Hello and welcome to Games with Hank. 

So, it's happening! The Stanley Parable!

I've only gotten a million billion comments about this. 

So guess I'm gonna do it. Diving right in!

This is a story about a man named Stanley.

I... am I Stanley?

Stanley worked for a company in a big building where he was employee number 427.

Oh, wow that's a lot of employees.

Employee number 427's job was simple: he sat at his desk in room 427 and he pushed buttons on a keyboard.

Guy sounds like Kurzgesagt.

Push it Stanley!

Orders came to him through a monitor on his desk telling him what buttons to push, how long to push them, and in what order.

Yeah! It's like Lost.

This is what Employee 427 did every day of every month of every year.

That sounds terrible!

And although others might have considered it soul-rending, Stanley relished every moment that the orders came in.

As though he had been made exactly for this job. And Stanley was happy.

Well, good. Until?

And then one day, something very peculiar happened. Something that would forever change Stanley. Something he would never quite forget.

He had been at his desk for nearly an hour when he realized that not one single order had arrived on the monitor for him to follow.

Oh.

No one showed up to give him instructions, call a meeting, or even say "Hi"

Never in all his years at the company had this happened.

This complete isolation: Something was very clearly wrong.

Shocked, frozen solid, Stanley found himself unable to move for the longest time

Oh! Well,

But as he came to his wits and regained his senses, he got up from his desk and stepped out of his office.

Okay, I guess that's what I'm supposed to do.

Oh I'm fast, Stanley's fast. Just clicking. Oh, oh! Hello? Door's locked now.

All of his coworkers were gone. What could it mean?

I can see that.

Stanley decided to go to the meeting room. Perhaps he had simply missed a memo. 

Who farted?

No matter how hard Stanley looked he couldn't find a trace of his coworkers.

I can't find a trace of my coworkers. What does your mug say? "Who Farted?" Apparently that's standard issue "Who Farted?" mug. Everybody gets "Who Farted?" mugs. 

Oh this one's "I Hate Mondays". "Who Farted?" "I Hate Mondays." "Who Farted?"  That one just says "Tea" I think. 

When Stanley came to a set of two open doors... 

Why is that closed?

...he entered the door on his left.

I...I did? What if I rebel?

This was not the correct way to the meeting room, and Stanley knew it perfectly well.

Uh oh.

Perhaps he wanted to stop by the employee lounge first, just to admire it.

Oh. Uh, 4.. I should be...Should I be paying attention to things? 4B9? Well they hadn't had, maybe that's an 8? I dunno. 450...

*sigh* Yes, truly a room worth admiring.

This is a nice employee lounge.

It had really been worth the detour after all. Just to spend a few moments here in this immaculate, beautifully constructed room. 

So many papers.

Stanley simply stood here, drinking it all in.

What does it say? Tea, no. What does it say? Fuel, it says fuel.

Yes, really, really worth it, being here in the room...

Yeah!

...A room so utterly captivating, that even though all your coworkers have mysteriously vanished, here you sit looking at these chairs and some paintings. 

I was looking at the mugs, dork-wad.

Really worth it.

Come on!

But eager to get back to business; Stanley took the first open door on his left.

(laughs) I dunno if I want to do what you tell me to do, Mr! Ooh.

Stanley was so bad at following directions it's incredible he wasn't fired years ago.

Ooh...well this place issss dangerous looking..?

Oh we're moving!

Look Stanley, I think perhaps we've gotten off on the wrong foot here.

Hey! Don't worry about it!

I'm not your enemy, really I'm not.

I...

I realize that investing your trust in someone else is difficult...

Wha..?

But the fact is that the story has been about noth... Wha... Really?! 

Hey!

I was in the middle of something, do you have zero consideration for others? Are you that convinced that I want something bad to happen to you? Why? I don't know how to convince you of this, but I really do want to help you.

I don't know what you want.

To show you something beautiful.

Oh, beautiful.

Let me prove it.

Huh, should be an Oculus game. 

Let me prove that I'm on your side. Give me a chance.

