The Stanley Parable • Frustrating Players

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The Stanley Parable seems like an almost cautionary tale about the dangers of autorism. You have to find the perfect balance between what the audience wants, and getting your message across. In games in particular, what the audience wants is usually freedom, which tends to only undermine the story you want to tell.
As for my health situation, for anyone who doesn't know yet, it's nothing life threatening, just really bad vertigo attacks. I've been talking to doctors, but I won't be able to go in for more testing until December. So, aside from Death Stranding, I'm going to be doing smaller videos like this until then, but I still won't be back on my normal weekly schedule. Thanks for sticking with me.
The music in this video is from The Stanley Parable OST. All pieces used are by Blake Robinson
(and yes, I do understand the irony in my covering this game after The Beginners Guide)

[@ReverendTed]

If you want to talk about frustrating players, The Stanley Parable's achievement "Unachievable" is a masterclass. The description reads "It is impossible to get this achievement." It seemed to be awarded randomly, prompting players to carefully reconstruct what they were doing when it happened in attempts to figure it out. Ultimately, it was determined that the developers were actively updating the game to change the obscure rules for it to unlock.

[@damsen978]

So what are the obscure rules for it to unlock now?

[@damsen978]

@@fellasyouknowwhenyoudrinkw2231 No, that's hacking. And i don't hack.

[@damsen978]

@@fellasyouknowwhenyoudrinkw2231 Whatever you say, kid.

[@the-pink-hacker]

I forget how I did it, but there is a guide online. Apparently when trying to get the achievement you have a chance that it locks and you can’t ever get the achievement.

[@Dribin]

@@the-pink-hacker it locks? How can it lock you out of ever getting the achievement?

[@jackfrances4822]

OH, DID U GET THE BROOM CLOSET ENDING? THE BROOM CLOSET ENDING WAS MY FAVRITE

[@reistgames46]

you forgot XDDDDDD

[@Ixarus6713]

TO ANYONE IN THE NEARBY VICINITY, THIS PLAYER IS DEAD! Please have a new player take over making sure that they have a rudimentary knowledge of the fourth wall and first-person games so that the witty humor and jokes are not lost on them. Oh yes, the new player let's continue on! Oh not you too... Everything That Lives Is Designed To End. We Are Perpetually Trapped In A Never-Ending Spiral Of Life And Death. Is This A Curse? Or Some Kind Of Punishment? I Often Think About The God Who Blessed Us With This Cryptic Puzzle, And Wonder If We'll Ever Get The Chance To Kill Him

[@xenwilson5919]

its my favorite ending too

[@RubyPiec]

XDDDDD

[@tree1120]

@@Ixarus6713 You too?! Unbelievable. I'm at the mercy of an entire species of invalids. Perhaps there's a monkey nearby you can hand the controls to? A fish? A fungus? Look, you can hammer out the details; I'm not particularly picky.

[@Torqegood]

>The player isn't engaged by the adventure line Excuse me WHAT. I think the narrator was the one not engaged with it.

[@nathankurtz8045]

The confusion ending is where I felt like the narrator and Stanley really bonded. For the first time they were actually working together to create a story and they were having fun doing it. And they were able to explore previously undiscovered parts of the office in the process.

[@Alphae21]

what's 9+10

[@yesno8273]

@@Alphae21 21?

[@antipsychotic451]

it wasn't supposed to be taken literally

[@zephyrna6249]

@@yesno8273 u stupid

[@gamerboygaming]

Now I kinda want to see an essay on all the endings and all their meanings...

[@tyrew1247]

Watch this, it's a 2 hour video detailing everything, yes everything kzbin.info/www/bejne/f5Oai6aQrZl3oc0

[@gamerboygaming]

Tyrew12 Oh! Thanks!

[@daveharrenburg7670]

@@gamerboygaming Here's one that going a in-depth without taking 2 hours kzbin.info/www/bejne/moLaZapvjMyLmbM

[@arya6085]

@@daveharrenburg7670 fuck you :)

[@daveharrenburg7670]

@@arya6085 :)

[@dulguunnorjinbat6136]

i see good prospects for your channel

[@lolicon453]

As a prospector myself, I found gold

[@TG-ue2vu]

Fully agree, YT is definitely gonna blow this guy up if he keeps up the amazing quality

[@thedarkthelight2284]

@@TG-ue2vu nope

[@miles7113]

I see you said this to get a like from the youtuber.

