Basic Trope: A barebones plot exists as an excuse for the work to happen, as opposed to its own merits.
- Straight:
- Bob's Quest is about the titular hero trying to rescue Princess Alice from Emperor Evulz, and that is the extent of the plot- it is mainly an excuse to go through various levels of platforming/action-adventure/hack-and-slash/what have you.
- Alice's Quest, the sequel, is about the titular heroine searching for a stache of buried treasure before Emperor Evulz claims it and uses it to Take Over the World. This is never expanded upon beyond the intro cutscene.
- Exaggerated:
- Downplayed: Bob/Alice occasionally chimes in about their personal growth, but it's not a major focus.
- Justified:
- Either the treasure's been claimed or it hasn't. Unless something goes horribly wrong, there's not much else to be said.
- While Bob/Alice has an overarching goal, they prefer to take things one day at a time.
- Inverted:
- A video game has a few levels as excuses to tie together a massive story.
- Kudzu Plot
- Subverted:
- Bob's Quest only has an Excuse Plot if you play the game on Easier Than Easy or Easy. Each difficulty causes the plot to become more complex until it becomes a Kudzu Plot on the Harder Than Hard difficulties.
- Bob/Alice starts out the quest to Save the Princess/find treasure, but as our hero continues to search, more and more details start to unravel about what is really going on and it turns out to be far more complex than what was initially presented.
- What seemed to be a simple battle of good versus evil is revealed to be more morally gray- Evulz has good reasons to kidnap the princess/seek the treasure, Bob/Alice has a Dark and Troubled Past, and the treasure itself has a dark history and potentially dangerous powers.
- Double Subverted: ...This was just a one-off gag, back to the basics for Bob/Alice!
- Parodied: "Bob/Alice, go on this quest. Why? Because I said so."
- Zig Zagged: Bob/Alice can complete the main quest with next to no plot development. However, if the player meanders around, there's a lot of sidequests with meaningful storytelling.
- Averted: Bob/Alice's Quest has an integrated, non-trivial plot.
- Enforced:
- Due to technical or time restraints, the development team pours all their resources into the game experience.
- After the team behind Bob/Alice's Quest had their past projects panned for plot holes, Kudzu Plots, bad character writing, and other things, the team decided to play it safe this time around.
- The marketing team wants to advertise Bob/Alice's mission, but no one wants to actually write a plot.
- Bob/Alice's Quest is all about the action, but a justification to beat up other humans needs to be written in to avoid the protagonist coming off as a Designated Hero.
- Nintendo of America decided that the puzzle game トレジャー洞窟迷路 (Treasure Cave Maze) would sell better in America if they slapped a story to it and renamed it Bob's Quest, instead of simply leaving it as a puzzle game.
- Lampshaded: "Hey, help me find treasure! ...That's literally it."
- Invoked: Bob/Alice, in too much of a hurry for detailed explanations, asks people along the way to get to the point.
- Exploited: Charlie, who was hired by Evulz to betray Bob/Alice at the last minute, is able to appear as an ally, due to lack of reasons to believe otherwise.
- Defied: "Please don't rush me. I promise, it will be worth your time."
- Discussed: "Huh, there really isn't much to this quest. Think Bob/Alice just wanted an excuse to drag us along?"
- Conversed: "I like how Bob/Alice's Quest gets to the point. They know their strengths, and I'm not here for the plot."
- Deconstructed:
- Bob and Alice repeatedly have to go on quests with paper-thin reasons behind them, and soon grow bored, feeling that their lives have no meaning beyond pointless, boring quests. They are also unable to form real friendships as those would get in the way of their quest.
- Bob and Alice realize they are video game characters who have been doing the same song-and-dance forever, and have an existential crisis.
- Played For Laughs: Bob/Alice's Quest doesn't have much of a plot, but it is a good excuse to joke about things happening just because they can.
Click the link to Excuse Plot. Why? Because I said so.
