The Encyclopedia of Interactive Performance

There are two ways that the central conflict is wrapped up by the end of a story. Either the issue is resolved, making things better again, or it devolves into disaster. You can picture these concepts as a house on fire. Resolution happens if the fire department puts out the fire and the house is saved. If the house burns down, despite the fire department’s efforts, that’s devolution. Stories that end in resolution are “happy endings” which many spects prefer, but devolution can also be satisfying if spects have learned something along the way.