[@dark_rhodie]

@@miles7113 let people be people. Dont be such an attention nazi

[@TurtleHouse]

The perfect ending to this game for me, was after all of them, you do the one where you stop going in the bosses office just in time and the door closes, then you go back to the start and escape through an escape pod. The only true way to escape.

[@ahlpym]

I prefer the choice ending. It has rolling credits and it separates the player from Stanley, leaving the latter incapable of making a choice.

[@roseCatcher_]

The escape pod ending is actually a failure ending. That's because, for the pod to work, the narrator must accompany Stanley, but the narrator already got turned off when you didn't enter the boss room. This is why going into the pod leads to failure and a restart.

[@brondler]

Great title! "Frustrating players" as one's task as a developer, but also being "Frustrating players" pushing against the narrative boundaries of a game.

[@nixel1324]

Pushing the narrator's buttons, so to speak.

[@OverHour]

nobody comment on this video again

[@user-rk5cu5tg2g]

uhhhh shut the fuck up please

[@andrix7777]

@@user-rk5cu5tg2g please up fuck the shut uhhhh

[@swifter46ter]

@@andrix7777 fuck uhhhh the up shut please

[@gen2mediainc.577]

Me after the video feeling big lead head vibes: “oh of course it’s leadhead”

[@tev5040]

This was made LAST YEAR? Jesus, I can't believe i wasn't recommended this yet

[@ARandomEliatrope]

Same

[@verapalavecino1735]

Fun fact: without knowing anything about the game, my first ending was The Confusion Ending. Yeah, it was weird, but one of my favorites. Also, great video!

[@dico703]

Me too... I'll get the game free with epic games and whoa, i started the game and make choices... and i came at the confusion ending. My reaction was like "oh, this game is very confusing. And incredible. I'v never see that before. THAT FUCKING INCREDIBLE, THIS GAME IS GOING TO BE MY FAVORITE !!!!'' (sorry if my english was bad, i'm french and I'm learning english now😅)

[@paulosantana9607]

Isn't the confusion ending meant to be the first ending anyone new to the game would get? IMO it's very intuitive that you should not follow the narrators narration at some point.

[@menfie]

@@paulosantana9607 yes! When he said that I almost screamed like it is the ending my friends got when they played the game for the first time.

[@UCannotDefeatMyShmeat]

I would’ve just turned off my computer after that “you win” and accept that just to spite it

[@plaidpvcpipe3792]

The confusion ending was absolutely amazing to experience for the first time.

[@Tommo_]

the part with the room with many doors that all open at once has and will stay with me forever. Whenever I get into an unexpected or unplanned situation now I always think to myself "it's an adventure", and visualising all the doors opening in my head is comforting. It fills me with a sense of wonder of what that unexpected situation will bring me.

[@THExRISER]

4:04 Holy shit I finally found someone else who tried a no powers run for Dishonored 1.

[@graphite7898]

Hello there friendo, it seems you have met another one, you know, me!

[@THExRISER]

@@graphite7898 Oh you too?

[@ezetommytommy9974]

@@THExRISER It was an achievement, so I imagine a lot of people played the game like this, just saying...

[@THExRISER]

@@ezetommytommy9974 But,why would it be an achievement if it's impossible to do? I mean the video itself does mention that there are two instances where you *HAVE* to use some sort of power to get over: -Escaping from the hole after getting captured by Daud. -Bypassing the defenses of the lighthouse in the final mission.

[@ezetommytommy9974]

@@THExRISER it is , the only power you can use is the teleportation one

[@diccchees7847]

The Stanley Parable: Ultra Deluxe thats coming out should have a 'noclip' ending, where you can find a noclip exploit where the narrator disappears and the game turns into the "Backrooms"

[@einjohannis4711]

That's alreary in the normal game isn't it?