Okay. Okay, How are you going to do that? What's your name? Jeff? Is it Jeff? That door closed.

Now listen carefully, this is important. 

Yes. Yes.

Stanley walked through the red door.

But, so far I've done the exact opposite of everything you've told me to do, so I feel like continuing to do that.

Aha. Perhaps you misunderstood. Stanley walked through the red door. 

 Wait, what? You just. I got further that time.

I still don't think we're communicating properly.

You have a surprising amount of control over the universe, Sir. I guess I'm going to go through the red door.

Oh, thank God. You are willing to listen to me.

Well, I didn't really have any other choice.

See I really had wanted you to be happy all this time. 

Well, I'm not any happier now.

The problem is all these choices. The two of us always trying to get somewhere that isn't here. Running and running and running,

Wait a second.

just the way you're doing right now.

Yeah, I'm going around in a circle.

Don't you see that it's killing us, Stanley. I just, I wanted it to stop.

No one's dying

I think we would both be so much happier if we just stopped. And I think. Well, I think I have a solution.

Not stopping.

Here, let me show you.

What is it? Oh, it's that door. What about over here? Ha ha ha. It's dark. It's dark.

What do we want? What are we looking for? Hmm?

I don't know, mister. Oh, what is it? Oh!

Here. Yes. Oh, It's beautiful, isn't it?

Yeah.

If we just stay right here, right in this moment with this place. Stanley, I think I feel happy. I actually feel happy. Ha ha.

Well, I mean, that's your feeling. I'm not going to take that away from you. But I might just leave. Oh, they just did a drywall.

No, wait, where are you going?

Here. I'm, ah...they just did the drywall. They have a FedEx label, it's somebody's child's art. So that's a little sad. That makes me sad.

Oh, no. Stay away from those stairs. If you hurt yourself. If you die, the game will reset. We'll lose all of this.

How...how would I hurt myself? They're stairs, you think I'm going to trip?

No, please, Stanley, let me stay here. Don't take this from me.

What's wrong with you, Sir. Oh, you want me to die? What? Don't take what from you? Wait a second. I'm confused. Why don't you open this door, Mr. Omnipresent entity? Is that, is that? Do I have another choice besides death? I mean, I, I like doing things you don't tell me to do, but I don't like death. Umm, and, so I'm kind of not going to do that, I think.

I'm going to go back to this beautiful land. Yeah.

Good. Good. We can't be too safe. Promise me you won't go back there? Hmm? Just, just stay here.

Forever? I mean, I don't think I can be at peace the same way you can be, man. You. Can I just jump off of this? No, I can't.

Yeah, this is boring. I'm gonna go jump off the stairs.

No, what did we talk about, you're risking everything we achieved here.

We didn't achieve anything.

You heard me before, didn't you? You. will. die. What about this isn't getting through to you?

I don't know. You seem to want me to do it. I'm petulant. Let's just. Let's just not even think about it. Let's just, alright.

Please, Stanley, think... NO!

I'm fine. See.

Oh, thank God. You li...No. No, no, what are you doing? Stanley, please,

What?

I'm asking you not to take this away from me. I can't go back to what I was before.

What were you before?

If you die, we'll both go back.

Tell me more.

Why are you doing this?

Tell me more about you. We only have one choice.

Stanley?

Yes?

Let's go back to the other room?

Shush, Jeff.

My God, is this really how much you dislike my game? That you'll throw yourself from this platform over and over to be rid of it. 

I'm not sure...

You're actually willing to kill yourself to keep me from being happy? Am I reading the situation correctly?

I don't know...that's not really...you know. I can't talk.

Maybe you're just getting a kick out of it. I don't know anymore. I just wanted us to get along.

Well, I...

I guess that was just to much to ask.

I don't know, I feel like, ah...

Looks like you wanted to make a choice after all.

It feels like you know me better than I know you.

But this choice? Is it over? It's going to restart, isn't it? I'm going back. 

Oh. Well, I don't know what's happening at all, but that...was episode one of the Stanley Parable on Games with Hank.

*beep*

We'll be continuing exactly from here next time on Games with Hank. DFTBA.