's going on in ''[[Pinball/{{ACDC}} AC/DC]]''. When a game begins, the player is simply asked to pick a song, then shoot for certain things on the playfield. It doesn't even have a premise like with ''Pinball/{{Metallica}}'' where the band members are characters -- the only audio in the game are the music, sound effects pertaining to what's been shot, and a few quick and sparse voice clips of some unknown character unrelated to anything.
73	* ''Pinball/TheAtarians'' is notable for featuring a man and a woman in a futuristic landscape fighting various aliens, and absolutely no indication of who they are or what's going on.
74	* ''Pinball/TheBeatles''' premise begins and ends at "it's [[TheSixties the mid-'60s]] and Music/{{the Beatles}} are sweeping America." There is no real plot to speak of.
75	* Averted with ''Pinball/DoctorWho'', which has a very detailed (relative to most pinball games) plot involving the Master and Davros teaming up to use a "Time Expander" to destroy all incarnations of the Doctor. Unfortunately, much of it was AllThereInTheManual, which made it very difficult for some players to learn the game.
76	* ''Pinball/GunsNRosesJerseyJack'' is themed around [[Music/GunsNRoses the band]]'s touring circuit and has no real plot, with the various Album Modes briefly delving into different scenarios loosely inspired by the band's music.
77	* Creator/{{Gottlieb}}'s ''Pinball/{{James Bond 007\|Gottlieb}}'' takes the details-rich ''Film/JamesBond'' film series (specifically ''Film/TheSpyWhoLovedMe''), then tossed it all out for an unorthodox timer-based game requiring the player to make key shots to add additional play time.
78	* ''Pinball/LedZeppelin'' has no real story, aside from the implied premise of helping the band attain success (as seen in song modes, where the goal is to get as many gold and platinum records as possible, and in the heavy emphasis on concert footage on the display).
79	* While ''[[Pinball/PinBot PinBot]]'' and ''[[Pinball/TheMachineBrideOfPinBot The Machine: Bride of PinBot]]'' at least ''tried'' to have a story, ''[[Pinball/JackBot Jack*Bot]]'' gives up and just throws some casino stuff at you.
80	* The various ''Pinball/{{Playboy}}'' pinballs eschew any pretense of a plot and go straight for the {{Fanservice}}. Doubly so with [[Pinball/PlayboyStern Stern's game]], which supports fully nude Playmates as an operator option.
81	* What do alligators have to do with anything in ''VideoGame/RevengeOfTheGator''? Who cares?
82	* ''Pinball/SpaceRiders'' suggests something about futuristic motorcycles racing in a futuristic city with an [[HoodOrnamentHottie attractive blonde in the back,]] but nothing resembling an actual story.
83	[[/folder]]
84
85	[[folder:Tabletop Games]]
86	* In an interesting aversion, Chaturanga, the precursor to modern chess, has a "setting" in South Asia (presumably India) and is named for a battle in the epic ''Literature/{{Mahabharata}}''.
87	* TabletopGame/{{Chess}}, TabletopGame/{{Checkers}}, TabletopGame/{{Go}}, and other ancient board games -- they have the themes of "warfare", "strategy", and "outwitting your opponent", but no actual plot to speak of.
88	* In ''TabletopGame/{{Citadels}}'', players must build districts and earn points to win, while playing as different characters to help them reach this objective. However, there's no real story to follow, and none of the characters have actual backstories.
89	[[/folder]]
90
91	[[folder:Theme Parks]]
92	* The vast majority of theme park rides not made by [[Ride/DisneyThemeParks Disney]] or Ride/UniversalStudios fall under this; having no story whatsoever and just being there for the sake of a fun experience.
93	[[/folder]]
94
95	[[folder:Toys]]
96	* The first European set of ''Toys/FlickToStickBungees'' figures completely lacks a plot. The succeeding set, Bionic Bungees, adds a plot involving some people on a safari who discover the Bungees in the wild and observe their behavior.
97	* The ''Toys/GoGosCrazyBones'' series does not have a plot. This is averted in the Urban Toys set of Gogos, however, whose plot is that the Gogos are aliens that came to Earth to be played with.
98	[[/folder]]
99
100	[[folder:Video Games]]
101
102	[[AC:FirstPersonShooter]]
103	* ''VideoGame/{{Deadhunt}}'', a game that literally ''doesn't'' have a plot whatsoever. You're thrown straight into an arena filled with zombies, skeletons and assorted monsters, must kill everything to proceed, and the next area sends more enemies until you finished all 40 levels.
104	* ''VideoGame/{{Doom}}'':
105	** While ''Doom'' has an ExcusePlot, probably the majority of [[GameMod custom maps and full-game "megawads"]] entirely lack a plot or even a defined setting. Many of them actually ''mock the very idea'' of a plot in a ''Doom'' WAD in their readme files.
106	** John Carmack, who was the lead programmer on the game, once commented that "Story in a game is like a story in a porn movie. It's expected to be there, but it's not that important."
107	** Downplayed with [[VideoGame/Doom2016 the 2016 game]]. Within the game, there ''is'' a plot, but it's [[ExcusePlot still pretty thin]]. [[AllThereInTheManual Within the Codex]], however, is a plethora of information on the history of the characters, the UAC, the monsters, and even the Doom Slayer himself. Fully averted with ''VideoGame/DoomEternal'', which has a more engaging story and puts an extra focus on fleshing out the series lore.
108	* ''Franchise/{{Halo}}''[='s=] multiplayer maps avert this. They are all {{canon}} in some way or another. The multiplayer from ''VideoGame/Halo4'' onward averts it further: it's justified as combat exercises carried out in the advanced starship ''Infinity'' and various other special facilities. The maps are even used in the story-oriented ''Spartan Ops'', and some maps made specifically for Forge are even said to be real locations picked for the potential "War Games" mapmakers could use in them.