[@FplusETVChannel]

EinJohannis I think you’re talking about the serious room and that’s not what he was talking about

[@gwg2813]

@@einjohannis4711 you mean the window?

[@AubreyMK]

0:03 how big is your mouse pad?

[@Forceman25]

A 360 degrees one

[@henryfleischer404]

Null I use a 10 year old fake leather ipad case. I prefer the increased friction over a sheet of paper, and I don't use wood because my mouse can't track properly on it

[@cpgautam172]

I don't get the joke, can u explain?

[@AubreyMK]

@@cpgautam172 no joke, it was a question

[@cpgautam172]

@@AubreyMK ok now i understood the comment, i never played this game, just saw lp of someone playing so i was actually looking for the mouse pad.

[@communismoclock9958]

This is very good, very deep and very on point. I think I have learned something today.

[@v41.3ry9]

I can see you drew a lot of inspiration for your commentary from the museum ending; fantastic work nonetheless

[@Leadhead]

You got me! While I had been wanting to do a video like this for a while, it was the museum ending that finally promoted me to go for it

[@alfajororeo]

Dude I'm going to play the stanley parable again because of this video. Great work!

[@alfajororeo]

ive just stumbled upon this video and wow. It had around 100 views the first time that I saw it, your channel has grown so much and so fast, you completely deserve it

[@512TheWolf512]

the number of choices doesn't matter. they have to be GOOD choices. like getting on with a character in an RPG, only for the characters to never acknowledge your relationship, like it doesn't exist even in theory

[@PseudoEmpathy]

"Games can only grant to illusion of free will" Sandbox games: Allow us to introduce ourselves...

[@luigiforsthoffer]

Main storyline: I'mma pretend I didn't hear that.

[@zatzu]

Oh you thought you had free will? Guess what the game is designed to make you think that. You craft you build, you survive. All as the game wants you to do. There's no escape. *Insert evil laugh*

[@mamertens99]

It's not completely free will. You are often not able to do everything, really everything. A lot, yes.

[@user-iz1ud3tz6d]

@@zatzu Fortnite, right?

[@FplusETVChannel]

NeatPlainy no Minecraft

[@Lotties_handsaw]

When I last played the Stanley parable (3 years ago), I got so bothered by the way it presents choice/illusion of choice that I decided the only way to "win" the Stanley parable was to stop playing. And here we are.

[@AxtonKincaidILM]

Interestingly, that same sentence is in the game. It goes along the lines of “you think you can win this game? The only way to win is to hit escape, and click quit” or something like that

[@stupidratt]

Remove the prop's in the maze part of the confusion ending, and suddenly...... Hey wait, why am I in the backrooms?

[@tpyrus]

Singlehandedly one of my favorite games ever. Fantastic analysis of the confusion ending, keep it up!

[@samphillips880]

Leadhead - interesting introspection into one of my favourite games ever My brain - DUN DADAA DUM DA DUN DAAAAAAAA

[@gJesan]

Amazing video dude. Kept me hooked from the start till the end.

[@davidkonevky7372]

The algorithm has been recently recommending me old videos at unexpected times with different groups of people. Idk what has happened to the algorithm but I'm not complaining.

[@PedroHCF37]

What has it shown you until now?

[@davidkonevky7372]

@@PedroHCF37 it's a lot of things, can't remember

[@Rainquack]

@@davidkonevky7372 Some of them are probably on the playlist I started around New Year's Eve 2019/2020, when I first noticed this recommendation trend aswell: kzbin.info/aero/PL_o5KS4P97r8U08aIY8T8ZCpUF-Qb2MWQ

[@Talik13]

What a fantastic bit of food for thought. I never realized how deep the message could be.

[@VixYW]

And now I feel dumb for not getting any of this analogy when I played.

[@jameson4058]

When I first bought it, I played the 1st ending and thought “That’s it? What a waste of money”

[@BaconNuke]

Did you play again and find a different ending? Or did you see someone else play and suddenly realize you judged the game too quick?

[@Poodleinacan]

Him: "Museum ending is the ending most people will encounter on their first playthrough." Me who has played it a good number of time: "WHAT IS THIS ROOM? WHY DID I NOT KNOW OF THIS ENDING!"

