(Image Source: www.ign.com)
As (kind of) promised, here is a post on one of my favourite computer games, The Stanley Parable.
Firstly, here is what the game’s website has to say about itself:
“The Stanley Parable is a first person exploration game. You will play as Stanley, and you will not play as Stanley. You will follow a story, you will not follow a story. You will have a choice, you will have no choice. The game will end, the game will never end. Contradiction follows contradiction, the rules of how games should work are broken, then broken again. This world was not made for you to understand.
But as you explore, slowly, meaning begins to arise, the paradoxes might start to make sense, perhaps you are powerful after all. The game is not here to fight you; it is inviting you to dance.”
Personally, I think this game is fantastic. It’s clever and addictive and time-consuming, and without having any real story, it sucks you in with the possibility of a story, as each choice you make causes the narrator to lead you on a different path, feel different emotions and discover more and more about the games central characters: The Narrator, and Stanley. There are 18 possible endings to the game, some sending you back to the start, and some being considered more ‘official’ endings with actual conclusions. Honestly, it’s all a little difficult to explain so instead, here is a link to the website where you can download a free demo, and here is the launch trailer for the game:
Seriously, I don’t think anyone will ever grasp just how much respect I have for this game, and how much it frustrates me that I have not found all 18 endings yet! I love it no end. 10/10.
