History ExcusePlot / VideoGames

* The plot of the original ''[[VideoGame/MortalKombat1 Mortal Kombat]]'' is this, before the movie and sequels tossed in all that Outworld balance between realms schtuff; An evil sorcerer is running a deadly tournament, with a four-armed monster-man as the reigning champion. Go there, compete for your own reasons, and take home the win.

** The majority of the plots of the subgames in ''VideoGame/KirbySuperStar'' are MonsterOfTheWeek. However ''The Great Cave Offensive'' has a plot that can best be summed up as "Kirby fell down a hole, might as well look for treasure on the way out, amirite?"
*** The UpdatedRerelease has a subgame giving you control of [[EnsembleDarkHorse Meta Knight]]. Basically, he's out to kick the stuffing out of ''everybody''; at the end, you find out it was to earn a [[MakeAWish wish]], which was for him to fight [[WorthyOpponent the greatest warrior in the galaxy]] and beat the stuffing out of ''him''.

** ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaFourSwords'' (not to be confused with ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaFourSwordsAdventures Four Swords Adventures]]'') is basically your typical ''VideoGame/SuperMarioBros'' plot with ''The Legend of Zelda'' characters. Just substitute Link for Mario, Zelda for Peach, and Vaati for Bowser. And just like Bowser in later ''Mario'' games, [[StalkerWithACrush Vaati even wants to marry Zelda!]]

** ''VideoGame/MarioParty'':
*** The original ''VideoGame/MarioParty1'' game has all the Mario characters compete with each other to solve major problems in order to determine who is the "Super Star". Again, by partying. It eventually ends with you unlocking a secret board and trying to recover the broken pieces of the Eternal Star, with Bowser trying to stop you at all costs with his minions. Bring out the party.

** ''VideoGame/DoomII'' was even worse in this regard. The whole plot is "You return to Earth, only to find that the situation is even worse than it was on Mars." Never mind that the game reuses the exact same textures/graphics from the original and that absolutely nothing about it looks like "Earth."

** ''VideoGame/PokemonSunAndMoon'' is an interesting subversion; the first part of the game appears to have the usual Excuse Plot of the previous games, complete with the [[spoiler:pseudo-]]villainous team being a bunch of incompetent thugs. Only the many cutscenes throughout hint at a much larger story than one would expect. This all changes during the [[HalfwayPlotSwitch second half]] of the game, which is arguably ''even more'' plot-heavy than ''Black and White'', though defeating the Elite Four and Champion is still the conclusion of the game.

** ''[[VideoGame/YoshisIsland Super Mario World 2]]'': Baby Luigi gets snatched from [[DeliveryStork the Stork]]. Yoshi and Baby Mario must rescue him.

** ''VideoGame/SuperMarioSunshine'' actually averts the [[StrictlyFormula "Mario saves Peach" formula]] (or at least at first), but arguably hits this trope even ''harder''. The plot of ''Sunshine'' is instead kicked off by Mario being convicted of mass vandalism by the most incompetent court in the world, simply because it wouldn't have happened the same way otherwise.

* The UsefulNotes/ZXSpectrum game ''VideoGame/{{Arcturus}}'' has 22 in-game pages of plot involving the development and destruction of at least three intergalactic civilizations, with Earth set to be the fourth. It's quite a phenomenal backdrop and story to justify the fact that, underneath it all, the game is actually just [=4x4x4=] tic-tac-toe.

* In ''VideoGame/SpookyBonus'', strange things are happening in Old Town. A newspaper headline along these lines and a brief glimpse of a crypt with a green light coming from inside are all the introduction you get to a fairly standard match-3 game.
* ''VideoGame/SpyroTheDragon'': While the original trilogy does feature a cast of memorable, unique characters, the plots generally boil 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!" Averted with ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfSpyro'' reboot, which is much more story-driven.

* ''The Bugs Bunny Birthday Blowout'': Bugs Bunny's fan club is celebrating his 50th birthday, but his jealous ''WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes'' co-stars don't like this and do everything they can to obstruct his way to the party.