[@ahlpym]

Have you really never gone down the “Escape” hallway right before the Mind Control Facility? That’s all it takes.

[@WhenTheUhh]

2:38 Haha oh wow, Postal 2, I almost forgot. What a beautiful clusterfuck.

[@phunkym8]

love the postal part where youre so overwhelmed your pissed on the ceiling

[@sirhawkjames]

Dude what a fucking great video. Free will vs narrative. Freedom vs intended experience. Stanley vs. Narrator. Genius man. Its almost not even about Stanley Parable its about storytelling as an interactive experience.

[@szelski.]

this game never frustrated me or anything i just got in love with the narrator he is just so fucking funny

[@hulax9858]

"Frustrating players" The game made Matpat drop the f-bomb

[@carealoo744]

Someone once asked MatPat if he would do a theory on The Stanley Parable. I replied to the comment, explaining how there isn't really much to: 'Explain,' about The Stanley Parable. This is as close as a Game-Theroy episode I can think of, for this game! Well-Done! :)

[@sinkoprvi3477]

Man, I keep looking for video essays and coming back to this channel. Not pretentious, completely practical and non-nonsensical, and very good to listen to. Keep it up!

[@Isaacfess]

These videos are just awesome man. You *need* more subscribers.

[@RSpudieD]

WOW that was impressively well made! Stanley Parable is quite something, and I had never thought of it like this!

[@smiley19092]

"youre always going to be walking through someone elses halls" except dwarf fortress, truly unique

[@MrSchillergaming]

The broom closet ending was my favourite

[@FirstNameLastName-gh9iw]

I like the message, I’ve focused on what others would think about my writing, I need to find a balance

[@Jamie-tx7pn]

The thing with freedom is that it doesn't mean you HAVE to take a mile from an inch. If you want to experience the story, you can do so. That's just a part of freedom. If you want to undermine the narrative -- if you don't care (aside from accidents) -- then you'd have the freedom to do so.

[@SpectreMkTwo]

I'm glad he brought up dishonored, one of my favorite single player series and a game that really gives the player lots of freedom which results in drastically different playthroughs

[@roaringthunder115]

I just gotta say the adventure line music is amazing

[@zazenbo]

this is how I feel about writing music. It’s so, so very frustrating.

[@groblivsochbauggr]

I wish they continued the confusion ending all the way, and that it didn't just cut and the line leading nowhere

[@TF-bi8ru]

This was such an insightful breakdown, thanks man. You've helped me find more meaning in something that I've always seen as nothing more as a comedy game.

[@trapscancreate5760]

The stanley parable is basically understanding game design the game. It's a very humanizing way to paint the conundrum of linear game design and player freedom. The funny thing is that player freedom in itself is linear as players can only ever experience games as planned by designers. Anything not planned by designers is a bug. What if a designer makes a game that has a bunch of choices that end up leading to the same conclusion. Is that freedom. What if the designer just makes a sandbox with no story. Is that freedom. Are either of these better or worse experiences? Are walking sims games? Are game makers in themselves games? Are games only games if they are enjoyable? What about games that don't live up to a players expectations in spite of it all. Are they flawed or is the player flawed for not expecting the product they got. Game design is an impossible task, program design, intelligent design. Predetermined design is the weirdest series of logic puzzles. Logic games... I just rambled for a while there. WTF

[@creeperking2641]

Did anybody notice the how it feels to play pyro video when he was taking about metal gear solid

[@teamdoodz]

7:12 No, this is an extended version of the ending that was not added to the game.

[@prosack2585]

It feels weird because not many games I know use a compass to direct the player. There still might be a compass on the screen and if you can put markers on the map then it will show you which direction to go but most games don’t really force it anymore.

[@SPFLDAngler]

Probably a HUGE correlation between how much time you spend staring at VR screens and your vertigo problem.

[@smitias_8474]

Forbidding jumping was a powerful move

[@plaidpvcpipe3792]

7:52 this bit of commentary and challenge to fate is always so excellent every time I hear it. What good writing that is.

