Crows Crows Crows | $15/£15 [Free trial]
- Classic first person adventure with countless endings
- Plenty of amusing introspection about human agency and free will
- This version has even more endings and improved graphics
When The Stanley Parable originally released on Mac and PC, the iPhone 5S had only just hit the market. It’s taken 11 long years, but we finally have a version to call our own on iOS.
For those who’ve never had the pleasure, The Stanly Parable is a first person narrative game that explores player choice in a way that few other games have managed, either before or since.
You’ll be seeing this a lot
You play the part of office drone Stanley, who at the outset gets up from his desk to discover that his office is deserted. As you make your way out using somewhat clunky virtual controls (hooking up a Bluetooth controller is recommended), a British narrator talks you through Stanley’s thoughts and actions, with a healthy side of self-aware humor.
While it essentially plays like a walking simulator with relatively minimal interaction, the game’s main interest lies in its branching paths. While you’ll initially be tempted to follow the narrator’s lead, it’s quite possible – and indeed encouraged – to step away from the expected route and take different paths through the game.
Multiple paths lead to multiple endings
Each new road taken leads to a different mini-ending, before the game resets, Groundhog Day-style. Pretty soon you’ll realise that the whole point of the game is to uncover its mysteries one alternate ending at a time.
Even the free trial/full game unlock process is handled ‘in-game’ with typical Stanley Parable wit and charm. While it’s always extremely simple to play – and ‘play’ is only just about the appropriate word here – it’s the developer’s evident love for the material and attention to detail that will keep you coming back for more.
The new content gets very meta
This Ultra Deluxe version essentially contains everything that was in the original 2013 game, plus a massive chunk of extra content. I won’t offer any spoilers here, but I’ve seen it said that there are more than double the number of endings of the original game.
Some of the new content goes to even greater self-referential lengths, acknowledging the critical and commercial success of the original game, as well as addressing some of the criticisms that came its way in truly ingenious style.
Even the full game unlock mechanic is handled classily
The visuals have also been upgraded, though this is still quite obviously a decade-old game. Even the performance, which has apparently been ironed out to a solid 60fps, still betrayed the odd stutter on my iPhone 15 Pro.
Rough patches aside, The Stanley Parable: UD takes its place as one of the cleverest and most playful narrative-driven adventures on iOS. Sometimes the old ones really are the best.