* ''Gunz: The Duel''. The actual plot is only a couple of paragraphs, and considering there are no {{cutscenes}}, it's barely noticeable in-game. Made more ridiculous by the fact that it calls itself an {{MMORPG}}. The Korean version has PVE questing and dungeons, but nobody plays this side of the game. Quest mode has you blasting up goblins and other mobs until the map is cleared, and occasionally fighting a boss along the way.

* ''The I of It''. The intro goes as following - "Once upon a time there was an I and a t. 'Bah', said the t, and left. 'Where is t?' I was wondering, and started the quest." What's the Great Transcendence? You don't need to know, just do it.

* ''Jojo's Fashion Show: World Adventure''. Before each level there's a couple of lines of an incredibly boring story about some stereotypical bitchy fashionista drama, w/e. Other than the story being about fashion designers who are going on a world tour, and the game being about you designing outfits to fit different styles from around the world, it's entirely irrelevant. The level titles are ostensibly based on the story, but they have little bearing even on that.

* ''Mosaic: Game of Gods'': The God of Chaos is trying to destroy the world because a flower shattered when he touched it and you, the Goddess of Order, have to save it by putting mosaics back together.

* ''[=NeuroVoider=]'': The majority of the human race has been wiped out by robots that proceeded to party endlessly. Four of the only remaining human brains awaken, hijack robot bodies and proceed to hunt them all down to the Master Neurovoider. Aside from a pair of twists [[spoiler:(the Master Neurovoider is a BrainInAJar itself, and FAT.32 was just using you to usurp its control)]], it never gets complicated beyond that (and the ending is [[AWinnerIsYou just the "Game Over" screen]]), so it all boils down to shooting robots for fun. Most likely invoked, since the manual even mocks this premise and considers it akin to a failed pitch to Creator/MichaelBay.
* ''Night Walk'', an economic British game about walking through graveyard with zombies. The description [[http://www.blisteredthumbs.net/2010/12/ashens-nightwalk/ must be seen to be believed.]]

* In ''Penguins' Journey'' you need to guide a bunch of escaping penguins from a "penguin farm" in the jungle to their original home in the icy wastes by building bridges with different-shaped tiles.
* Freeware game ''[=PixelShips=]'' justifies the ''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}'' [[JustForFun/XMeetsY meets]] ''VideoGame/{{Defender}}'' gameplay with... nanotech, or something. Jeff Minter's ''Andes Attack'' [[AllThereInTheManual justified similar gameplay]] with good aliens fleeing bad aliens by landing on Earth and living with the ancient people there. One of the aliens got bored, and used a timescoop to collect "a UsefulNotes/Commodore64 and a study Kempston joystick" from the future to play games on. [[NiceJobBreakingItHero Unfortunately]], the bad aliens picked up the RF transmissions from this, and attacked Earth. Plot was never important to Llamasoft games.

* Online Flash game ''Powerfox'' has a little "plot" window during the opening screen that explains the story: "Powerfox, you need to rescue the world!" "Yeah."
* ''Punch Quest'': One day, Punchzerker was sleeping on a hammock between two trees, when an apple fell on his head, and he was knocked to the ground. Looking about, he saw an orc smelling flowers. "No one punches me!" said Punchzerker, racing forward determinedly. Meanwhile, Smashkyrie had been sitting atop the trees, feasting on apples. It was her apple which hit Punchzerker in the head. "Did someone say punch?!" Smashkyrie exclaimed, but it was too late. Punchzerker had breached the fortress nearby, vowing to punch everything in sight. Bravely, she stormed the fortress, following the sounds of punching.

* ''The Rosebud Condominium'': "The Boss" wants you to build the tallest tower in the world. Why? Who cares when it's just an excuse to search multiple floors for hidden objects.

* ''Spanky's Quest'' has a rather silly plot. Spanky the monkey is going on a picnic and walking through the forest when suddenly bricks start to rain down all around him. He finds himself trapped by a WickedWitch, who also makes the fruits in Spanky's knapsack sprout arms and legs and [[EverythingTryingToKillYou try to kill him]].

