Loss Points
A loss point happens when you believe that you can’t win. Loss points are a big problem in game design because they are the moments when players stop engaging. In turn-based games, for example, they often result in lots of orphaned (half-finished) games. In real-time multiplayer games they are the moments when players log out mid-game, screwing the balance for everyone else. And in narrativist games, they are the moments when the player sees that he’s not really doing anything meaningful in the game, just following instructions.

It’s very difficult to convince a player to keep playing beyond a loss point. They have no real incentive to continue, and sense that their time would be best spent doing something else. That is why games are bad at storytelling, irrespective of the quality of their writing. It’s why LA Noire and Heavy Rain are both initially impactful, but pretty boring to play. They’re easily mastered, their frames are not particularly fascinating, and the sensation of being a rat in a maze (the loss point) only grows. At some point I simply forget to pick up the joypad.

http://www.whatgamesare.com/2012/09/great-story-bad-game-should-the-walking-dead-be-nodal.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+WhatGamesAre+%28What+Games+Are%29