109	* ''VideoGame/{{Overwatch}}'': The game primarily shelves the lore in favor of [=PvP=] gameplay, so those wanting to know more about the characters and the world will have to look into the rest of ''Overwatch''[='=]s media to scratch that itch. However, this has been slowly {{subverted\|Trope}}; they have occasionally dabbled in annual ''Archives'' events featuring [=PvE=] (back)story-driven missions, and their success and popularity had given Blizzard the confidence to develop a proper story mode in the actual [[EmbeddedPrecursor quasi-sequel/expansion]], ''Overwatch 2''.
110	* The levels of ''VideoGame/{{SUPERHOT}}'' don't even have any interconnecting theme or context, something which is lampshaded within the game itself. This is justified however, considering that ''SUPERHOT'' InUniverse [[spoiler:isn't a game to begin with]].
111	* ''VideoGame/{{Splitgate}}'' in its current form as of September 2021 simply has no plot explaining why the various power-armored (or casually-clothed) sorts are shooting at each other through portals. The devs have stated before it's some manner of competitive sport, however, but have not yet elaborated.
112	* ''VideoGame/TeamFortressClassic'', unlike its [[VideoGame/TeamFortress2 sequel]], has no plot to speak of.
113
114	%%[[AC:DrivingGame]]
115	%%* ''VideoGame/{{Burnout}}''
116	%%* ''VideoGame/MarioKart''
117	%%* ''VideoGame/SanFranciscoRush''
118	%%* ''VideoGame/{{Trackmania}}''
119
120	[[AC:FightingGame]]
121	* While the [[AllThereInTheManual manuals]] may contain some {{backstory}} for the characters, frequently, gameplay itself generally consists of nothing more than beating the other player up. Many go for the ExcusePlot of a fighting tournament [[note]]although no tournament format known to man requires a participant to match up with every other participant ''and'' requires a perfect record to advance or win[[/note]]; otherwise, it can be tough to make excuses for why every good guy wants to fight every other good guy, and the game winds up here.
122	* Once in a while, some franchises also have plotless installments, also called {{Dream Match Game}}s. This allows them to return fan-favorites who for some reason can't return in canon games.
123	* The first ''VideoGame/ChaosFaction'' game had no plot whatsoever other than 'just beat the crap out of your opponents.' ''Chaos Faction 2'' had a [[ExcusePlot miniscule subplot]] revolving around the BigBad, Vortigon, returning, but it too focused much more on the actual combat, other than the stage-specific scenarios.
124	* While the first ''VideoGame/DragonBallRagingBlast'' does have a story mode recounting the ''Z'' storyline from the Saiyan to the Buu Sagas (plus the first two ''Broly'' movies and some WhatIf fights), the second game ditches that for specially made challenge towers called Galaxy Mode for each playable character. Completing those battles is what nets you extra abilities, items, and characters for Versus and Tournament Mode.
125	* There is no mention in-game in ''VideoGame/PocketRumble'', or anything on the description pages where the game can be legally downloaded, of its story or even a premise. You are given 8 characters, ColorCodedForYourConvenience, to fight against other people, and that's about it. Even the single-player mode is completely devoid of plot, consisting of your selected character going up against every character in the roster (including [[MirrorMatch themselves]]) in a fixed order followed by [[AWinnerIsYou a shot congratulating the player]] and then the credits.
126	* The ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBros'' series didn't even have a plot to speak of besides Nintendo toys coming to life and fighting until ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBrosBrawl'', which had [[FourLinesAllWaiting a proper storyline]] of Nintendo characters resisting an interdimensional army invasion across multiple fronts. Then Creator/MasahiroSakurai was dismayed that people could just go watch the cutscenes of ''Brawl''[='=]s story mode on Website/YouTube, so on the next go-around he wrote ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBrosUltimate''[='=]s story mode with the ExcusePlot that an evil ball of light makes a WorldWreckingWave that kills every video game character that is not in the game and transforms their disembodied souls into {{evil knockoff}}s of the playable roster for no apparent reason, so off you go killing knockoffs and [[GottaCatchThemAll collecting the liberated souls]] on your way to the evil ball of light; the amount of cutscenes during your adventure can be counted on one hand. In fact, Sakurai's reluctance to develop a plot-heavy Adventure Mode after that of ''Brawl'' led to said mode being ditched altogether for ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBrosForNintendo3DSAndWiiU'' (though 3DS hardware limitations may also have played a role), not even having a fully story-free version like that of ''[[VideoGame/SuperSmashBrosMelee Melee]]''.
127
128	[[AC:IoGame]]
129	* ''VideoGame/BattleRoyaleio'' has an EncyclopediaExposita which describes the background of the setting, items and monsters.
130	* ''VideoGame/{{Survivio}}'' has the short audio recordings you can trigger at certain locations, which give wider context to what happened on the island when combined with the environmental storytelling and the info written in the change logs.
131
132	[[AC:LightGunGame]]
133	* ''Friction'' is an rare case of the gory action kind. There's not a semblance of a plot or even anything to believably discern a plot from. Pressing start immediately drops you into the game without any intro cutscene, the PlayerCharacter is never seen, the stages don't have names, there's no dialogue or voice-acting besides the enemy soldiers' dying grunts, and finishing merely gets you a slideshow of all the enemy models followed by credits.
134	* The ''VideoGame/PointBlank1994'' and ''Police Trainer'' series were essentially glorified shooting galleries, though the console ports of the former had story modes added in.
