“Every button that he presses is a reminder of the inconsequential nature of his existence.” – The Stanley Parable Narrator

Developer: Davey Wreden Released: October 2013

Played on: PC (also available on Mac)

I wish The Stanley Parable had existed back when I was at University and needed to provide examples of deconstructionism, postmodernism and poststructuralism. The game’s sole premise is to subvert the player’s expectations of how a game should be played by investigating the notion of “choice” in modern games. The Stanley Parable balances out its intense self awareness of form and context with genuinely laugh-out-loud humour provided by an omnipresent narrator.

You are Stanley, an office worker who finds himself at a disconnected computer terminal. Exploring the rest of the office, Stanley finds that the entire building is deserted. The helpful narrator tells us what Stanley does next, and if you’re an obedient player, you’ll follow the narrator’s instructions and find yourself at a satisfying (and somewhat epic) ending within 15 minutes or so.

But nobody who plays videogames follows the designated path, and The Stanley Parable is keenly aware of player habits. When you explore a room instead of heading for the door as the narrator instructed, the narrator makes a quip about how Stanley wasted his time pointlessly exploring a deserted room. When Stanley takes the left door instead of the designated right door, the narrator starts to negotiate, the game starts to adapt, and the madness truly begins.

Through the fiction of an obedient office worker, the illusion of player choice in games is deconstructed perfectly, building a system that has anticipated every potential move the player makes and responded in kind. Player disobedience is rewarded by some of the funniest game writing in years, delivered wonderfully by narrator Kevin Brighting. Certain paths lead to jokes referencing other games, others paths lead to existential crises, others to self-reflexive deconstructions of The Stanley Parable itself.

This is a game for fans of videogames and anyone who likes a bit of non-linear story experimentation. While the interactions are as simple as walking around and touching things, the challenge is in trying to break the game but knowing the designer has considered all your possible actions. There are over a dozen endings to The Stanley Parable, each one worth pursuing (except for the one where you have to press a red button for 4 hours). Some paths will be more obvious than others, but within 3 hours (and maybe the help of an FAQ for some of the trickier endings) you’ll experience most of what The Stanley Parable has to offer. I’ve tried to remain appropriately vague as the surprise of what the game delivers is too great to spoil.

Verdict: A hilarious deconstruction of the videogame form – an exploration of design & choice in a suitably self-aware product.

Should Bradley play this: Yep, it’s champagne comedy.