* In ''Spooky Bonus'' strange things are happening in Old Town. A newspaper headline along these lines and a brief glimpse of a crypt with a green light coming from inside are all the introduction you get to a fairly standard match-3 game.

* In the opening of ''Urban Yeti'', a silly UsefulNotes/GameBoyAdvance game, we are told that Yetis surely exist and are among us, therefore they would, like us, want to have a home and family. And so the titular Yeti's journey begins. Get ready to ''Yeti''!
* ''{{VideoGame/Vanish}}'': You are a... someone, who is forcefully brought down and thrown into an underground water main to be eaten by monsters roaming the tunnels. Now you have to escape before they catch you.

* Lampshaded in ''Werebox 2'' by the intermission cartoons which portray game company staff trying to come up with a basic plot for the game only to conclude that a "crappy physics puzzle game" doesn't ''need'' to have a storyline.

* In ''Zombie Solitaire'' a bad tofu burger started a ZombieApocalypse and now you need to play solitaire in order to get away from them. Or something.

** The plot of ''VideoGame/TheSimpsons'' arcade game by Creator/{{Konami}} makes no sense, especially when you consider the continuity of [[WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons the show]]. It begins with the titular family taking a walk in Springfield. As they walk in front of a jewelry store, Smithers rushes out of said store after stealing a diamond for Mr. Burns. He bumps into Homer, which causes the diamond he stole to fly in the air, landing in Maggie's mouth in place of her pacifier. Instead of just grabbing the diamond, Smithers abducts Maggie along with it, runs off, and the remaining Simpsons give chase to rescue her. Now, anyone familiar with ''The Simpsons'' knows that Mr. Burns is the richest man in Springfield and even though he'd love to get richer, he wouldn't send his personal assistant to orchestrate a jewelry heist all over a single diamond. And Smithers [[OutOfCharacterMoment isn't so lowly]] that he'd agree to such theft, all while kidnapping a child. That's not even getting into the strange things that happen along the way, one of which is how they ''share a [[DreamSequence dream]]'', which is the setting of Stage 6. This game's weirdness would fit right in with the ''WesternAnimation/TreehouseOfHorror'' episodes, minus the horror. And most importantly, there's the fact that [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking they were taking a walk and not driving in one of their cars]]!

* The developers of ''VideoGame/{{Carmageddon}}'' were forced to come up with a literal Excuse Plot to allow the game's release in the United Kingdom, where the full blood version was refused a rating by the BBFC, effectively banning it. To get around it, they swapped the pedestrian sprites for [[ZombieApocalypse legions of the undead]], tinted everyone visible in the starting FMV a bit green, and changed its voiceover to make the same scenes as in the US release appear to be about a vehicular crusade to exterminate the zombies.

* ''VideoGame/FatalRacing'' (''Whiplash'' in the US): The top eight car manufacturers hold CarFu races every year. The winning company enjoys a massive boost in sales. Represent your company well.

* ''VideoGame/{{Karnov}}'': "Get the map that leads to treasure" was the plot of the UsefulNotes/ArcadeGame. The Famicom version, which had a different FinalBoss, also had original cutscenes that had Karnov be on a MissionFromGod and made no mention of any treasure; these cutscenes were entirely removed from the US localization.

** ''VideoGame/KirbySqueakSquad'' actually [[PlayingWithATrope plays with]] this quite a bit. The story starts as an Excuse Plot involving stolen cake but shifts gears after the first world. The actual plot is about a treasure chest containing an [[SealedEvilInACan ancient being]], the titular gang of mice trying to use it to gain wealth, Meta Knight's attempt to prevent anyone from opening it, and Kirby [[NiceJobBreakingItHero accidentally releasing it]]. Kirby spends most of the game in relentless pursuit of his cake, completely oblivious to the larger plot and anything else that happens.

** ''Videogame/SonicColors'' story is very simple: Eggman creates an amusement park powered by cute aliens, and Sonic has to stop him. There's no bigger CentralTheme, no sub-plot or CharacterDevelopment, and not any internal conflict for the characters. It's a pure game about Sonic fighting Eggman, with a lot of humor.