135
136	[[AC:Platformer]]
137	* ''VideoGame/FallGuysUltimateKnockout'' appears to be a GameShow of some sort, but it gives no explanation for its content beyond that. Just slap on a wacky outfit and jump into a 50-to-60-player free-for-all tournament, orchestrated by... someone. It doesn't give any clues as to why all the competitors are bulky bean-people, either, though the fans have plenty of theories.
138	* There's no story given in ''VideoGame/TheFloorIsJelly'', not even on its official website or development blog. Just you jumping around in a very bouncy world.
139	* In ''VideoGame/HeavenlyBodies'', you don't know who you're working for, who you are, why they want you to complete all these tasks, or even what country you're from. All there is is gameplay and a couple sentences telling you what to do in each level.
140	* ''VideoGame/{{Rayman}}'': while ''VideoGame/Rayman2TheGreatEscape'' and ''VideoGame/Rayman3HoodlumHavoc'' have elaborate plots (though the latter can also be described as having a RandomEventsPlot), ''VideoGame/Rayman1'', ''VideoGame/RaymanOrigins'' and ''VideoGame/RaymanLegends'' just briefly tell you that the world is in danger and then you're off joyfully jumping around jungles, forests, BandLand and a giant Mexican kitchen.
141	* ''VideoGame/SonicDash''. You run, jump, duck, kill enemies, collect rings, and occasionally fight a boss.
142	* ''VideoGame/{{Transformice}}'': The game is simple : you play a mouse and you need to find the cheese to bring it into the hole. It is a multiplayer game where players can contribute to create maps and customization of the character. That's it.
143	* ''VideoGame/WreckingCrew'': This game is about two {{Palette Swap}}ped brothers walking around demolishing walls while a foreman and some monsters try to get in their way. Not even the manual tries to explain why.
144	* Even though ''VideoGame/YoshiTouchAndGo'' is based on the ''VideoGame/YoshisIsland'' series, there is no plot and the game has no tie-in to that series.
145
146	[[AC:PuzzleGame]]
147	* ''VideoGame/{{Antichamber}}'': Has no narrative. Just a [[{{Minimalism}} minimalist]] series of hallways full of puzzles, wry observations on the current situation and how it relates to life written on the walls, and AlienGeometries.
148	* ''VideoGame/{{Bejeweled}}'' - at least, the first game. The later games revolved a CaptainErsatz of Franchise/IndianaJones solving puzzles to win back his girlfriend, uncover treasures, and defeat villains.
149	* ''VideoGame/EnglishCountryTune'' is an abstract puzzle game, where you control a square and do various tasks on cubic, (apparently) floating structures.
150	* ''VideoGame/PuyoPuyo'': While the series has a vibrant universe and quirky characters, and most games have a story mode with a mostly-coherent plot, there have been exceptions where there is no plot at all:
151	** ''VideoGame/PuyoPuyo1991'' merely consists of an Endless mode, Mission mode, and a rudimentary versus mode.
152	** The Game Gear ''VideoGame/NazoPuyo'' and ''Nazo Puyo 2'' have preset puzzles with nothing else really going on.
153	** ''Puyo Puyo Champions'' is a heavily multiplayer-focused game. There's battling with AI, local and online multiplayer, but that's about it. Even with 24 playable characters, with some either [[TheBusCameBack returning after years of absence]] or [[AscendedExtra appearing in the main games for the first time]] after being exclusive to the mobile game ''Puyo Puyo Quest'', there is no in-universe explanation as for why they're there.
154	* ''VideoGame/SuperMonkeyBall'': With the exception of "Banana Blitz", the Challenge Mode of each game is basically your monkey is hungry and wants to get bananas by navigating [[NintendoHard deviously designed obstacle courses]] [[SphereFactor inside a clear plastic ball.]]
155	* ''VideoGame/{{Tetris}}'' traditionally lacks a plot. The closest it has to an actual canon is ''VideoGame/PuyoPuyoTetris'', and even then it's obviously a crossover with another game, one that uses new characters to represent ''Tetris''. And even then, they're technically ''Puyo Puyo'' characters since they don't appear in any other game.
156	* ''VideoGame/{{Unpacking}}'' is a downplayed example, as there is a basic outline of a plot regarding the protagonist's life but a lot of details are left ambiguous for the player to fill in themselves and make up their own story for the protagonist.
157
158	[[AC:RhythmGame]]
159	* Especially older ones such as ''VideoGame/{{Beatmania}}'', ''VideoGame/PumpItUp'', ''VideoGame/DanceDanceRevolution''.
160	* 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.
161	* A notable exception is ''[[VideoGame/CytusII Cytus II]]'', which goes '''all out''' on plot.
162	* ''VideoGame/RhythmHeaven'' mostly played this trope straight for the first 3 installments, but it had an actual story in Megamix. Some of the minigames also have a backstory explained in either the description, Reading Materials, or Rhythm Items.
163	* There is no background plot in ''VideoGame/{{Thumper}}'' for why a beetle is flying along a railway at high speed while being confronted by eldritch horrors left and right and avoiding getting killed by obstacles.
164
165	[[AC:Role-Playing Game]]
166	* ''VideoGame/MassEffect3'': {{Averted\|Trope}} by multiplayer missions, which take place in locations Shepard visits in-game (before the expansions, at least) and involve parties of [[MauveShirt side characters]] helping with the war effort. They even get mentioned in (and have some impact on) the single-player campaign, and with a DLC you can even meet and overhear some of the participants talking about them.
167	* While most ''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}'' games have an ExcusePlot at the very least, ''VideoGame/PokemonDash'' and the second ''VideoGame/PokemonTrozei'' game don't even have that. ''VideoGame/PokemonGo'' has the usual Professor handing out starter Pokémon, but that's pretty much all the story you get--no reason is ever given for why there are Pokémon in the real world, or why the Valor, Mystic, and Instinct teams are endlessly fighting to control gyms.
