The Stanley Parable

The Stanley Parable was an impressive achievement for Indie games due to its interactive storytelling.

Originally release in 2011 as a mod for Half-life 2, the game was met with acclaim from critics and was again released in 2013 as a standalone version because of its success.

Holy what? Stanley Parable is one of @NewYorker‘s most crucial games of 2013! http://t.co/idnzFbonlV

— Davey Wreden (@HelloCakebread) December 17, 2013

The creators, Davey Wreden and William Pugh, really enjoyed the idea of creating a storyline that changed based on players motives. This would not only change the ending of the game for each player, it would change its narrative and the player’s perception of the character.

The Stanley Parable was Eurogamers Game of the Year, and Forbes had it as number 3 on their top 5 Indie Games of 2013. The game was nominated for ‘Best Story’, ‘Best Debut Game’ and ‘Best Game Innovation’ awards at the 2014 BAFTA video games award ceremony.

In 2013, Forbes magazine had Wreden in their “30 Under 30” games entrepreneurs list. They quoted his incredible success with The Stanley Parable as well as his clever marketing campaign that used popular YouTube celebrities to promote the game.

It was the creative way the game reacted to player made decisions that was a hit with YouTube celebrities. PewDiePie alone had nearly 5 million people watch his play through of the game, and exposure like this helped to boost the games already impressive popularity.

The game sold extremely well. In the first three days of its release it sold over a 100,000 copies, which was incredible for an indie game in 2013. Within a year the game had sold over a million copies and has made an estimated 12 million dollars for the two creators.

By Chester Ward