#galacticcafe

[zaneronaldtalbot-blog]

An Objective Perspective: The Stanley Parable

(Trying to be objective is tough) But let’s look at this masterpiece from a... Wait, is ‘masterpiece’ already being subjective?

The Stanley Parable, released in October of 2013 by Galactic Cafe, offers a unique experience for players, touting hilariously witty storytelling and an interesting take on decision making (more on this later). However, Stanley offers little in the way of actual gameplay, and it’s core mechanics lie within the choices players make and the different scenarios they encounter.

 Core Mechanics:

The core mechanics in The Stanley Parable consist of the player’s choices, the encounters themselves and the narrator.

The players ability to make choices between two abstract paths integrates with the encounters themselves, as they are thrown into situations without any real knowledge of why they’re there, and it serves as a personal commentary on their own lives and personal preferences. This serves to make the player put themselves into Stanley’s shoes and force them to make subjective choices based off their own inclinations. The developer then chose to throw a spanner in the works by having a narrator commentate the player’s experience. The narrator itself is subjective in nature, as they make snide remarks when the player chooses to go against their narrations, throwing jabs and seeking to make the player go their way. This serves to make the player feel self conscious about their decision, or even make them feel rebellious when they take their own path.

An interesting comment made by co-developer William Pugh in his GDC talk about the game, was that he loved designing each encounter, as it forced the player to make a decision based off little to no context, making their choice a personal experience every time. Again, the narrator comes into the game to throw off the player and their choices, but the commentary itself when encountering a scene may also be seen as core to this game’s flow. As there is little-to-no context offered as to why things are the way they are in The Stanley Parable, aside from the narrator themself. The narrator here serves to make the player understand the environment around them, and it also acts as a way to thicken the plot for the player, and give them a path to either follow or deter from. This may make a player feel rebellious if they decide to move away from the narrator’s path, and could potentially make them feel a level of understanding as the narrator tells them the story.

Loops:

Moment to Moment Loop:

In the m2m loop the player can expect to walk, encounter a choice, make a decision and repeat.

Gameplay Loop:

As the game itself is quick in nature, the gameplay loop consists of the player making choices until they reach the end of that particular path. They will then restart at the beginning and potentially make different choices resulting in a different ending.

Session Loop:

In a session, a player can expect to play through the gameplay loop a few times, as the entire game is short, but the different choices available will lead to many different paths.

Exit Points:

The ideal point for a player to exit the game would be after a gameplay loop, as it starts a fresh level for the player to play and cuts off the previous choices.

[video-games-art-blog]

The Stanley Parable

It’s the game to play the player!

Have you ever played... The Stanley Parable? You should!

[gamerscircle]

Let's Play The Stanley Parable: Part 8 - Something New / A Limerick Okay, just one more - got some new information and I wanted to share. [I did an on the spot limerick, not too bad... huh?] SPOILER ALERT @ShoutGamers #TeamSupport #GamersUnite http://youtu.be/slsr9ojeDXc #stanley #parable #GalacticCafe #DaveyWreden https://plus.google.com/118188440302609566032/posts/CoxcQXjpWcB

[gamerscircle]

Let's Play The Stanley Parable: Part 7 - Final Boss Fight Stanley and I team up on the Narrator this time and we take him down...  [I think, there are a couple of different / variations of the ending, but I think for the most part.  Stanley and I are content.] SPOILER ALERT @ShoutGamers #TeamSupport #GamersUnite http://youtu.be/NiveOwjZnAI #stanley #parable #GalacticCafe #DaveyWreden https://plus.google.com/118188440302609566032/posts/HNTarJeo32i

[gamerscircle]

Let's Play The Stanley Parable: Part 6 - Making the Hard Choices We make some life altering choices.. [Wow.. Stanley might wanna consider logging onto the Internet once..] SPOILER ALERT @ShoutGamers #TeamSupport #GamersUnite http://youtu.be/hp0ydfZiu2g #stanley #parable #GalacticCafe #DaveyWreden https://plus.google.com/118188440302609566032/posts/XRyz3NrwtYh

[gamerscircle]

Let's Play The Stanley Parable: Part 5 - Stuff happens! Finally!  There is some progress!! [This one .. didn't seem to leave us with a feeling of doom.] SPOILER ALERT @ShoutGamers #TeamSupport #GamersUnite http://youtu.be/XIb08LV5HmY #stanley #parable #GalacticCafe #DaveyWreden https://plus.google.com/118188440302609566032/posts/8ryoLjp7E1K

[gamerscircle]

Let's Play The Stanley Parable: Part 4 - Death of Stanley? So, this game had gone from deep philosophical questions to almost getting you to doubt your existence.  [Push button.. Push button.. Push button.. Push button.. ] SPOILER ALERT @ShoutGamers #TeamSupport #GamersUnite http://youtu.be/3kUWCaFOedA #stanley #parable #GalacticCafe #DaveyWreden https://plus.google.com/118188440302609566032/posts/Bq7RyQRMc9W

[gamerscircle]

Let's Play The Stanley Parable: Part 3 - So, many restarts! The narrator looses it on so many levels... [I would like to be the narrator..] SPOILER ALERT @ShoutGamers #TeamSupport #GamersUnite http://youtu.be/Df1XMyaVsS0 #stanley #parable #GalacticCafe #DaveyWreden https://plus.google.com/118188440302609566032/posts/3AHZBG8z9nc