168
169	[[AC:ShootEmUp]]
170	* The many, ''many'' ports of VideoGame/{{Centipede}} usually tried to give it a plot. They had a variety of backstories, but the most commonly used were:
171	** You're a SpaceMarine fighting in a BugWar.
172	** You're a garden gnome trying to defend the garden from pests.
173	** You're a traveling wizard who gets lost in the "perilous Enchanted Forest" full of monsters led by a Centipede and has to fight his way out. This is the most common variation, with all home ports of ''Millipede'' recycling this plot, just replacing "Wizard" with "Archer" ([[https://archive.org/stream/NintendoGameBoyManuals/Arcade%20Classic%20No.%202%20-%20Centipede%20%26%20Millipede%20%28USA%2C%20Europe%29#page/n3/mode/2up see here]]).
174	** You're an ''evil'' [[VillainProtagonist wizard]] who is destroying the mushroom forest [[ForTheEvulz for kicks]] and the [[HeroAntagonist Centipede is trying to stop you]]. This is the least common variation, but arguably the most creative as it deviated from the usual plots and provided an [[TheGoodGuysAlwaysWin explanation]] for the fact that the game was {{Unwinnable}}.
175	** Oddly enough, the 1999 VideoGameRemake actually gives its own explanation on the game that utilizes a mixture of the first three stories: you play as a gnome (or gnome-like, the race is known as the Wee) kid who is picked by a wizard to pilot a Magitek tank to defend their kingdoms from the invading bugs, who are led by centipedes, and eventually travel into the bug's own land to kill their leader who is an even bigger centipede.
176	* The Platform/Atari2600 launch game ''[[{{VideoGame/CombatAtari2600}} Combat]]'' had no plot outside of having two players duel each other as tanks or planes.
177	** Its 2001 [[{{Platform/MicrosoftWindows}} Windows PC]] [[VideoGameRemake remake]] focused on the tanks while doing away with the planes. It became a narrative-less shooter/platformer hybrid where players control a hovertank traversing futuristic mazes while shooting nondescript machines. Think ''VideoGame/AlphaWaves'' meets the '90s ''[[{{VideoGame/Battlezone1998}} Battlezone]]'' games on a budget.
178	* ''VideoGame/CrimzonClover'', despite bearing many of the staples of a modern arcade BulletHell shooter (such as a finite number of stages), has absolutely no plot, even if you check the manual. This trope continues into its UsefulNotes/{{arcade\|Game}} and Platform/{{Steam}} UpdatedRerelease.
179	* ''VideoGame/EverydayShooter'', although that might also be a RhythmGame.
180	* ''VideoGame/{{Galaxian}}''. And to an even larger extent, ''VideoGame/{{Galaga}}'' and its descendants. To this day, there is confusion as to who the Galaxians are. The original game strongly suggests that it's TheFederation which your ship (called a Galaxip) presumably represents. But PopCultureOsmosis has suggested that the Galaxians are the alien invaders. And is ''Galaga'' a sequel or a remake/reimagining? Are any of the ''Galaxian''/''Galaga'' games even related to each other in story? Does ''Galaxian'' share a universe with ''VideoGame/{{Gorf}}'' (which has a Galaxian stage)? or ''VideoGame/PacMan'' (which has a Galaxian flagship as one of the bonus items)? Eventually [[Creator/BandaiNamcoEntertainment Namco]] did some CanonWelding by creating the UGSF Series, which [[AllThereInTheManual gave some backstory information]] and confirmed that ''Galaga'' was a sequel to ''Galaxian'.
181	* ''[[VideoGame/GigaWing Giga Wing Generations]]'' is the only game in the series that has no plot or characters.
182	* ''VideoGame/{{Phoenix}}'' gives no explanation for the premise in the arcade version. The manual for the Atari 2600 port, does create a reason for why the phoenix birds are hostile (something they clearly were not in Myth/GreekMythology) and why there are so many of them (traditional mythololgy is consistent on there being only one phoenix at any time). Radioactive fallout fell on the phoenix's nest causing them to mutate and multiply.
183	* ''VideoGame/SpaceInvaders'', ''VideoGame/{{Asteroids}}'', and ''VideoGame/GeometryWars'' have no plot attached to them.
184
185	[[AC:SimulationGame]]
186	* Many "resource simulation" games, like ''VideoGame/SimCity'' or ''VideoGame/RollercoasterTycoon'', will begin with a blank slate. In the case of ''[=SimCity=]'', creator Will Wright came up with the term "software toy" for his ''Sim'' creations: since you can do anything you like and the "game" doesn't really tell you whether you've "won" or "lost", it's more like a toy (a Franchise/{{LEGO}} set comes to mind) than a game. To be sure, you can be doing "better" or "worse," but then, toys have that function too (e.g., when your LEGO construction falls apart or breaks or just doesn't look right to you).
187	* ''VideoGame/ConwaysGameOfLife'' has neither a plot nor an objective. You simply draw on the grid, press play, and then sit back and watch how the Life universe evolves.
188	* For ''VideoGame/CrushCrumbleAndChomp'', 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.
189	* The only plot for the majority of ''VideoGame/HarvestMoon''/''VideoGame/StoryOfSeasons'' games is to come to town and start a farm of your own. After that you're free to do what you like forever. The major aversion is ''VideoGame/HarvestMoonAWonderfulLife'' and its EnhancedRemake ''VideoGame/StoryOfSeasonsAWonderfulLife'', which have the overarching plot of you raising your child--but in all but the original game, the main story is followed by the PlayableEpilogue that lets you go on forever afterwards.
