This Legendary Indie Breaks The Fourth Wall on PS Plus This Month
'The Stanley Parable: Ultra Deluxe’ is unlike anything you’ll ever play.
Don’t underestimate play. When we play games, from board games to video games to sports, we’re often trying to pass the time or take a break from reality. Yet, it's so much more than mere distraction. Play may seem shallow or superficial, but it can help our brains find truth and insight. And one of the smartest and most playful games of all-time just dropped on PS Plus.
The Stanley Parable: Ultra Deluxe is an expanded reimagining of a title that first captivated gamers in 2013. Mechanically, it’s a simple title. You play as Stanley, an office drone in a building suddenly devoid of coworkers. As you wander in through a first-person view in search of answers, a narrator delivers objectives and story beats with such fourth-wall shattering precision that it doesn’t take long to realize this game may actually be playing you.
There's a mischievous spirit to the gameplay from the very start. The narrator will clearly instruct Stanley to take one path, so you’ll deliberately take another. He’ll adjust and start pontificating about what you’re doing and why. He’ll make more suggestions, and you keep ignoring them. It doesn't go on endlessly but you’ll poke around long enough to satisfy your curiosity before you hit a hard restart. The Stanley Parable introduces itself to you as a game that wants to play. And it's not afraid to get a little weird with it.
First and foremost, anyone going into this game with no prior knowledge should understand that it doesn’t offer much in the way of twitchy, flow-state controls and challenges. Stanley can walk, interact with objects, and crouch. That’s about it. This all takes place in a generic office building too, so the setting is as un-exotic as it gets. And yet it’s been a massive success and heralded by some as one of the greatest indie titles of all-time. So what does it do so well? It has a tale to tell.
It’s difficult to say much about The Stanley Parable without spoiling it. Part of the reason it’s difficult to discuss is that the many twists and reveals awaiting Stanley as he navigates the office in a Groundhog Day style loop are sudden and hilarious. The narrator is not a detached, omniscient voice but closer to a play-by-play caller at a sporting event. The narrator and Stanley (you) experience things together that neither of you seem to fully understand.
A boring office or Sisyphean prison? Is there really a difference?
Exploration often leads to the narrator abruptly starting the game over from the beginning. These resets can be jarring, like the game is reaching through the screen and slapping you in the face to get your attention. And what’s waiting for you at the conclusion of all this whimsical absurdism? An ending of course, but how many? Two? Three? Try 42. Yes, that’s not a typo. There are a total of 42 endings to this version of the game running from the macabre to the absurd. Small changes to the map between playthroughs help guide you to different paths, and good ol’ fashioned trial-and-error can yield a lot of success too.
The Stanley Parable: Ultra Deluxe is a short game on paper. You can experience most of what it has to offer in about 2-3 hours, making it a great PlayStation Plus pickup but also an easy game to keep coming back to. And you’ll need to come back a lot if you want to experience all 42 different endings.
Ominous dystopian vibes provide a mysterious atmosphere you won’t want to stop exploring.
It’s rare that a game that asks so little can deliver so much. The Stanley Parable: Ultra Deluxe is a masterclass on mood, writing, and creativity. It doesn’t demand dozens of hours to get its point across, and there’s no barrier to entry or complex tutorials. Yet it will be one of the most memorable experiences you’ll ever have and set a new bar for what you think play is all about.
