The Stanley Parable: Adam Sessler Interviews the Creators at GDC 2014

The Stanley Parable was one of the weirdest, funniest games of 2013, and Adam got a chance to sit down with creators Davey Wreden and William Pugh at GDC 2014 and talk about narrative obedience, games without 'gameplay,' player agency, and a bunch of other high-falutin' artsy buzzwords. Enjoy!
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[@z-beeblebrox]

"Adam entered the interview room and proceeded to talk with the creators of The Stanley Parable. Soon, he would go back to his office, and supervise the release of the edited footage on to KZbin."

[@z-beeblebrox]

***** "...He ignored the voice, walking to the editor's room instead. It was just as empty. All Adam finds there is a lone computer sitting on the desk. On the monitor, he sees a youtube video of his interview with the creators of the Stanley Parable. Adam is beginning to find this a bit troubling, since no one appears to have been around to upload it. Even more troubling, one of the top comments reads: 'Adam entered the interview room and proceeded to talk with the creators of The Stanley Parable. Soon, he would go back to his office, and supervise the release of the edited footage on to KZbin.' Oh dear. Adam decided to get back on track and search for his boss."

[@uranussmasher]

z beeblebrox amazing

[@MacieJay]

Who ever did the narration has an awesome voice.

[@yoqqen]

You are a legend

[@srhalnon]

These guys arent just game developers they are artists, i dont just mean "i can make pretty stuff" kind of artists, but the kind of artists who's work affect you personally, and challenge you in ways you didnt know possible. These are the kind of artists who really affect culture. I absolutely love that video games are going in this direction now. I think Video games as a medium is still in it's infancy and im love being able to see how gaming is always evolving.

[@billcenters]

I laughed the hardest at this game when I encountered the broom closet for the third time in one play session after visiting it twice previously in the same session. I won't spoil it. Small thing, but it was hilarious to me.

[@MrScottyTay]

I loved how this interview didn't feel very formal or nervous, the creators were completely relaxed, but i guess tats more to do with their personalities but it made for a great interview.

[@SvensPron]

Also, post-release interviews are usually so much more interesting than pre-launch ones, without the creators having to sell their game or giving a shit about spoilers.

[@PlayerVid]

My first play through I played the game as the Narrator told me to. I already knew what this game was trying to do so I personally wanted to see the most linear option first before I started to branch out.

[@DinoJake]

Yeah, that's pretty much what I did.

[@averageloser8749]

I wonder if anyone out there has played the stanley parable not knowing you can betray the narrator, and then put a negative review on steam XD I think the first ending I got was the confusion ending.

[@DinoJake]

First playthrough I did - I actually did everything the narrator said. I was curious to see where he was going with his story. Apparently, I'm very trusting or at least, when I start a story I wanna finish it. Then I picked the Control Ending by accident, thinking that I was supposed to push the "on" button.

[@RusticShadow]

I actually followed all of the narrator's directions on my first play-through. On my second go...I got the ending with "her" in it. And my brain was melted.

[@rockoman100]

These guys rose to gaming fame withing 24 hours of The Stanley Parable being released. I literally watched Davey's follower count go from a couple hundred followers on Twitter to thousands within a day.

[@Thomcat]

He was famous to me when he made the original mod, it was genius.

[@tzuyd]

Yeah he deserved that attention after the mod, so it's great that the game was so well received. Better late than never.

[@aiPriori]

I feel like I'm listening to a college conversation after an extensive mushroom/acid trip. Haha this game was a great change of pace, I'm glad to see Adam Sessler enjoyed it as well and participated in this interview!

[@RaySquirrel]

First name I think of when I hear "Stanely" is Kubrick.