190	* ''VideoGame/KerbalSpaceProgram'' has no real story or backstory to the game aside from player fanon. There's just you, your space program, a ton of rocket parts, a solar system filled with planets and moons, and an endless supply of eager would-be rocket jockeys.
191	* The WideOpenSandbox of the ''[[VideoGame/{{X}} X-Universe]]'' series easily outshines the games' plots as the main attraction. The developers even included a gamestart where the plots are ''disabled'' (though the Custom Start is intended more for [[GameMod testing mods]] than actual play).
192
193	[[AC:Other]]
194	* ''VideoGame/TwoThousandAndFortyEight'': You have a 4x4 panel board. You have to slide blocks with numbers on them to combine them into blocks with larger numbers. That's pretty much it.
195	* FourX: These games sometimes let you slip into a historical or fantastic scenario with a little scene-setting to kick things off, but for the most part, it's "Here's your starting units and basic knowledge, now go make something happen."
196	* ''VideoGame/SixTwoFiveSandwichStacker'': [[Franchise/LiloAndStitch Experiment 625/Reuben]] is hungry; help him make [[SatiatingSandwich sandwiches]]. Don't ask why there's food (fresh and old), smelly boots, and fish bones falling from above.
197	* ''VideoGame/TwentyMinutesTillDawn'': Survive twenty minutes against a horde of {{Eldritch Abomination}}s for twenty minutes. How did you get there and why did it happen? The game doesn't say.
198	* ''VideoGame/{{Aerobiz}}'': The goal is to start and expand an airline.
199	* ''VideoGame/AllPointsBulletin'' (''APB Reloaded''): This game by the developers of ''Crackdown'' also looks like this at first. Being a game about cops and robbers in punkish outfits. However, the backstory e-mails and the long carefully detailed backstories of your contacts show that the developers actually tried to make the game world have a story.
200	* ''VideoGame/BadOmen'' (''Devilish''): Strangely averted in this game for the Sega Genesis and Mega Drive. It follows the fate of a young couple who have been cursed into [[TakenForGranite animate statues attached to large stone platforms]] and be used in a ''VideoGame/{{Breakout}}'' [[BreakingOut clone]].
201	* In ''VideoGame/BinaryBoy'', there is no plot. There is just the Boy who can only walk on one path but can do so upside down, and five levels he needs to be guided through past obstacles and enemies, with a records table at the end.
202	* Many games in the ''VideoGame/{{Bomberman}}'' series lack a plot, as their focus is placed squarely on the multiplayer-centered Battle Mode instead. Examples of this include ''Bomberman Blitz'', ''Bomberman Blast'', and the FanGame ''VideoGame/PowerBomberman''. Averted with the games that have a more fleshed-out single-player, which sometimes have surprisingly intricate stories.
203	* ''VideoGame/BoomerangFu'' is a multiplayer-focused game about a bunch of AnthropomorphicFood characters fighting each other with boomerangs. The game doesn't bother explaining why.
204	* ''VideoGame/BrawlStars'' began with no plot to speak of, only a vague WeirdWest theme. One of the first adverts for the game had a character ask where they are and why everyone is fighting, only to be responded with "no time to explain", which became a {{tagline}} of sorts for the game. Eventually the game defined its setting as [[AmusementParkOfDoom Starr Park]], but still kept it vague (and at times cryptic) as to why anything was happening.
205	* ''VideoGame/{{Carmageddon}}'' played with this, mostly as it was conceived as a ''Film/DeathRace2000'' game but didn't actually get the license. Thus they kept the general idea, but changed the plot to "Plot? Want a plot? Buy a book!" while leaving only vague hints of the "world" in the race maps' description.
206	* ''VideoGame/CastlevaniaHarmonyOfDespair'' abandons all plots so that players can pick one of several heroes of the franchise, some of which are centuries apart in the ''Franchise/{{Castlevania}}'' timeline. The menu is the pages of a book, and there are equipment hotspots that are books. There is a very light ExcusePlot that Dracula is taking over the book and the other ''Castlevania'' heroes, including [[VideoGame/CastlevaniaAriaOfSorrow Dracula himself]], have to stop him... but it's an arcade-style game, and WordOfGod states there is no plot.
207	* ''VideoGame/ClusterTruck'' has no plot, just the concept of jumping from truck to truck in various settings.
208	* ''VideoGame/CobraTriangle'': You're a boat. Here's some challenges.
209	* ''VideoGame/{{Crackdown}}'' doesn't have a plot. It has a premise. You are a super-soldier cop, you are thrown into a city full of gangs, and your mission is to kill as many of them and their leaders as you can, evolving into a stronger, faster, higher-jumping cop as you go.
210	* ''VideoGame/DevilWorld'': The intro scene shows nothing more than the game's characters and the message, "Attack the Devil's world!" No actual plot exists beyond this.
211	* ''VideoGame/{{Dustforce}}'' doesn't have anything resembling a plot. Only cleaners and locations needing to be cleaned.
212	* ''VideoGame/DwarfFortress'': You could pick up on enough procedurally generated history to assume your own plot and come up with a purpose for your fortress or adventurer, but it isn't necessary for most and doesn't change gameplay itself.
213	* ''VideoGame/{{Electroplankton}}'' has absolutely no proper story or goal, instead being a {{tech demo\|Game}} where the player makes music by manipulating plankton in different ways.
214	* ''VideoGame/EpicBattleFantasy1'': EarlyInstallmentWeirdness, it's just a series of progressively harder fights, but there is an ending, with plot, that leads to the sequel, ''VideoGame/EpicBattleFantasy2'', having a plot.
215	* ''VideoGame/EscapeLala'': The first game has virtually no plot explicitly presented to the player. There are, however, some subtle hints at lore, such as a room containing three empty suits of armor, each holding weapons or a battering ram, seemingly recoiling in terror at something that was in the room ahead. The second game has a deeper story, but it is told using StoryBreadcrumbs.
