Gaming the game.

• Author: Shackford, Scott
• Position: Briefly Noted - The Stanley Parable - Brief article

What separates video games from most other forms of entertainment is that the player is an active participant with control over the outcome--but only to a certain degree. The Stanley Parable (Galactic Cafe) is an interactive "game" of sorts that pulls at this thread of choice and challenges players' perceptions of how much freedom games really give their users.

The player controls Stanley as he tries to determine why everybody in his office has disappeared. He is accompanied by a narrator describing Stanley's actions. Tension derives when the player...