[@shinakazami1]

I decided to write notes of the interview: 1. Why name Stanley - it's because it's a name of a person who blends into the background 2. Inspiration for the game - the idea of having only the Narrator and reacting to our things. Two doors was one of the first things Davey thought about. "The game had to be contraditory." He wanted to see if it could be compelling 3. People typically chose the right door first - they find it as funny as people find it thrilling 4. 5:20-6:10 you gotta watch it yourself 5. "Sometimes, you have to live in your skin" - Davey says the game isn't a rejection of the game structure but more of an open discussion to see the moving parts of the industry. William says that now the industry is getting bigger not only for game developers but artists and creators in general due to the bigger resources. 6. Process - they created the barebone 2013 version in 6 months and then for the next 1.5 years they tried to see what players could enjoy more. 6a. The Broom Closet origin - there was a big space where nothing was interactive and since someone waited for Narrator to do something, they wanted to make a part respond to that. 6b. Beta versions, scrapped content- There used to be a room where the Narrator would have a long monologue without interaction and there was only one button in the middle of it. But they decided to scrap it. Narrator was supposed to be affirmative, to respond to player's choices, to be acknowledged. 7. Suicide ending (Zending) - In the original version, The Narrator wanted you to kill yourself, and after jump add jokes. But players hated it so they added the spot where he would be happy and then one where he wasn't happy. "There is nothing significant about disliking having no options." 8. Is it about illussion of freedom - They couldn't exactly answer, they said due to being so long in development they don't know and Davey said that due to the recognition, he lost the light of his opinion but maybe, it's for the best as it might be so personal it's best to keep it for himself

[@Br0kenMask]

I...I...I...if...if...if... (left guy) kind of....kinda...kind of (middle guy) like...like...like (right guy)

[@Ularg7070]

Good job on whoever the editor for this was for the close-up of the meltdown.

[@godslilhelper]

these gdc interviews are really awesome, i think these are one of the best interviews you guys have done

[@graefx]

Wonderful interview. These guys are a joy to listen to.

[@TheHaddy95]

These guys are great. Really loved the interview!

[@bittertea]

Interviewees are quite authentic and I appreciate it. Good game guys. Thank you Rev3Games. :)

[@sageofsong]

What I find most interesting about The Stanley Parable is that what people could argue is "the best ending" where Stanley escapes the office and gains his freedom only comes by listening to The Narrator and doing what he says, and if you disobey him, you get an ending that kinda doesn't feel like a victory.

[@MelancholyImbecilism]

Truly? That ending was so lacking in any thought, any discovery, any blind and false freedom. The piano music was nice, but, besides that, it was unfulfilling for me. Of course, you're right, people could argue that it's "the best ending," but, does Stanley gain his freedom? Perhaps it was all a lie, the Mind Control Facility was just a ruse and that female narrator, confused by what the Narrator and Stanley are infinitely doing, stays there confused still. Oh, if only Stanley never were there. If only Stanley had never seen the parable, if only there never was a Stanley or a "the Narrator." As is fitting of this game, there is a contradiction here. She wishes that Stanley would simply turn off the game as if it never were. The only way you can survive is by having never lived, the only way you can't be killed is by committing suicide. The main contradiction I see here, though, is that her thoughts are just as simple and stagnating as those of living in the bliss of the ignorance which the ending of the Narrator's orders gives.

[@DL-ty4cu]

goddamn great interview to all involved, hope GDC's treatin ya well.

[@DClaBarraBrava]

This was amazing. Well done guys

[@whitelion44]

Great Interview Adam It was interesting to hear this guys

[@Herf18]

Loved this interview

[@richardthomas8371]

These guys are amazing. I loved TSP, and I can't wait to play whatever they make next.

[@ace2246]

These guys challenge my stereo type of what a game developer looks and acts like and how old he or she is, more power to them, stanly parable was amazing

[@Elephatal]

I love this interview!

[@DNB_connoisseur]

Great game and great interview!

[@ACHU-DETE]

This interview was brilliant. The "Meltdown" bit was hilarious. Go Sessler!

[@lexingowzu]

this game was delightful, great interview

[@Freezenification]

Probably one of the best interviews from Rev3 ever haha!

[@tzuyd]

Kind of.

[@keenfrizzle]

18:45 This seems like the hardest thing about game development, or of creating a large project of this caliber in general. I know that Egoraptor and Harry Patridge as animators have said that spending so much time on any particular animation grinds the jokes of the video so far into their heads that they won't ever get them out. So at the end of it all, it is harder to say if what you've created ended up like you thought it would, because you've spent so much time working on it, that sometimes its harder to see the big picture. Props to the Stanley Parable guys, though. They made a humorous game, a hard thing to find nowadays.

[@MurrayNJ08]

Fantastic Interview Adam!

[@RickyCanDo]

There needs to be a counter that ticks every time he says, "in and amongst itself"! Hahahaha

[@Marblez3]

Incredible interview.

