The Stanley Parable

[vimes]

I'm of two minds about this game: on one hand, I find it smart, funny, well written, well constructed and, by the way it poke at genuinely interesting things, quite fascinating. Sometimes, it can also be quite touching.

On the other hand, I feel like

the creator obviously knows how to write, he has great voice actors at hand, and as an acute understanding of the genre and the player habits it has generated; so it makes me slightly mad that he doesn't inspire at anything more than being cynical and/or ironic about the form.

I know it's incredibly selfish and I know it's unfair  - and frankly, I'm not proud to have this reaction -  but it's like: I have embryos of what I think are interesting stories that can stand on their own and self-contain a valuable meaning and experience; but they will probably never get beyond that embryonic stage because I don't have the writing talent, chops and instinct to properly inject them in our medium. So it feels like a gigantic waste that a guy who does seem to have the talent has spent the last 2 years sort of 'safely' writing a detached and cynical piece of ironic entertainment; instead of putting out there what he genuinely thinks might be a better storytelling experience than what he criticizes.
 

[Dewar]

I guess we can just hope that the success of one will help fund the other.

[sclpls]

I like that this received a commercial release in the same year as Gone Home, and both games moved lots of copies. 2013 is the year of cool first person exploration games with excellent voice acting.

[elmuerte]

I've found a few things that are easy to miss - there are special endings if you

climb up on one of the desks in the first room and climb out the window, quickly step out of the bosses' office before the doors close on you, or unplug the phone.

Or

Simply close the door of your office.

 

I also found something new:

Second time when you go to the boss's office you can open the door on the other side and enter an elevator. The player or narrator will hum to the elevator music.

 

The next time you see the broom closed after you opened it once it will be boarded up.

[CaptainFish]

Fun stuff. The idea really benefits from not only the visual polish, but also many more reactions.Having played the mod it's nice to see the expansion.

 

Inconsequential thing I found:

If you close yourself in between the 2 doors where room 417 is (after the two cubicle rooms) you get a little bit of narration

 

There's also a drawing of Ittle Dew on the floor in one of the paths, that was cute.

[Dewar]

The PAX demo of this had a huge Octodad display where the 8 button is, complete with directions to the Octodad booth "if you like Octodad so much." There's some pretty awesome fellowship between indie devs these days.

[UltimateHurl]

I have to say I didn't know what to expect when I got this, but I've been really enjoying it. I love any attempt to explore gaming and narrative.

[Reyturner]

I look forward to the inevitable Dota 2 announcer. 

[tabacco]

If you just sit in the broom closet long enough there's some pretty good dialog.

[Gormongous]

If you just sit in the broom closet long enough there's some pretty good dialog.

 

And if you go back, there's a nice callback.

 

I'm actually surprised how much of this game I find weirdly alarming.

 

The "escape" ending rattled my cage in particular. I think it's supposed to, though.

[Stuart]

UBER SPOILERS FOR THE STANLEY PARABLE DO NOT WATCH UNLESS YOU PLAYED IT (also HL2 spoilers I guess...)

 

 

Probably the best analytic dissection of this game I've seen so far. Chris Franklin is the man.

[Tanukitsune]

I started playing it this morning and I love how:

 

It somehow made a stupid achievement fun and amazing? After clicking on a door a few times the narrator tells me to click more if I want a achievement, and sends me on a hilarious wild goose chase... I'm pretty sure I would have never bothered if weren't for the narrator.

 

Also I love how:

 

The game rewards you for playing the demo? When I reached the typepad I refused to input the number the narrator said and hit the number hit, like in the demo... and got an achievement. It's a nice nod to the demo, I guess?

[tabacco]

I started playing it this morning and I love how:

 

It somehow made a stupid achievement fun and amazing? After clicking on a door a few times the narrator tells me to click more if I want a achievement, and sends me on a hilarious wild goose chase... I'm pretty sure I would have never bothered if weren't for the narrator.

 

Also I love how:

 

The game rewards you for playing the demo? When I reached the typepad I refused to input the number the narrator said and hit the number hit, like in the demo... and got an achievement. It's a nice nod to the demo, I guess?

 

You can also enable an achievement in the settings, which I enjoyed immensely

[jmbossy]

I started playing this morning. So far its decently entertaining.