* In ''VideoGame/YoshisStory'', the plot is something about collecting fruit to restore the Happiness Tree and save the adults who have been zapped with some kind of spell.

* In the HGame ''Koikatsu'', the player character transfers to an all-girls school because most of the girls in the school have never interacted with a boy their age. His aunt, the principal of the school, wants the player character to help the girls get used to boys by establishing a club that focuses on skinship between men and women and even encourages him to get lovey-dovey with the girls.

* In the HGame ''Koikatsu'', the player character transfers to an all-girls school because his aunt, the principal of the school, has tasked him with getting the girls used to interacting with boys, as most of them have never interacted with a boy their age before. She wants the player character to establish a club that focuses on skinship between men and women and even encourages him to get lovey-dovey with the girls.

* In the HGame ''Koikatsu'', the player character transfers to an all-girls school because his aunt, the principal of the school, wants him to establish a club that focuses on skinship between men and women and even encourages him to get lovey-dovey with the girls. She also points out that most of the girls in the school have never interacted with a boy their age before, and she is concerned that they may not adjust well when they have to interact with men later on.

* In the HGame ''Koikatsu', the player character transfers to an all-girls school because his aunt, the principal of the school, wants him to establish a club that focuses on skinship between men and women and even encourages him to get lovey-dovey with the girls. She also points out that most of the girls in the school have never interacted with a boy their age before, and she is concerned that they may not adjust well when they have to interact with men later on.

* The plot of the HGame ''Koikatsu'' has the player character transferring to an all-girls school because the principal of the school (who is also his aunt) wants the girls in the school, most of whom have never interacted with a boy before, to get comfortable with boys. For that reason, she has the player character establish a club that focuses on skinship between men and women and encourages him to get lovey-dovey with the girls.

* ''VideoGame/OneHundredPercentOrangeJuice'': Most of the campaigns qualify, however Kai's has everyone explicitly mentioning that playing a game of dice will move the plot forward.

* ''VideoGame/{{Angband}}'' gives your character the following to-do list: Acquire a lantern, kill Sauron on floor 99, kill Morgoth on floor 100.

* ''VideoGame/AoOni'' is a survival horror game, which can be boiled down to "dodge the Oni, solve puzzles, escape". While version 1 puts more into developing a reason for the characters' being there (Takuro was curious about the place, so his three friends went along with it, dragging two underclassmen along for the ride to see how they'd react), subsequent versions do away with the two underclassmen, and settle on curiosity as a suitable reason (version 6.23 reveals it was [[spoiler:Takeshi]] who had convinced his friends to enter the mansion instead).

* Other than a short three paragraph summary at the start of the game, ''VideoGame/BananaNababa'' doesn't really have a complex plot. It mainly amounts to a wizard stealing six jewels and now some guy has to kill six bosses in a tower in order to get them all back.
* The UsefulNotes/{{Amiga}} ShootEmUp ''VideoGame/{{Banshee}}'' has a very tongue in cheek take on the clichéd scenario of Earth facing an AlienInvasion in the year 1999. The introductory text explains that this Earth belongs to an AlternateUniverse without color television, and that the Styx [[YouKilledMyFather killed our hero's father]] "for refusing to invent the microwave oven."

*** Similarly, neither of the games in the ''[[VideoGame/BattlefieldBadCompany Bad Company]]'' subseries offers even the slightest explanation for why the United States is at war with the Russian Federation (yes, ''[[UsefulNotes/TheNewRussia Russian Federation]]'', not Soviet Union, so communism can be ruled out), much less why the latter is projecting forces all over the Western Hemisphere in the second game.