216	* ''[[http://chir.ag/stuff/sand/ Falling Sand]]'': This "game" isn't really a game - different types of sand falls. That's pretty much it.
217	* ''VideoGame/FastEddie'' has no plot to speak of, Eddie simply run around, collects prizes and avoids Sneakers.
218	* The original ''VideoGame/FullAuto'' has no plot or characters. Early press releases told of a cab driver being blackmailed into participating in illegal street races by a terrorist group, but none of this is apparent in the final game.
219	* ''VideoGame/GrandPianoKeys'': There's no plot or even characters. The only point of the game is to hit the piano keys.
220	* ''VideoGame/HelterSkelter'': There isn't any explanation for why all the monsters are running around, nor is there any description of what world the abstract level designs are supposed to represent.
221	* ''VideoGame/IllWill2023'': Why are you alone in a monster-infested world? Never explained, but who cares when you obtain a sweet shotgun barely ten seconds into gameplay and keeps getting better weapons as the game throws increasingly larger amount of monsters for you to massacre?
222	* ''VideoGame/InfinityBlade'': Played with. The first game consists of a Warrior and his descendants trying to slay the God-King. There is little explanation given for this, although if you break into the [[spoiler: God-King's lab]], you'll get hints that this is a story behind all this. The second game has even more of a plot and explains some more. The third game concludes the story and explains almost everything.
223	* ''VideoGame/KerbalSpaceProgram'', especially in the original WideOpenSandbox mode. You get a launchpad, a runway, and a giant box of rocket/aircraft parts to mess with... and that's it. Fans have made up various explanations for why the Kerbals want to go to space, because the game doesn't give you any. Career mode gives you objectives, but they're all randomly-generated and often nonsensical {{Excuse Plot}}s.
224	* ''Krakout'': This horizontally-oriented ''Breakout'' game for the Platform/{{Commodore 64}} has some LampshadeHanging about this on the title screen: "Sorry there is no scrolly message but we decided to give you an amazing game instead."
225	* ''VideoGame/LegendOfAce'': While a MultiplayerOnlineBattleArena at least provides ExcusePlot to explain what's going on in the game's background, this game only goes as far as hero biographies being based on historical or mythical figures or explaining where they come from (especially OriginalGeneration characters). The background story on where the fights take place is nonexistent. But since story isn't supposed to be a selling point in a MOBA, this doesn't become a big problem for the game.
226	* ''VideoGame/{{Lizard}}'': The only real objective in this game is to explore the world within it. You get no intro cutscene, no [=NPC=]s to talk to, no tutorial on how to play. The closest thing there is the the hints in the manual.
227	* ''VideoGame/{{Marathon}}'': This approach was explicitly disavowed by Bungie (as well as by Double Aught, who did much of the work on Infinity). As writer Greg Kirkpatrick said in response to a Usenet post criticizing Infinity's story as overdone, "Read my lips: Computer games tell stories. That's what they're for."
228	* ''VideoGame/MarioPaint'': Just paint anything or compose music. It also has a mini-game where the player swats insects for no reason.
229	* ''VideoGame/MarioParty10'': This game lacks a single-player campaign mode of any kind, and doesn't even have any cutscenes to pretend that there is a story going on.
230	* ''VideoGame/{{Minecraft}}'':
231	** The basic plot is "Wake up on a island. Punch trees, mine, build, kill monsters." Notch has however said that he wishes to include some type of plot in the game later.
232	** Make whatever you wish from the NPC villages, strongholds and abandoned mineshafts.
233	** Now there's a general structure to the game with a long sequence of tasks necessary to "finish" the game. First you learn to make wooden tools, then stone tools, then iron tools, then diamond tools. Then you use the diamond tools to build a portal to another dimension called The Nether. Then you find a Nether fortress and kill a bunch of blazes for their powder. Then you combine the blaze powder with Ender Pearls dropped by Endermen, and use the resulting item to locate a stronghold and activate a portal to another dimension called The End. Then you slay the Ender Dragon. Technically, all this is just an optional side quest, and the real objective of the game is to have fun, [[WideOpenSandbox whatever that means to you]].
234	* ''VideoGame/MonsterHunter'': While the series would go for more complex stories [[ContinuityCreep over time]], it started out without any single one.
235	** ''VideoGame/MonsterHunter2004'': As the first game, it lacks a real story and all you have to do in the story are quests unrelated to each other. The closest thing to a plot is your slaying of the Monoblos that is treated as surpassing the retired Kokoto Chief in hunting ability, but even that hardly impacts your experience if you don't pay attention to the dialogues. The UpdatedRerelease ''Monster Hunter G'' and portable adaptation ''Monster Hunter Freedom/Portable'' are also devoid of any real plot
236	** ''VideoGame/MonsterHunterFrontier'': As a fully online MMO it lacked any single-player story or plot. Like the first game, all you did was hunt monsters for a living without having to care about the reason why. The main draw to the game being the online and social-heavy nature of the game.
237	* None of the ''VideoGame/NeedForSpeed'' games before ''[[VideoGame/NeedForSpeedUnderground Underground]]'' had any semblance of plot; you simply drive high-price exotic cars in scenic locations, sometimes while running from cops.
238	* ''VideoGame/OneStepFromEden'': Like most {{Roguelike}}s it doesn't present a plot or story, but even by genre standards there's very little lore for the game. The amount of StoryBreadcrumbs in the game is minimal and not nearly enough to flesh out the world and items and enemies don't follow a particular unifying design.
239	* ''VideoGame/ThePedestrian2020'' is about a black image of a person navigating drawings.
