Parable (definition): A simple story used to illustrate a moral or spiritual lesson.
The Stanley Parable is like that pretty girl in your school that you try so very hard to impress even if she publicly makes fun of you, assigns you tedious tasks and teases you but never seems to have the slightest interest in you or offer any form of companionship. Mr. Stanley, our protagonist, worked at his job till one day when everyone disappears and there are no further instructions for you to follow. So you start your journey from the cubical in your office to different sections of the office to discover secrets.
You are guided by a voice that seems to narrate the experience as you make your way through the office. You travel through different rooms and often you will be given choices as to what door to choose or what button to press and each sequence of choice results in a different ending. Some good, others bad and then there are those that confuse and perplex. Even though the game starts off with the choice of a simple office premise the tone can change drastically in a matter of seconds, so say how would be considered spoiling it as there are a handful of different endings and half the fun is discovering them all. The game is a constant struggle of control between you and the narrator where the narrator forces you to a set story but you set out to create your own. This is done through making a different choice than what he tells you only to listen to what commentary he (Narrator – Kevan Brighting) might come up with next.
Unlike others in the genre The Stanley Parable does not waste its time with large amounts of exploration and holding down the W key. Instead it uses smart design choices to make sure the action always matches up to the narration. It takes into account all the choices that you can make and force while never letting go of the incredible genius and humor that it offers. This is a game that you will enjoy playing as much as you will showing off to others.
The game contains no music and has very basic sound effects to not be noteworthy. There is no combat, there are no puzzles, not the traditional ones anyway. It is just a game where a man wanders in an office trying to find out what the hell is going on. Yes it does get the smallest amount of repetitive as you might follow a set of choices to the very last just to change one small detail, but the game is somewhat aware of that and tries to do damage control by nailing shut certain rooms when all the dialogue has been exhausted in it.
Think of the game as a very well written and narrated, deconstruction of the video game genre.
Download the demo here: stanleyparable.com
Trailer :