* ''VideoGame/BlastCorps'': A carrier is carrying defective nuclear warheads. They leaked, necessitating setting it on autopilot to head straight to its destination regardless of what's in the way when a single impact could set the nukes off and cause nuclear winter. Your job is to [[StuffBlowingUp destroy every obstacle in its path.]] Even after you avert the nuclear crisis, you are then called back into action to destroy more buildings because a damaged space shuttle needs to make an emergency landing and it's in the middle of a town. After that, you are called to go to the Moon to clean up debris left there by mankind [[LampshadeHanging and your team knows just how silly the whole thing is, but they go along with it anyway.]] Just more excuses to blow stuff up and no one is complaining.
* ''VideoGame/BlasterMaster'': Jason's pet frog got loose and jumped onto a box of radioactive waste that just happened to be sticking out of a hole in the ground in his back yard. After the box and frog fall down the hole, Jason jumps in after them, landing in a vast underground mutant-inhabited world where he immediately finds a super-advanced tank just sitting around. Now Jason has to go fight the mutants to get his frog back.

* ''VideoGame/{{Borderlands}}'''s plot can be best summed up as this: Something about a Vault - Cool! A [[RevolversAreJustBetter revolver]] [[ShotgunsAreJustBetter that shoots shotgun shells]]! And an SMG that lights people on fire! And - well, you get the idea. It's a common joke among the fandom that there is only plot in the first half hour and the last (when the Guardian Angel calls you up to remind you about that Vault thing). WordOfGod says that they started out wanting to do something at least somewhat serious and ''VideoGame/{{Fallout}}''-like, but...

* ''VideoGame/{{Canabalt}}'': Run and jump across the rooftops to escape... something. The background featuring HumongousMecha stomping through a wrecked city show that you don't want to be around here, but that's all you get.

* ''VideoGame/CatacombAbyss'': "You arch rival '''Nemesis''' has summoned the dark forces of the underworld to destroy all that is good." That's about it. There's some other background information to be found, but it's mainly about the creepy places you'll be going to, which are in themselves a large part of what this game series is all about.

* ''VideoGame/ConkersBadFurDay'' has actually been considered to be an outright parody of an Excuse Plot: Conker gets drunk at a pub, wanders off into the night, wakes up hung over in a place he doesn't recognize, and sets off on a quest to get back home. [[spoiler:Meanwhile, the Panther King schemes to kidnap Conker because a red squirrel is the exact height needed to replace the King's broken table leg, which he uses to hold his milk. The plot later thickens as it is revealed that the King's right hand scientist has been ''incubating'' an Franchise/{{Alien}} life-form in the king's stomach, and his attempts to capture Conker are to ensure that the King ''won't go without his milk.'']]

* ''VideoGame/{{Crackdown}}'' has a plot involving gangs and genetically enhanced soldiers. It's really an excuse to tear up a city with your super heroic gunslinger. And for some reason, the creator of the genetically enhanced soldiers is not just a mad scientist, but a devil worshipper?

** ''Xtreme Beach Volleyball'' makes an attempt to justify transposing the female fighters of the ''Dead or Alive'' series into a volleyball tournament[=/=][[LesYay lesbian]] [[DatingSim dating-simulation]]. They are tricked by one of the male fighters into visiting an island. When they discover that there will be no fighting, they put aside their mortal enmities, play volleyball and other minigames, and buy each other [[{{Stripperiffic}} skimpy clothing]]. And then they fall for it again in the sequel (although only one of them, Hitomi, fell for the exact same trick twice; the other females at least got there from a different trick).
** In ''Xtreme Beach Volleyball'', Zack (the least important character, and with no connection whatsoever to ''anyone else'' in [=DoA=]) builds an island resort with his gambling winnings. No reason given, and before you ask, he has a girlfriend now (in fact, she helped him with this project). It's eventually destroyed by a volcanic eruption. In ''Xtreme 2'', Zack discovers "the treasure of the Pharaohs", which he uses to... hire an alien spaceship to restore his resort. Again, no explanation offered by any party as to why Zack is doing this, never attempted to search for a safer location, is only interested in women he faced in a fighting tournament in the past, etc. Aaaand, it's ultimately destroyed by a second volcanic eruption, culminating in Zack plunging several hundred feet into the flames. This isn't really spoiling a damn thing here, it's really that much more more gratuitous than any softcore porn flick.
** Never mind that, how about the ''actual'' ''VideoGame/DeadOrAlive''? Lessee...something about a dead rich guy, something about a big nasty corporation, something about French opera, something about a wrestling league, something about bioengineered life forms, something about constantly bickering ninjas...ah, screw it! Bring on the ass kicking, fanservice, and counter moves!