[@Wet_Deer]

Giving the player no freedom makes the game a movie. But too much freedom just makes it garry’s mod

[@bartholomewbinkleberry3822]

You're an amazing KZbinr who deserves way more subscribers

[@kalechips4564]

5:13 I love the nod you make the player so lmao

[@NeedaNewAlias]

Have a look at Hardspace Shipbreaker, there the player finds parts of the life’s of others when dismantling their spaceships. The player has his story and he can consume or ignore the past lives of the others.

[@gayslinky5236]

To be fair with BioShock the creators got forced to make a second ending

[@obsolete9734]

i have no binged most of your videos i enjoyed the look off. thanks for this time i have spent with you

[@helloufoundmychannel6055]

even "the adventure line" doesn't want to do the narrator's story.

[@donkor3849]

I want a game like Stanley parable or superliminal, you know, a game where you feel utterly alone, and it reminds you of liminal spaces. But something is following, and every time you look at it, it darts away at the last second. A Stanley parable horror game

[@BenBonk]

What the heck I didn't realize this game had a message, I just played the confusion ending and didn't think anything about linear vs. non linear gameplay.

[@buntado6]

Oddly enough, I once saw this game as a confirmation of videogames being art, due to how unique of an experience this was... but now I see it as a confirmation of the exact opposite, because it's not about the ability to evoke emotions, is about expression. If the point of choice is to make the experience immersive, the player will have to renounce to witnessing all the things he may have missed to not pollute the realism of what he has "lived". Otherwise he will stop being a player and will become an spectator, going back to the start and artificially making choices he wouldn't have made in order to see all the artistic content the game had to offer. Music, graphics, dialogues, stories... A game is only art when, despite the interactivity, everything about it is meant to be witnessed, which wouldn't be a game but something more akin to... virtual architecture. Undertale is the biggest example of this problem, a thing that goes so far to make it's morality system believable that you wonder if "good people" were never meant to experience all the artistic effort he put in the events, sprites and music of the genocide route, actually mocking the morbosity of those that wanted to see it in youtube... But I think he knew, or at least now knows, and that's why the sequel seems to actually follow the thesis of "your choices have no meaning".

[@pieandcheese647]

i got the confusion ending by just choosing randomly and it was so fun and bizarre

[@samuelwinter5256]

the confusion ending is the true ending of the stanley parable

[@Helperbot-2000]

2:44 man really just poured gas on himself to put out his fire XD

[@elliot6166]

You get an achievement for leaving it for like 5 years. My best friend is on year 3.

[@Ultragamer63]

My biggest hope for The Stanley Parable rerelease is that the full Confusion Ending is finally realized.

[@bigdog517]

@2:16 in regards to Bioshock There was only supposed to be one ending, the good one. They were forced into giving the player a choice between a good and bad ending by the publisher. That info comes from a dev interview, Ken Levine if I remember right

[@standardised8260]

the confusion ending was not confusing, neither an ending, it was a hatred for *_THE STANLEY PARABLE ADVENTURE LINE!_*

[@MelonDoesStuff]

“Lays itself bare” You keep saying that, I do not think it means what you think it means.

[@royaljunior2125]

I can't agree enough with the idea that to much freedom is boring. I can't count how many times a game has plopped me down in a hub world then presented me with a bunch options and missions that i skip just to get to the main mission. I'm a story guy. An explosion doesn't excite me unless i know why it happened. And open world games don't excite me unless a heavy amount of role playing, self imposed or otherwise, is involved.

[@geekychannel2543]

The Stanley Parable is an artwork, not just a game

[@aaronmicalowe]

The lack of choice in games is a direct result of the fundamental architecture of computers, because every path and every outcome must be calculated in advance, otherwise it cannot happen. We've tried to break out of this bind with sandbox games, but even they are limited by their physics. Then again, so is life.

[@GameKun]

Bioshock was originally gonna have one ending but 2k insisted on two endings instead. Truly a tragedy for bioshock in my opinion..

[@chrishuskey3233]

3:51 shout out to lazy purple in the bottom right. Recommend you guys watch him

[@godsherb4024]

Still waiting five years for that achievement

[@oigliyj]

I got the confusing ending the first time i played and i had no idea what was going on

[@trueomega]

The message of this is that LeadHead is trying to solve stanleys parable

[@TycoonTitian01]

Anyone remember the one mad lad who did the baby ending thing?

