The Stanley Parable ▶ Trailer
The Stanley Parable screenshot 1The Stanley Parable screenshot 2
AdventureIndieComedyWalking SimulatorFirst-PersonPsychologicalFunny

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Peak in the last 24 hours: 49

Peak in the last 7 days: 60

The Stanley Parable Steam store

Game description

The Stanley Parable is a first person exploration game. You will play as Stanley, and you will not play as Stanley. You will follow a story, you will not follow a story. You will have a choice, you will have no choice. The game will end, the game will never end.

Basic info

DeveloperGalactic Cafe
PublisherGalactic Cafe, Klei Publishing
PlatformsWindows · macOS · Linux
Steam DeckVerified
Release dateOct 17, 2013
Price

Prices by IsThereAnyDeal

Minimum specs

OSWindows XP/Vista/7/8
Processor3.0 GHz P4, Dual Core 2.0 (or higher) or AMD64X2 (or higher)
Memory2 GB
GraphicsVideo card must be 128 MB or more and should be a DirectX 9-compatible with support for P…
Storage3 GB
steamyze

Review Analysis Score

Based on 325 reviews from the past 1 year

85.4/ 100
Top 40%

Steam rating: Very Positive (92%)

Metacritic: 88 /100

Review analysis summary (Reviewed Oct 22, 2026)

A narrator who reacts to every choice drives this story game, which scores 85.4, top 40% of games we analyzed. Its biggest complaint is simply that it ends quickly.

👍 Strengths

111 reviews praise its story, and some celebrate its multiple endings, fourth wall breaks and sharp humor. Story & World ranks 179th of 1096. 87 find it fun, and a few enjoy being mocked by the narrator. 37 admire how the world reacts to their choices, and some call its concept groundbreaking. Gameplay ranks 196th of 1396.

👎 Where it falls short

27 find it short, and some wanted more content for the price. 11 question its value, and a few say the deluxe edition is not worth the extra cost. 10 say the gameplay is repetitive, and some note there is little to do beyond walking corridors and opening doors. Content Volume ranks 470th of 1351, and Visuals & Sound ranks 784th of 1249.

Representative reviews Original reviews ↗

“Broom Closet Ending is exceptional and makes entire game worthwhile” · 111 reviews
“great game with fun story” · 87 reviews
“multiple secret branches lead to unusual and amusing outcomes” · 17 reviews

How it holds up

−50+5

Controls, difficulty, progression and depth
Mentioned in 28% of reviews · Top 20% of the games we've analyzed

Strategy +3.93 · Depth of builds, tactics, and meaningful choices
Positive “many endings dependent on your choices, achievements are art” · 6 reviews
Negative “only 3 meaningful choices per run, rest meaningless, 6 endings total” · 1 review

Progression 3% · Difficulty 3% · Onboarding 3% · Freedom 10% · Controls & feel 2%

Plot, characters and the world
Mentioned in 60% of reviews · Top 20% of the games we've analyzed

Story +3.79 · Plot, quests, writing, and the ending
Positive “Broom Closet Ending is exceptional and makes entire game worthwhile” · 111 reviews

Characters 6% · World 22%

How much there is to do, variety and replay value
Mentioned in 35% of reviews · Top 40% of the games we've analyzed

Replayability +3.15 · Reasons to play again — runs, randomness, New Game+
Positive “multiple secret branches lead to unusual and amusing outcomes” · 17 reviews
Negative “already played similar meta games, diminished novelty impact” · 7 reviews

Volume 17% · Variety 5%

Graphics, art style, music and sound
Mentioned in 22% of reviews · Bottom 40% of the games we've analyzed

Audio +3.08 · Music, sound effects, and voice acting
Positive “The Narrator's buttery smooth voice will stick with you throughout your remaining days” · 15 reviews
Negative “narrator voice becomes annoying over time” · 6 reviews

Visuals 7%

Playing with others, the community and servers

Not enough data — only 0% of reviews mention this.

Community — · Who you play with — how many, and how friendly

Playing together 0% · Servers & Connection 0%

Pricing, cheaters, balance and matchmaking
Mentioned in 8% of reviews · Top 50% of the games we've analyzed

Pricing -0.10 · Whether the price, DLC and microtransactions are reasonable, and how much paying gives you an edge
Negative “Misleading product split into two separate games” · 11 reviews
Positive “worth every cent with included copies of Minecraft and Portal” · 1 review

Anti-cheat 0% · Balance 0% · Matchmaking 0%

Bugs, performance and developer support
Mentioned in 6% of reviews · Top 50% of the games we've analyzed

Stability -0.07 · Crashes, freezes, save loss, and game-breaking bugs
Negative “game is a breeding ground for bugs” · 8 reviews

Performance 2% · Developer support 2%

Grey means too few reviews mention it to trust. — means almost no reviews mention it.

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