Branching explosion
Also said as Combinatorial explosion, Geometric explosion
Each extra layer of choices multiplies the writing. Two options per scene, ten choices deep, is 2,047 scenes, and one playthrough reads eleven of them.
This is the sum that decides most story structures. It explains why games fold their branches back together and why a promised "every choice matters" so rarely survives production.
Say it
“Three options at each of six choices is 1,093 scenes, which we cannot afford. Fold back after every second choice and keep the difference in flags.”
Where you’ve seen it
Disco Elysium's script runs to over a million words, and that took holding the branches together with checks and flags. One playthrough still reads only part of it.
Not to be confused with content bloat
Bloat means there is too much for one player to get through. The explosion means there is too much to write, however little of it each player sees.