Commonplace

The Stanley Parable

Played in June 2021 now that I have a Windows PC that will run it. Prompted to play through this one when WOFF covered it and included a “definitely play this before you spoil it” note, and since it was already in my library and short enough to play in one evening I went for it.

It's clever, and comments on the illusion of choice in games and maybe on the folly of an auteur obsessed with telling their own story at the expense of the audience experience - which is especially a problem in games. If anything, it lampoons narrative-heavy AAA games and all the un-game-like tropes that they trip on, while also making fun of the player for playing along with these games and pretending they are more meaningful than they are. Also I love a game that keeps breaking its own rules.