* ''VideoGame/{{Descent}}'': You are a [[FeaturelessProtagonist space mercenary]] who is hired by an unscrupulous space mining corporation. Apparently the AI controlling their [[JustForFun/RecycledINSPACE space]] [[UndergroundLevel mines]] has [[AIIsACrapshoot gone rogue]] and you need to travel to each mine, destroy the robots, destroy the reactor, and [[CollapsingLair get out safely]]. Made even more ridiculous because the [[SuperPoweredRobotMeterMaids supposed "mining robots"]] include a [[DemonicSpiders "drilling" bot]] with an under-mounted chain gun and robots that dig with homing missiles. As the game progresses the makers lose all pretense of designing "mining" robots and explain the [[SpikesOfVillainy spike covered]] [[ChargedAttack fusion shooting]] monstrosities as a "top secret military test."

** At one point, main developer Icefrog added a third "neutral" faction to "spice things up", he went as far as making a convocatory to allow players to write the backstory for the characters in the neutral faction. Sometime later, when he was running out of space for placing new heroes he simply deleted the neutral faction and relocated the heroes back into the two main factions, he didn't even brought up the issue, not like anyone cared anyway. [[note]]It should be mentioned that this tied into a feature that required Scourge Heroes to only play on the Scourge side, and Sentinel Heroes to only play on the Sentinel side. But since nobody cared about "lore accuracy", and most players played on a mode that removed that feature, which is part of what led to removal of both "Neutrals" and the "only play on your lore side" feature, we come right back around to Excuse Plot territory.[[/note]]
* In ''VideoGame/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 quote on the main page is from the lead programmer of [[VideoGame/{{Doom}} the first game]]. There was originally a long and complex plot with multiple protagonists. This was cut and the plot was reduced to: "You're the last SpaceMarine left on Mars. Shoot anything that moves." Obviously this didn't detract from its success. There's also a "Go ToHellAndBack" part, but that's not really important outside of giving you a chance for more demon-slaying.

** ''VideoGame/Doom64'' has a bit of backstory about how Doomguy is suffering from PTSD due to his past adventures, but the game itself is still focused on "kill demons and have fun".

** ''VideoGame/DonkeyKongLand'': Cranky and the Kongs arguing if its predecessor sold because of graphics or gameplay, Cranky tells Donkey and Diddy to save the banana hoard again on Game Boy.

** ''VideoGame/DonkeyKongJungleBeat'': DK wants to be King of the Jungle, so he tracks down and beats up all the biggest animals he can find, claiming their territory until he eventually meets up with the Cactus King, who had brain washed the game's bosses. Not that Donkey cares, he just beats the king up to prove he's the baddest Gorilla in all the land. The [[UsefulNotes/NintendoWii Wii]] UpdatedRerelease rectified that last bit by changing the plot from "DK (is a {{Jerkass}} and) pummels everyone to absolute pulps to prove his superiority" to "Some big, weird animals from distant lands have stolen your bananas. Get your bananas back."

* ''VideoGame/EnduroRacer'' was an early Sega motorcycle game where you zip through twisty, rock-strewn, jump-filled roads for no clear reason. If you reach the end [[NintendoHard (NOT an easy task)]], you're rewarded with this revelatory info: "'Enduro' is a symbolic journey through life via the media of a race. The results are insignificant and what really counts is competing. Of particular importance are the lessons to be learned concerning one's self from the various encounters you experience along the way. There is no victor or loser in this test of endurance; the only thing that really matters is that you make a commitment to begin the long and trying trek. This game is then dedicated to all of the 'life riders' who have started out on the solitary trip to find their own individual limits. Last but not least, may we sincerely congratulate you on a perfect run." Well, at least that last line make sense...

* ''VideoGame/FatalRacing'' (''Whiplash'' in the US): The top eight car manufactures hold CarFu races every year. The winning company enjoys a massive boost in sales. Represent your company well.