[@SYK17.]

I'm subbed primarily because of this dude Adam sessler. Great interview

[@victusx]

The amount of times Will said "kind of" :P

[@ishikabe1]

appreciate the interview

[@bobdotexe]

awesome! I loved that game!

[@LookingForNostalgia]

5:50 is the single best reaction i've ever seen interviewees give in a classic situation. Love these guys.

[@Rev3Games]

Adam spoke with The Stanley Parable's creators about coming up with the idea and making the game feel 'welcoming': rev3gam.es/1eWW7kc

[@MrEWooster]

Great guys to listen to talk

[@Samkiud]

These guys are genius.

[@JocularArchivist]

I like his nail polish >_

[@UnderTheFear]

I LOVE THESE GUYS.

[@GaijinKnibb]

Loved the game, and loved this interview. Good stuff Adam. (p.s. It's also nice not to be in the second son review comments.. that's a bad place right now..)

[@BenExell]

that William guy was at my uni last month for our animex festival :P

[@trickeyD]

You at Middlesbrough?

[@BenExell]

trickeyD yeah man ;)

[@trickeyD]

BenExell Ha ha, nice. I was there 8 years ago. Studied digital music but ended up becoming a games dev. Anyway, what you doing on youtube? Run along and get yourself a parmo! ;-) (Hated them at first, now I miss them)

[@ThatRazzy]

These devs are awesome

[@Cmoth040]

Thoroughly enjoyed the game. Replay every now and then, never the same.

[@Vatani77]

sequel, sequel, sequel, sequel... Please give us more!

[@m00tzman]

These two guys are my favorite members of The Locust.

[@samwalie]

One of the best games ive ever played

[@TheAzertjuh]

5:50 hahaha brilliant

[@capitalex5422]

Hey did anyone else get the broom closet ending? I loved that ending!

[@TheAzertjuh]

Was that an actual ending? I've been in the broom closet several times but I can't really recall it being an ending. (I did get all the endings) I might've just forgot.

[@leorawk]

TheAzertjuh its debatable because no matter what you have to leave the closet, it doesnt 'reset' the game like the other 'endings'

[@capitalex5422]

It more of a pseudo-ending, the best pseudo-ending.

[@TheAzertjuh]

Leo Bouas Yeh exactly, so it's not an ending at all. It's just a piece of dialogue.

[@capitalex5422]

TheAzertjuh Still my favorite.

[@peoples_7736]

12:28 That almost sounds like the skip button ending

[@weatherby1982]

Freddy Mercury, tried to break free once......then died.

[@Demonicpoo]

The sequel: The Adam Parable

[@abdur1996]

my indie game of the year 2013

[@michealangelo12865]

I LOOVED STANLEY. These guys are pretty cool.

[@poochyenarulez]

i love the stanley parable! Its the first steam game i bought

[@Chewychaca]

I love this song at the begining what is it called!

[@isaacthefallenapple15]

What's the music in the beginning?

[@sacredbeastzenon]

Awesome

[@___IG]

This dude had a great 'Sup Holmes episode.

[@Redspeed93]

William Pugh kinda likes the work kinda.... Kinda.

[@frankgessler3914]

He's clearly not used to being on camera, give him a break.

[@godking1172]

I really wanna play that game soooooo bad

[@Rauzwel]

What's the music in the intro?

[@andershxd]

DAY MAN

[@josmith5030]

great interview

[@heavenatsbeha9418]

they should make a movie from the "the stanley parable" game!

[@rutgerkemperman2830]

Heaven Atsbeha it doesn't fit perfectly but maybe "Edge of tomorrow"? it cuts quite close as to how the player relives and does the same thing over and over again yet in a different way each time :)

[@heavenatsbeha9418]

oh really!? yeah! that is cool!

[@smuphix]

I "kind of" liked the interview :D ;)

[@MyraNagy]

I played the first trial, I did like it.

[@a0705717]

kinda kinda kinda kinda kinda kinda kinda kinda kinda kinda kinda

[@Nickewedin]

@Ymoon Mixes it is.

