The Stanley Parable is the story of an office drone who looks up from his desk to find his workplace deserted. It began life as a Source mod, and grew last year into a standalone work of quiet genius.
The game introduced a wonderful twist to PC gaming’s traditional malevolent AI routine. Its narrator, the English actor Kevan Brighting, begins Stanley’s story in the time-honoured mode of BBC audiobooks – but becomes rueful, flabbergasted and downright grumpy as the player begins to contradict the tale he’s telling.
Sound like fun? A million other PC gamers thought so.
“A few years ago no one had any idea who I was,” mused co-creator Davey Wreden on Twitter. “Today the stanley parable has sold a million copies. Thank you.”
“One million copies!!,” added Wreden’s British counterpart, William Pugh.
The Narrator, Brighting, recorded his own thoughts on the momentous milestone in-character.
“The Narrator decided not to tell Stanley. It might make him fractious. Or big-headed,” he tweeted. And then later: “The Narrator relented. He sent Stanley a congratulations card and a check for $8. There was no way he would send $427. There are limits.”
The Stanley Parable was released a year ago last Friday, and earned its own Dota 2 Announcer Pack in May. I last played it yesterday, as a matter of fact. It’s still deliciously reactive and terribly funny. How did you find it?