* In ''Find Mii'', the little adventure game that comes with the UsefulNotes/{{Nintendo 3DS}}'s VideoGame/StreetPassMiiPlaza, your main Mii is the ruler of a kingdom. Monsters break into the palace and kidnap him/her. Use Streetpass to recruit heroes and go rescue them. The sequel uses the exact same plot, aside from adding a prince and princess to the list of royals who need saving.

** In ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoIII'' it doesn't even make sense. Claude is betrayed by his girlfriend and is out for revenge. However you will quickly get more money than you'll ever need by just doing main missions, which in the context of the story doesn't bring you any closer to Catalina. Claude could have easily just waited for the bridges to open, asked around town for info on Catalina, then hunted her down.

** ''VideoGame/KirbySqueakSquad'' actually [[PlayingWithATrope plays with]] this quite a bit. The story starts as an Excuse Plot involving stolen cake but shifts gears after the first world. The actual plot is about a treasure chest containing an [[SealedEvilInACan ancient being]], the titular gang of mice trying to use it to gain wealth, Meta Knight's attempt to prevent anyone from opening it, and Kirby [[NiceJobBreakingItHero accidentally releasing it]]. Kirby spends the most of the game in relentless pursuit of his cake, completely oblivious to the larger plot and anything else that happens.

* ''VideoGame/{{Kritika}}'' opens with an epic background story about an evil alchemist winning the trust and support of the entire population of Kirenos, before establishing a reign of tyranny under his rule. It is then followed by a brief background story for the character class that the player have picked. None of these background information is ever mentioned in the game again.

* ''VideoGame/Left4Dead'', which has the required ZombieApocalypse {{backstory}}, but it's never really explained, and the developers admitted they didn't want to put in any more plot than that. It's just one big "slaughter anything that's not you or teammates before it slaughters you," with only a few hints in design and dialogue about the characters themselves (though that is slightly expanded outside the game, which mostly focuses on the survivors than the zombies). Yahtzee described the plot thus: "'Here are some zombies' pretty much sums it up." The wall graffiti found in safehouse exists to provide some background info on the setting as well as possible hints about the infection's origins (more so in the sequel).

* Parodied by the ''VideoGame/StarCraftII'' minigame ''[[ShoutOut Lost Viking]]''. The premise is that a Viking fighter is lost and needs to find its way back to Vikingville, but needs to watch out for the evil [[AscendedMeme Terra-Tron]]. "[[IntentionalEngrishForFunny HE DOES NOT LIKE YOU!]]"

* ''VideoGame/MadStalkerFullMetalForce'': All you need to know is that there is some [[AIIsACrapshoot evil supercomputer]] that was locked away in an old warship and it hacked the military network while sending out these giant mechas called Slave Gears to wreck Artemis City. Now get [[TheHero Hound Dog]] over there and kick some ass! The updated PC Engine CD port of this game, however, gave the almost non-existent a much bigger narrative, aided by anime-styled cut-scenes.

* {{Downplayed|Trope}} in the erotic WebGame ''Corruption of Champions''. The sexy encounters are, of course, the main draw of the game, and the main plot thread is just slight enough to qualify for this trope - HornyDevils from another dimension have opened a portal near your home town, and a champion must be sent through it each year to keep them in check on their home turf; are you a bad enough dude(ette) to end the threat once and for all? However, the background plot is very engaging, and the gameplay mechanics make it easy enough to ignore the juicy bits if you're not really in the mood for them.

* The original ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBros64'' was this, the plot being that the characters were toys being played with by their owner (ie. Master Hand), which was just an excuse to have "your favorite Nintendo characters duke it out". ''[[VideoGame/SuperSmashBrosMelee Melee]]'' hints at this vaguely (with the dolls replaced with trophies), along with no plot for its Adventure Mode other than "brawl your way through Nintendo worlds and fight Bowser at the end". ''[[VideoGame/SuperSmashBrosBrawl Brawl]]'' averted this with its own Adventure Mode, ''The Subspace Emissary'', only for ''[[VideoGame/SuperSmashBrosForNintendo3DSAndWiiU 3DS/Wii U]]'' to return to the Excuse Plot format, this time being "characters from various worlds do battle/are invited to a tournament" as told through its trailers.