[@ingots4353]

Stanley parable describes how I feel trying most of the triple A titles today. You go in thinking that how you play, really helps define the experience. You go through every nook and cranny to try to find that little sense of wonder, and excitement and yet you find it's just a empty room, set to go through the preplanned narrative. Though the Stanley parable made this experience enjoyable, I can't say the same for other games. To me I feel like I am being dragged through a movie, and I really dislike "modern cinema" as a art form, but respect it as an educational tool. To me modern games and modern movies are the same thing. You have your rising point, and turning point, and ending point, they all have to follow this certain formula but can change VERY slightly on plot. With games, you have a intro, your goal, and then the ending, and they carry you through just like they would a movie. While game's plots change more often than movies, they still seem to follow fundamental mechanics. Their main goal is to use finesse to keep you with in this thin line of challenge, and progression throughout the narrative of the story, much like how the rising plot will keep you enthralled throughout the story of a movie without getting bored. The thing is, these methods are fully predictable now. I can't watch movies because I know what's going to happen every time. It is the same structure each time, and it drives me mad having to sit through 2 hours of the same crap. Games are turning out the same now days. Triple A titles are following the same formula because that is what get's our brains going. We should look into what creates that sense of wonder, the feeling of being immersed inside of the environment. For me the sense of not knowing there if there is more to the game beyond the point where I say I am done, is what creates that wonder. Something I can't comprehend, and can't understand the mechanics of. We all experience this when we play a game for the first time, but the more we play it, and the verity of other games we play too gives us a better understanding of the games, the less we feel it. While someone may play a game like skyrim and feel free, and in a large environment, I now see as the basic components that make the game, and feel unmotivated to play again, knowing I can predict almost every action in the game, and even think out how I am going to play the game before doing it. Are we just becoming too familiar with games, or are we scared to take any really big steps and break the opinions of what a game is?

[@louiesalmon3932]

Jeremeh Old comment, but this is the kind of thing that interests me. I think AAA is just the wrong place to look for this kind of thing. There's this false idea that a movie is the ultimate version of any piece of media, and every book, TV show, and game is on a quest to reach that holy land. But I think there are lots of games that utilize things that are only possible in this medium to tell their story. Brothers: A Tale of Two sons is a fantastic and simple example of this, which I won't spoil because it's about an hour or two long. And of course, in much the same way that The Stanley Parable has no clear end, and is designed to reward all kinds of player experimentation, Undertale does a lot of things to not only justify itself within the medium, but to justify games as a medium itself. If you're frustrated with this kind of linear, mechanical nature of so many stories, I suggest looking at more of these "Walking Simulators", because despite their name they actually give the player more agency than most games.

[@imludwig]

Will has cool Hair... im jealous

[@jgtemperton]

Put up a no smoking sign, people suddenly want to smoke, this is the Stanly Parrable.

[@goosechase1822]

“Adam walked in the room with the creators and talked with them, for exactly 21 minutes and 26 seconds.... then after the camera stops rolling he walks out of the room and grabs a cup O’ coffee. Soon he finds himself in the opening the door to his headquarters he says “AYYYYY WASSA....” when he soon realised nobody was in the headquarters, he walks to the meeting room maybe he simply just missed a memo. But instead he walked in the closet. Admiring the dusty toothbrush that had been sitting there for I don’t even know. He starts walking out to get back on track on his adventure. So he walks to the giant elevator went to the meeting room and noticed nobody was there. Now Adam finds himself in quite the predicament here he walks to the door to exit and connect with some other source of life, when all of a sudden the floor broke under him *under breath*: cause that has to happen cause this is a story cough cough. So he gets back up and finds himself right inside the boss office but of course he wasn’t there so he walked backwards, then he suddenly goes AFK cause he has to get his ass a cookie cause he is in for a BUMPY RIDE, well he has just gotten back from being AFK and starts to walk, *clears throat* so he is in the bosses office he walks to the password lock but no he becomes a pain and walks to the exit door and he just opens the door, okay so we can make room for this okay. *clears throat* He walks to the door on the left so he can enter the security room, but no ho ho he walks to the door on the right wait wait, *papers rustling* your not supposed to see this room yet no no No.. Hmm well there’s only one way to fix this. Well I better I have to do it I’m gonna restart the game well, FROM THE TOP! Adam is in his HQ and he realises with his cup of coffee that nobody was in the HQ so he walks to the door on the RIGHT. He walks to the door on the right and he soon-ly realised that listening to the voice that has a amazing voice is the better way to go, but now the narrator has to go because his fingers are getting sore”

[@SparkSkel]

I loved the game but only got 4 hours out of the game doing all endings except the one where you have to play the baby in the fire game.

