Metafiction

A REALITY THAT IS NO LONGER UNDERSTANDABLE

The game often introduces surreal discontinuity and often questions the game reality that it exists in

INTERTEXTUALITY

Other known and existing games in the real world are included and allowed to be played within The Stanley Parable

DARK HUMOR

The Narrator and written signage around the game often takes on a snarky sarcastic tone

THE PARADOXICAL STATUS OF THE AUTHOR

Does the game designer have no or total power over the player?

METAFICTION

A literary device in fictional writing which self-consciously and systematically draws attention to its status as an artifact in order to pose questions about the relationship between fiction and reality

The game often directly addresses the reality that you are playing a video game referring to conventions of game making and playing. In one storyline you are led to an underground museum dedicated to the development of the game itself.

ELEMENTS OF METAFICTION