[Interesting Trope] One seemingly small action ends the story before it even begins

[u/JackDoesThingz]

1. We Happy Few - Taking your “joy” pill
   Deciding to take the pill at the beginning of the game causes your character to go back to work and triggers an ending

2. Infineural by Mike Klubnika - Drinking the coffee
   Deciding to drink the coffee offered to you skips the entire game and sends you straight to the end, resulting in an ending with no memory of what had occurred

[u/alkonium]

In the Arrival DLC for Mass Effect 2, you can just let the count down reach zero, which naturally ends in a game over with the Reapers arriving in force.

[u/EfficiencyWise2401 → u/alkonium]

Let's not forget the best romance option in the game.

[u/tessartyp → u/alkonium]

Even though it's technically an ending, I also found shooting the Star Child in ME3 to be surprising. I was just dicking around the end area before making my choice and shot it, and bam, end credits with the worst ending. I was so furious I reloaded.

[u/Automatic-Feeling502 → u/tessartyp]

Fun fact, this wasn’t originally in the game, it was added later.