Hub and spoke narrative
Also said as Hub structure, Spoke and hub
A central place the player keeps returning to, with separate stories leading off it that can be taken in any order.
Choosing your own order is real freedom at low cost. But if the spokes refer to one another, the writing has to allow for every combination, so spokes tend to stay sealed off from each other.
Say it
“Make the ship a hub with four spoke missions. Each spoke sets one flag, and the crew get one line per flag, so we write 4 lines and not one for each of the 16 combinations.”
Where you’ve seen it
Mass Effect lets you take Therum, Feros and Noveria in any order, returning to your ship between each. That ship is where your crew can react to what you have just done.
Not to be confused with open world
An open world has no required centre. A hub and spoke sends you back to one place between stories, which is also where the writer can catch up with you.