Judging from the summary of the game, one might be apprehensive about approaching The Stanley Parable. It’s a game that claims to be one thing, but claims to not be that thing, then claims to be another thing and claims to not be that thing either. Oddly after sitting down with the game for several playthroughs, those descriptions do sound correct. The Stanley Parable is about nothing in particular… but in a good way. Like Seinfeld.
What started as a mod a few years back is now a fully realized game made in Source; you’re Stanley and you rather like your job; you tap your keyboard and stuff pops up on your screen, you spin in your chair, make money, go home, go to work, and then do all this stuff over and over because life is sweet. Until one day when Stanley gets up from his chair and peeks out the office door, seeing… an empty office.
Just in case there was any confusion.
Where are all your coworkers? Don’t know. Maybe they were eaten by a bear or something.
The gameplay is a first-person experience with a narrator acting as the only human interaction. Even before you step out of your office, the narrator is speaking over everything you do, and tries to guide you along the linear story. At any time you have the opportunity however you can break away and go elsewhere. The narrator responds to any action you take, regardless of whether it was what he wanted you to do, and much of the fun of the game is in pretending to be a dope just carelessly wandering the building as the narrator either quickly contrives a reason to weave what you’re doing into the story or flat-out berates and insults you, which can be hilarious.
Indeed, this is not a game you want to beat only once; there are numerous ways Stanley’s story can end, and nearly every detour you care to take has narration to go along with it. At one point I found a broom closet and stood inside of it, listening to the narrator become increasingly irritated with me as I refused to leave it for about 5 minutes. By the time he gave up, he was ranting and raving and calling me names as I just stood there staring at a mop bucket. I know it doesn’t sound like the best time you’ll ever have, but it’s charming and the first time you discover sequences like these, they seem totally worth it.
Boy, you should hear how mad the narrator is right about now.
It’s hard to explain The Stanley Parable without spoilers… me standing in the broom closet could be considered one if you wanted to organically experience it yourself, but it’s probably the smallest specific thing I could think of. There are dozens of funny situations you can end up in, some of which will take you by surprise (at least one of which I can almost promise). It can even become obsessive about how you derail to the point where what you’re doing no longer has any link to the main idea of the game, which can also be funny.
But… Stanley’s dynamic story isn’t just funny. Sometimes it can be slightly sad, or make you feel creeped out. It really depends on what you’re up to. And to add some further dimension, there seems to be some sort of carryover between playthroughs, perhaps a few secrets to unlock that you’ll only solve after driving yourself to the brink of madness.
The Stanley Parable isn’t for everyone. If you can’t really justify the $12 price tag, that’s understandable; the world has very few points of interaction, and it’s definitely not an action game. It’s more like a comedic “choose your own adventure” novel, and unless I’ve missed out on some big crazy secret, after you’ve done all dozen or so possible playthrough combinations there may not be any more replay to be had. That sounds like a lot, but each playthrough will only take you anywhere from 15 seconds (yes, you read that right) to 15 minutes. The visuals work, but aren’t particularly memorable. The narrator’s voice is good, which is… good! After all, it’s almost the only thing you’ll be hearing aside from the few music tracks that play at particular points.
Get it if you’re into this sort of thing, and don’t if you’re not. A more cut and dry recommendation you won’t see.
