Overview
I played The Stanley Parable: Ultra Deluxe. It was designed and written by Davey Wreden and William Pugh, and it was published by Crows Crows Crows. It is available on Steam, Xbox, PS4, and Nintendo Switch. I remember watching a video walkthrough clip of the original Stanley Parable many years ago but it was my first time actually playing it 🙂
Target Audience
This game is ideal for people who enjoy narratives and few actions (exactly me) and those who like unlocking secret endings. It also attracts people who are a fan of the original Stanley Parable. Based on my playing experience, the ideal player age is 14+ because of the highly meta story structure and its existential theme.
Formal Elements
The game’s formal element player is single player vs. game, and the rule is simple: follow or go against the narration to explore Stanley’s office building. The objective is exploration, and the players uncover dark secrets and answers to why everyone in the office vanished. The procedure is simply to walk around to discover clues. When the player reaches an ending, the game will restart. The resources are hints/storylines provided by the narrator and the accumulating knowledge player gets in each round. The boundary is the device players use to play with as well as their mental representation of this game’s storyline. The outcome is non-zero-sum.
Types of Fun & Moments of Success
The main type of fun is discovery. While playing the game, I found myself excited to learn what was going on in the building and eager to play again and again. For me, one particular moment of success in this game occurred in the fake family ending where I was told I had a wife. I went to my room and found out I was greeted by a fake human and the narrator admitted that he tricked me (see picture below). I love this plot twist!
Ideas for Improvement
The walking experience was not very smooth for me, perhaps because I’m not used to using WASD keys and moving the camera angle at the same time. As a result, I always bumped into walls, and I got stuck in random objects 2 times. I wish there is a way to fix the camera angle at some key locations to ensure players will not mess up. Also, I wish there is a notepad in this game where I can briefly record what I did in each round of the game. I wrote those information on my phone during the game but it would be nice if the game could provide some log on what I did previously or at least some space for me to write things down. Having a notepad/log will greatly reduce my cognitive load. Even something like this (see picture below), which appeared in the Confusion Ending, would be super helpful.