240	* ''VideoGame/PeoplePlayground'' doesn't have any plot. You have a huge free space and can spawn characters like humans or androids, and things like weapons, firearms, electronics, or vehicles. Then [[VideoGameCrueltyPotential brutally kill the characters you spawned with various methods!]]
241	* ''VideoGame/PlayerunknownsBattlegrounds'' drops around a hundred players from a C-130 cargo plane onto an abandoned island arena filled with random weapons and equipment to fight one another to the death, till only one comes out on top. Why? No one knows, and frankly no one cares.
242	* ''VideoGame/{{Pong}}'', being the [[VideoGame/TennisForTwo second earliest form]] of virtual table tennis game, there is no story or plot for it.
243	* ''VideoGame/{{Proteus}}'': Guess what? [[{{Robinsonade}} You're on an island]]! Why? Who cares, [[GhibliHills look at those pretty hills]]!
244	* Played with in ''VideoGame/{{Rimworld}}'', which bills itself as a "story generator", complete with a Storyteller who controls the game's random events. The game itself doesn't have a plot beyond "A handful of people survived a spaceship crash on a dangerous planet. Good luck!", but the idea is that each playthrough will evolve into a story of its own.
245	* ''VideoGame/{{Qwak}}'' is fast-paced and simple enough that most players probably won't notice the absence of a plot. "Games this good rarely need a story" is how the manual of the Platform/{{Amiga}} version put it.
246	* ''[[VideoGame/FatalFury Real Bout Fatal Fury 2: The Newcomers]]'' had no story whatsoever, and barely even any presentation. No pre-battle or win quotes, no intro animations, a quick victory animation only at the end of a fight, no stage transition, a very quick and generic vs. screen and an equally generic ending. You don't even get to knock Geese out of his high-rise for the umpteenth time.
247	* ''VideoGame/RollingSky'': Swipe along the screen to make the ball you're controlling avoid pitfalls and traps. The App Store description has something about conquering the world, but that was never mentioned again. Interestingly, its InNameOnly sequel is an ''inversion''. See below for more details.
248	* The first two ''VideoGame/{{Scribblenauts}}'' have no real plot to speak of, although the prequel Scibblenauts Unlimited and DC Crossover Unmasked do.
249	* ''VideoGame/{{Sauerbraten}}'': The official plot for this {{FPS}} is as follows: "You kill stuff. The end."
250	* ''VideoGame/SDGundamCapsuleFighter'': Created for the entire ''Franchise/{{Gundam}}'' franchise, virtually has no plot.
251	* The first ''VideoGame/SkateOrDie'' game revolved around your character doing sick skateboarding moves and competing in a tournament to become the best, with a much heavier emphasis on gameplay than anything story-related.
252	* ''VideoGame/{{Snake}}'': You are a snake. You eat things. Try not to crash into yourself or a wall.
253	* ''VideoGame/{{Spore}}'':
254	** Doesn't have a story in the main game when you take your creature from the five game modes, and there will be no conflict that can build up as a plot (well, things do happen in the creature stage and you can fight with animals, tribes, cities and empires but it still doesn't add anything to it).
255	** Some users actually thought outside of the Core Spore aspects and gave their races a backstory and their creatures do things that weren't possible in the main game.
256	*** This trope somewhat counts in Galactic Adventure because some user-made adventures have an arcade feel to them and only focuses on gameplay, while most of them do have a plot.
257	* ''VideoGame/StarRuler'': The goal is this: Conquer the galaxy. With no hint of plot, just set up a game and take over the galaxy.
258	* ''VideoGame/StreetFighterOnlineMouseGeneration'' gives players bios or info for most of the characters but there is no in-game plot whatsoever.
259	* ''VideoGame/SydneyHunterAndTheShrinesOfPeril'': There's no real plot to this game besides "get Sydney though the screens to the shrines".
260	* Most ''VideoGame/{{Tamagotchi}}'' releases are pretty much just taking care of a virtual pet. Averted with the ''Corner Shop'' videogames.
261	* ''VideoGame/TonyHawksUnderground'': Averted, with one of the most developed plots that had so far ever been seen in a sports-oriented game, about two friends slowly growing to hate each other as each follows a different path to stardom. Many later games in the series have taken to including a solid story.
262	* ''VideoGame/TriggerKnight'': It is anyone's guess why the knight is running through a field, beating up monsters, with a limited amount of time before she fades away.
263	* ''VideoGame/{{Warlight}}'': as an Indie Risk adaptation, it doesn't provide much more [[TakeOverTheWorld plot]] than the original tabletop game.
264	** Some games do avert this through EmergentGameplay elements created by players though.
265	* ''VideoGame/{{Worms}}'':
266	** Worms are trying to kill each other with nasty weapons. Why? Who knows? More to the point, who cares? Later games have a ''Story Mode'' that still don't really explain why the worms go out into war to solve their problems.
267	** Amusingly enough, the ThemeTune in some games is in fact a voiced ballad with an incredibly long intro leading up to the lyrics (either through a menu screen or credits). Known as the ''Music/{{Wormsong}}s'', they provide the closest there is to an overarching story, detailing the battles of a soldier named Boggy B in the near-eternal cycles of wormy war.
268	[[/folder]]
269
270	[[folder:Web Animation]]
271	* ''WebAnimation/{{Cocomelon}}'' doesn't seem to have a discernible plotline as the show is mainly music-centric.
272	* ''WebAnimation/FreshGuacamole'': The short doesn't have a plot other than a man making guacamole, and it's instead a showcase of PES' [[StopMotion pixilation]] style.
273	* ''WebAnimation/GsParagate'': In the eighteenth, nineteenth, and twentieth episodes of the series, the narrator gets usurped by another character named Do Good. Aside from Do Good's stories, the episodes are plotless, and Do Good's motives are never disclosed.
