Screenshots & trailers
What players say
Why the number is what it is: aspect mentions counted across 300 sampled Steam reviews (270 positive / 30 negative), recent and most-helpful. Plain keyword counting, fully reproducible; nothing here is written by a machine.
What positive reviews talk about
- Story & writing16% mention it
What negative reviews complain about
Negative reviews don't converge on specific aspects.
Satisfaction by hours played
Same score, different games: see how sentiment holds up the longer people play.
Under 5h
87%
199 reviews
5-15h
95%
64 reviews
15-40h
96%
24 reviews
40-100h
100%
12 reviews
Review sentiment over time
Weekly positive-review rate (green) and review volume (bars). Dashed lines mark significant patches; the amber line is the start of the current scoring window. Hover the dots to see what drove a dip or a jump.
How this score was computed
The VGC Score is a weighted blend on a press-comparable 0-100 quality scale. Steam approval rates are first calibrated (95% positive on Steam ≈ 89.5 quality, since Steam approval skews high). Press and tracked creator reviews each count ~2x a player review and share one cap against player evidence (creator buy/skip calls pool into an approval rate, calibrated like Steam approval); all-time sentiment is capped and halved (it's context, not verdict); reviews of the current build carry the most weight when a fresh patch anchors the window; and a 'typical game' prior keeps small samples from pegging the scale. Because press reviews and Metacritic user aggregates describe the launch build, their weight decays as the game ages (3-year half-life after a 1-year grace). That's how a game that launched rough can outgrow its old reception once updates win players over. Reviews under 2h playtime (the refund window), non-Steam activations, and free copies are downweighted.
| Component | Positive | Quality (0-100) | Weight (pseudo-reviews) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Press reviews (Metacritic) | – | 88 | 6 |
| Creator reviews (1 tracked) | – | 92 | 0 |
| All-time Steam reviews | 92% | 87 | 1000 |
| Metacritic user ratings | – | 84 | 48 |
| Post-patch Steam reviews (trust-weighted) | 97% | 92 | 43 |
| Calibration prior (typical game) | – | 72 | 50 |
Scoring window: last 30 days (no significant patch detected) · 124 reviews sampled · 118 total reviews in window · weighted 54 up / 1.7 down · computed 4h ago · full methodology →
Press & Creators reviews (45)
Individual verdicts from outlets we track: scored reviews first, most trusted outlets first among them. The small badge is each outlet's trust score: how well its scoring history aligns with players.
- 80
“The infamously obtuse The Stanley Parable trailers (and ingenious, unique demo) suggest that the game cannot be defined; suffice to say that even if The Stanley Parable could be described, it shouldn't be. Or then again, perhaps I've just described it perfectly.”
read full review ↗ - 80
“The Stanley Parable doesn't pack a punch as great as Portal did, but my time in the office turned out to be very enjoyable. Galactic Cafe has made one of the best parodies ever, a game that is funny, and makes fun of other games with style. You should definitely try it out, because it's a very original product that doesn't pretend to be your friend. All of this doesn't matter, because it's just a game. But what a game it is!”
read full review ↗ - 100
“It's this bouncing between serious tone and irreverence that makes The Stanley Parable so special. You never know what to expect and the thrill of discovering something new is reinforced by great narration and often capricious events. But more than anything, it's this choice at the center of it all that makes The Stanley Parable a game about self-discovery.”
read full review ↗ - 90
“Familiar but consistently surprising, this new Parable even fits beautifully into the existing game - a game that took its power not from a single narrative but the interaction of all its possible narratives, super-positioned and entangled. ”
read full review ↗ - 90
“The Stanley Parable is both a richly stimulating commentary on the nature of choice in games (and in other systems, too, like our workplaces and our families) and a game that offers some of the most enjoyable, surprising, and rewarding choices I've ever been confronted with in a game. Going the wrong way has never felt so right.”
read full review ↗ - 90
“There might not be any slow motion door breaches but this is the smartest and funniest first person game since Portal, with an interactive script that is as a profound as it is constantly amusing.”
read full review ↗ - 90
“Effortlessly inventive, frequently surprising and consistently hilarious. The Stanley Parable shows how to make a story about game stories.”
read full review ↗ - 60
“Basically a variation on the concept of a Russian doll, with some of the layers containing unexpected satirical diversions. Although if you had the chance to play the original mod, this overhaul has less new ideas than one would hope for. [Issue#236]”
- 88
“All its different plotlines and personalities overlap and combine to create something that’s intriguingly opaque, but always entertaining, and genuinely funny. Whatever it is, it’s worth playing.”
read full review ↗ - 90
“This is a thought experiment of sorts, and in comparison to some of its hordes of first-person peers, it may even be said that there’s not much of an actual point to the gameplay. But keep in mind that if that’s your conclusion, there’s a strong danger that you’re exactly the type of complacent player The Stanley Parable’s criticisms are aimed at.”
read full review ↗ - 90
“As with any piece of good art, it is as much a game as a mirror; the beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder. But what is The Stanley Parable, and what does it want to say? Not even the narrator could tell you that.”
read full review ↗ - 85
“The Stanley Parable might not prove that videogames are art, but it is an intriguing - and original - game that plays around with the tried-and-tested tropes of player choice in gaming.”
read full review ↗
Slant Magazine
GRYOnline.pl
Eurogamer
GameSpot
Metro GameCentral
PC Gamer
IGN…and 33 more tracked reviews.
Patch history
- The Stanley Parable Update ReleasedJul 13, 2014
- The Stanley Parable Update ReleasedJul 13, 2014