 

I've tried playing a few times now, and I tried typing my bosses code in before the narrator could tell me, so the narrator told me to relax and blasted new age music through my headphones. Brilliant.

[mikemariano]

The Stanley Parable is now available on Mac OSX 10.8 and up!! It's also 40% off for Steam's winter sale!

 

Day 63 perch!

[mikemariano]

I purchased and started playing this game last night.

 

One of the paths brought me to a Proteus-esque impossible starscape.  I stood there for about a half-hour watching the stars and didn't go through the only way out.  The Narrator got upset when I started to leave, so I came back.  Nothing happened, just music and the stars.  After maybe five minutes, I walked further and saw a staircase.  The Narrator said the stairs were dangerous and I should go back.  So I did.  Ten minutes later, I walked back to the staircase.  The Narrator protested again, saying I'd die.  I saw that the stairs had no exit, only a plummet to the ground.

 

So I walked back to the starscape.  I guess I'll never get an ending that way, but it seems right to me.

[feelthedarkness]

Another fun thing: under the stairs to the basement is Lonnie's letter to Sam with the cat on the motorcycle.

[elmuerte]

wrong game

[Nappi]

Or is it?

 

-The Narrator.

[feelthedarkness]

It is. Not the wrong game, that is.

 

-The Narrator

 

http://cloud-4.steampowered.com/ugc/488937589274606625/553AECA8A69244888017F9F17E7B04FF968A90FF/

 

 

[Forbin]

I've been trying to play this over the past couple weeks, and I'm a bit dissapointed.

My first play through I did the opposite of what the narrator said and was treated to a painfully slow and boring ending. It felt like the game was going out of its way to punish me for playing it wrong, which is strange because it's entire construction seems to be based on experiencing things by exploring choices.

My second play through I ended up at the museum. Which felt like it was a complete spoiler, and I quit the game after a few minutes because I didn't recognize anything.

People keep mentioning interesting and funny things that have happened to them, but in my 60 minutes playing I've been treated to repetition and boredom. I feel like I'm getting the "realization" endings where you're supposed to reflect on your circumstances as the player, but I haven't got to the game yet.

I may play it again later, but at this point I feel like my experience has been ruined by playing things in the "wrong" order.

[TychoCelchuuu]

If you quit the museum because it felt like a spoiler you're not really "getting" what the game is about. There is no wrong order to play it in. You have not discovered a bunch of realizations you were supposed to discover later.

[Forbin]

If you quit the museum because it felt like a spoiler you're not really "getting" what the game is about. There is no wrong order to play it in. You have not discovered a bunch of realizations you were supposed to discover later.

 

I "get" that, but it definitely hasn't been interesting or funny, and after seeing enough of the exhibits I'm pretty sure it's not the best way to experience those elements for the first time. IMO an hour is long enough for me to judge that either there's a "wrong" way to play it.

[TychoCelchuuu]

Again, if you think there's a "wrong" way to play it, you don't "get" it. This video breaks it down pretty well:

[Forbin]

Ugh, this is such a ridiculous argument.  I've seen maybe 4 or 5 endings to the game so far.  Based on my own experience, I know that I would have had a dramatically better time with the game if the first ending I chose gave me a bad first impression of the game. Despite how much foresight you think the developers have, I think it's giving them too much credit to think that they've perfectly planned how the game can be perceived based on the thousands of permutations in which a player can go through this game.  The endings I've seen aren't to my taste, but based on anecdotes and videos like the Errant Signal one, I can tell there are things in there that I probably would have enjoyed if I discovered them at a decent time.  But instead I spent the honeymoon phase with the game playing through the repetitious and boring endings.  One's that you could say "i don't get", but honestly it's just not that interesting to me.

 

I feel like i'm watching a Penn & Teller bit.

 

If their humour isn't your style, then maybe the reveal of the trick is interesting to you.  Most people are entertained by both.  But if the trick isn't new to you, and you don't find the presentation entertaining, then it's just a waste of time.

 

I want to enjoy this game, it's just feeling like a total grind.  And if it had a reputation like Paper's Please or Cart Life that would make sense, but that doesn't fit well with how people talk about it.