[@isaacthefallenapple15]

If you cover the upper half of Davey's face he could easily play Jack Sparrow!

[@Gdflame07]

I'm Downloading the game now i hope its good!!

[@srgwarcock]

Real talk, get back to us on that, please.

[@Gdflame07]

it was so quick and boring and not worth the money. But if you like boring games you can beat in 10 minutes then buy it :)

[@Trinbagodreamer]

Ymoon Mixes You realize that there is multiple endings some are short others are way longer than 10 mins, either way the game is not for me but since you already dropped pesos I thought I would just let you know

[@jackwalters3910]

The kinda guy in the kinda middle says "kinda" a lot... kinda.

[@papaquonis]

Unlike the like guy on the right, who like says "like" a lot. Like... a lot...!

[@5Andysalive]

+PapaQuonis However the guy on the left made the far funnier and better follow up to the stanley parable.

[@therealquade]

I still want to know how to get the escape pod ending to actually work without console errors, IE what we're supposed to do.

[@billcenters]

Do you mean how to trigger the escape pod ending in the course of normal gameplay? I can tell you if you want.

[@therealquade]

Go to office and quickly backstep out so the door closes in front of you with you outside the office. this locks the narrator in the office, and you can go back to your room, which is where the escape pod is (it is a different version of the map) However the escape pod ending propperly requires the narrator (you can check the console with ~ and you will get loads of errors at the end which resets it to the start of the game. rather than having the correct method of restarting, it gives you the actual developer error) I want to know what you're supposed to do to see that scene WITH the narrator, without the errors. Also the devs stated that there is STILL an ending we haven't discovered yet. I want to know what it is.

[@billcenters]

Ahh, that explains why it just seems to end when you walk into the pod. I assumed that was all there was. Ok thanks.

[@PetercAW]

therealquade There's no way to bring the narrator with you into that ending. There IS a sign in the room before the escape pod that says that both the narrator and Stanley must be present for the escape pod to work, but that's the whole point- by freeing yourself from the narrator's control, you lose the ability to interpret the story. Escaping from The Stanley Parable means escaping from the narrator, but with no narrator, there's no one to say what actually IS outside. That's why the escape pod fails.

[@therealquade]

PetercAW that would be all well and good if it was intended to be done that way. There are developer errors in the console for that ending, and that ending alone. the only other time they come up is if your game does something like crash. the actual functions of re-loading the game with the escape pod ending are actually the same ones caused by a crash, and NOT the normal game reset. and the devs DID specifically state that there was still an ending we (the players and community) have not discovered. Since that statement there have been none discovered. I want to know what it is. unless they're being smartasses and the last ending is just getting up and walking away from the game, at which point that's retarded.

[@bang492]

damn daniel

[@ICULooking]

William is adorable.

[@ryderov0]

kind of..

[@afrocut]

Is this game coming to consoles?

[@srgwarcock]

I strongly doubt it, its not a very long game.

[@danielyoo1165]

Coda

[@Flursh]

"kind of" guy seems so nervous lol

[@MacieJay]

Must... not... judge... appearance!

[@nikko9972]

I don't do th-

[@gilolaes4725]

Is that the brother of Doug Wreden?!?!?

[@VGbrony]

Am I the only one who thinks Davey Wreden looks like Troy Baker, and sounds like Ross Everett.

[@jluka5255]

the guy on the left's shirt is inside out

[@GerrardtheGrimmNo1]

Hahah we need a "Like" tally counter for the guy on the right. It seemed as if ever other word he was saying was the word "like"

[@cesarr2349]

Just played this game and all I can think of is: " WTF "

[@In5omniacs]

So many "Kind of(s)"

[@dragonfire12119514]

...I obeyed the narrator the 1st time...

[@tamereenshort4866]

Quick observation: you should use chairs with arm rest. Adam and the dev in the middle change position alot.

[@filthycrab791]

im sad watching this i played the beginning game

[@thePricoolas]

Guy on the left said "kind of" like 50 times

[@robertbarker8358]

Hey you know what, English-man? I bought your damn game, YOU CAN AFFORD A FUCKING COMB.