274	[[/folder]]
275
276	[[folder:Western Animation]]
277	* Much of early animation is this, with many an animator simply reveling in the idea that, yes, we can make these drawings move like magic. As such, you find yourself with a bevy of what could now be considered experimental short films, where bizarre events occur for no rhyme or reason beyond the creators wanting to play around in this new medium.
278	* The two ''Music/{{Animusic}}'' films are similar to ''Fantasia'' but have even less plot, being just a bunch computer animated music videos of animated instruments, machines, and robots playing songs.
279	* The 1942 WarTimeCartoon ''WesternAnimation/AnyBondsToday'' has WesternAnimation/BugsBunny, WesternAnimation/PorkyPig and WesternAnimation/ElmerFudd appear to sing and dance in an effort to convince people to buy war bonds. That's all that happens in this very short (1 minute, 38 seconds long) [[PropagandaMachine propaganda cartoon]].
280	* A typical episode of ''[[WesternAnimation/SabrinaAndTheGroovieGoolies The Groovie Goolies]]'' would comprise random short unrelated sketches and gags involving the Goolies, along with two musical numbers.
281	* ''WesternAnimation/TheMindsEye'' series. Its primary purpose was to showcase animation technology and talent of the early '90s, and it is composed of clips of computer animation from hundreds of animators, so there was very little thought given to any sort of plot. The sequences act just like the segments from ''Fantasia'' above (set to electronic music, of course), but there are a few attempts at a story. Both ''The Mind's Eye'' and ''Beyond the Mind's Eye'' feature whole sequences that have a self-contained story because the story was already planned out by the studios who submitted them. ''The Gate to the Mind's Eye'' attempts to form a coherent story, but it's largely lost [[AllThereInTheManual if you don't read the box or DVD case]].
282	* The animated films of Creator/NormanMcLaren. Most of his films, such as "Le Merle", "Synchrony", and "Boogie Doodle" have absolutely no story, narrative or characters at all. They used minimalistic animation that aimed for abstract, emotional experiences.
283	* ''WesternAnimation/NormanNormal1968'', a short from Warner Brothers-Seven Arts, doesn't have much of a plot, just a series of scenes from the everyday life of a white-collar pushover named Norman.
284	* ''WesternAnimation/PigtailRag'' is a ShortFilm by Shawn Siegel that has no real plot. It stars an anthropomorphic pig leaving his apartment building, jumping into a poster at a travel agency and meeting a lady pig at an outdoor concert. That's pretty much it.
285	* Parodied in ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'', where we see the first appearance of Scratchy in the short film "That Happy Cat." It consists of about ten seconds of Scratchy jovially walking down a street, then stopping at the curb and whistling. This is in contrast to Itchy's first appearance, which is far more elaborate and features an actual (if simplistic) narrative.
286	* ''WesternAnimation/SoupeOpera'': Fruit and vegetables, in a dark room, cut themselves up to form animals. While listening to creepy music.
287	* ''WesternAnimation/{{Walking}}'' is ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin, namely, a five-minute motion study of people walking.
288	[[/folder]]
289
290	!!Examples of inversions
291	* ''VideoGame/{{Breakout}}'' was originally seen by players as a variation on ''VideoGame/{{Pong}}''. With the sequel ''Super Breakout'', the box illustration depicted a man in a spacesuit deflecting a sort of energy ball at forcefield bricks. Even at the time, players had a hard time being convinced that a game like ''Breakout'' could represent a hazardous outer space adventure. But then along came ''VideoGame/{{Arkanoid}}'' which was basically an evolved version of ''Breakout'' where your paddle really is a spaceship and you can blast bricks with lasers via a powerup.
292	* ''VideoGame/{{Minesweeper}}'', a puzzle game where you try to determine which panels in a grid are safe to open, is given the [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LHY8NKj3RKs movie treatment]] in a Website/CollegeHumor sketch, which turns minesweeping on a tiny plot of land into SeriousBusiness.
293	* Unlike its prequel, as seen above, ''Rolling Sky 2'' attempts to have some kind of plot in each level. Some stories include: a puppet trying to escape from his master (Fate), a young boy dreaming about following a star to another planet (Starry Dream & Puzzle), said boy getting sucked into a portal and exploring Ancient Egypt (Pharaohs), two thieves falling in love while stealing a treasure chest (Theft & Theft Prequel), and a clown traveling in a world full of instruments while transforming into a conductor (WesternAnimation/{{Fantasia}}). However, one of the levels, Jazz, has the least amount of plot, [[ZigZaggingTrope playing this trope straight]].
294	* ''VideoGame/{{Tetris}}'' is given some kind of plot in this [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VE_1KlWFJyA movie trailer]] and possible [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Alw5hs0chj0 explanation]] of its inner workings.
295	** ''VideoGame/TetrisWorlds'' gave it a shot by turning the Minos (the blocks that make up the iconic Tetriminos) into {{Animate Inanimate Object}}s, came up with the idea to have the Matrix (the Tetris game area) take place within "Tetrions", devices which serve as gateways to other planets that can be opened by playing Tetris, and made the plot out to be the Minos using the Tetrions as a means of exodus from their soon-to-be-doomed home planet called Hadar 4.
296	** This also occurred in ''VideoGame/PuyoPuyoTetris'' and [[VideoGame/PuyoPuyoTetris2 its sequel]], which use a set of characters themed on each of the Tetrimino pieces unique to these games. The seven of them make up the crew of the Starship Tetra; their meeting up with the ''VideoGame/PuyoPuyo'' characters become the games' inciting incidents.

Context Main / NoPlotNoProblem