[@aaandag9688]

Fun fact: If you try looking at the Statistical Progress of the game, there's actually a key called "HEYHEYSTOPLOOKINGATTHECDR". I don't think anyone has posted about this.

[@mustardsauce5201]

the confusion ending was like my second ending i think. my first probably was the power ending

[@iRunfastXC]

The whole thing is actually just a metaphor for life.

[@DomExists]

cant wait to finally be able to play this after my 5 years is almost up

[@МихаилНескажатович]

You know, this ties interestingly up not only with video games, but also with roleplaying games like DnD. I played and tried to run a lot of campaigns. Although I use GURPS a system, that gives you opportunity to basically make any setting, using various (500 A4 Pages of only the basic set) building blocks for that. ... But there is also the fact, how do the players build their characters. It offers as much building blocks for the player, as for the master. Gurps has system of skills, advantages and disadvantages on which character is build upon. Advantages and disadvantages are a character traits. Physical, mental, social. For example, you can give yourself the disadvantages of altruism, and have to roll a die each time you can put you help others. That alone changes the gameplay drastically, what to say about a whole character combine of all of those traits and skills In this world of roleplaying games, ultimately, giving too much freedom to the story can make the story lose it meaning at all. But unlike video games, you can adapt in real time, improvise. You can give choices, and, depending on them reward player with some item or interaction, but in the end both things might result in the same way, leading you to the same npc with the same twist. ... But sometimes, it much more fun to actually not know, what will happen if player do something absurd, and you might go along with it. Sometimes, it makes a story far more better, and sometimes it might ruin it for good. Total control removes fun for the both parties: The game master and the players, but too much freedom will result in a completely different story, often ruining it. In the world of roleplaying tabletop games with GM with his own story, there might be as much predetermined things as sudden once. And too much of might ruin the game experience. And I was on a both sides, funnily enough. And still, how to balance those things are a mystery to me, that causes some anxiety when making games. But, ultimately, only by working together both GM and Player (like Stanley and the Narrator in the confusion ending. The whole path somewhat reminds of my GMing experience) the game will be fun and have any meaning

[@dandyspacedandy]

If you discover game bugs, wouldn't that be your own discovery that wasn't planned in advance? Have speedrunners escaped the stanley parable?

[@Br0kenMask]

The Stanley Parable lets players fell like "oooh I'm such a rebel, I'm going against the grain, oh yeah I don't take orders. I think outside the box" without realizing that they actually being manipulated to do exacly that

[@thunderwazp7653]

The confusion ending was the first one I got 😅😂

[@toronsplace]

Incredible job on this video dude!

[@fragzin4802]

The only thing frustrating me was the ending where you are stopped from being crushed, I think it's broken on the epic games version as all other people get stopped from crushed, where for me the game stops the conveyor before I get to the crusher, and I can't do anything from there

[@shrekthekek574]

The Confusion Ending was my second or first ending lmao

[@Kram668]

6:22 your "peer fulstration" def is so good, and true. If you want to teach you have to waterdown you knowlage.

[@philippobitz2592]

As is customary whenever somebody posts anything about this wonderful game: "OH, DID U GET THE BROOM CLOSET ENDING? THEB ROOM CLOSET ENDING WAS MY FAVRITE!1 XD"

[@ltsgobrando]

I actually stumbled into the confusion ending on my very first play through... it was confusing.

[@Solizeus]

Freedom of exploration needs content to be unravel, multiple stories hidden behind causality, the space itself is unimportant if there is no meaning to it, and i feel like it takes a bit of the fun out of it if you can clearly see the choices like 6:58, not just because you will keep wondering what it would happen if you choose the other and the lost of the other content in that playthrough but also because you will see that it is all that it is like in 7:07

[@unknownsadman]

I really like this video.... well done!

[@CLC_]

WHY IS IS THAT THE ONLY ENDING I CAN GET IS THE CONFUSION ENDING AND THE BROOM CLOSET ENDING