* If you want a truly ridiculous excuse plot, look no further than ''VideoGame/QuizAndDragons'', a two-player 1992 Creator/{{Capcom}} QuizGame where you must save the kingdom of Capconia from the BigBad Gordian, obviously a {{Satan}} {{expy}}, who has stolen a mystical seed and used it to enhance his {{mooks}}' wisdom on subjects including, but not limited to, science, geography, and ''television''! The mooks then go around [[ImAHumanitarian eating people]] that get their questions wrong. The sage king has no choice but to send a fighter with a HealingFactor, a wizard who can change quiz categories, an ActionGirl that can take out one or two choice answers, and a [[GratuitousNinja ninja]] that deals twice the amount of damage to take back the Wisdom Seed and save Capconia. And what do you get for saving the kingdom? [[spoiler:Your name on canned soup flavors!]]

* ''VideoGame/{{Myst}}'' had several rather irrational ways of getting at the various Linking Books; the in-game explanation was that the characters in question were paranoid (quite reasonably so, as it turned out) about having their books destroyed. The sequels were, generally, more reasonable about how and why things were where they were.
** The sequel ''VideoGame/{{Riven}}'', generally considered the best of the series, is also usually considered the game with the best-integrated puzzles -- although it does suffer occasionally from one of the two sides taunting each other with clues.
** ''VideoGame/MystIIIExile'', on the other hand, forces the player through what was, according to the {{backstory}}, originally designed as an interuniversal obstacle course meant to teach children about how different Ages come together. Several of the puzzles have been sabotaged by Saavedro, but (as Saavedro intended) in a way that leaves them solvable, though more difficult.
*** In the opening scene of ''Exile'', Catherine {{lampshade|Hanging}}s this trope's usage in previous games by saying her husband is probably running late because it [[AlreadyUndoneForYou "takes him forever to reset all his codes".]]
** In ''VideoGame/MystIVRevelation'', the puzzles are either security against jungle creatures[[note]]although one ground-level gate was apparently installed to obstruct creatures that can ''fly''[[/note]], manipulating creatures to perform a task, or operating machinery left behind by someone else.
** In ''VideoGame/MystVEndOfAges'', the whole setting is a kind of testing ground put together by... someone... in order to prove your worth to obtain the MacGuffin. Interestingly, it's only possible to pass the test by taking advantage of the cheating done by previous testers who had failed for moral reasons.
** ''VideoGame/UruAgesBeyondMyst'' has most of the puzzles set up by Yeesha as a test for the player -- or at least has the Journey Cloths placed specifically so that the player needs to perform certain actions to access them. Some Ages are more soup-canny than others, though, such as Kadish Tolesa, a series of puzzle rooms leading to a vault filled with gold (and one skeleton).
* ''VideoGame/TalesOfBerseria'' is generally good about making its puzzles fit the environment. At its worst, you're eating colored fruit to give temporary AcquiredPoisonImmunity from matching-colored gas vents. This lasts until the endgame where the entire bonus dungeon, itself an elaborate six-zone randomly-generated harder-than-TheVeryDefinitelyFinalDungeon nightmare, is just an elaborate prank by the Katz so you can gain bath towel costumes for the party and eventually a hot springs scene. Lampshaded by Velvet, who starts off skeptical and gets in a worse and worse mood with each not-actually-in-danger Katz the party finds. [[spoiler:On the other hand, the plot this causes the party to stumble onto ''completely'' changes the context of the game, and retroactively makes distant sequel ''VideoGame/TalesOfZestiria'' suffer an EsotericHappyEnding]].
* ''{{VideoGame/Vanish}}'': You are a...someone, who is forcefully brought down and thrown into an underground water main to be eaten by monsters roaming the tunnels. Now you have to escape before they catch you.
* In RealLife, the games made in computer camp game design classes for kids follow this trope. The games aren't usually meant to be sophisticated enough to have cutscenes and the like. It's just gameplay, with a small backstory added with a "show the game information" command.