The Stanley Parable: Ultra Deluxe Best Additions To The…

The Stanley Parable was a revelation when it was first released almost a decade ago, offering players a narrative adventure that was unlike anything that had come before. Players stepping into Stanley's mediocre office life suddenly found themselves combating an omnipresent narrator, slipping between the cracks of the game world, and even breaking into other games entirely.

Now the modern classic has returned, courtesy of developer Crows Crows Crows. The Stanley Parable: Ultra Deluxe is the definitive version of The Stanley Parable that infuses the original game with a slate of new content designed to enhance the original experience. While all of these fresh additions are great, there are a few that stand out as truly worthy of being called the best.

8 Other Game Easter Eggs

the inside of a tall, watchtower with a typewriter on a desk, postcards on the windowsill, and a volunteer posted with a watchtower pictured inside a shield outline. trees and mountains can be seen outside the windows

The Stanley Parable has always been self-referential, but it also included a few, choice references to other, popular video games at the time of its original release. In certain cases, these references took on a more literal form in that the player was literally thrown into another game for a brief time.

The Stanley Parable: Ultra Deluxe keeps this joke alive by bringing in a few new games for players to see. Along one narrative path, the Narrator will grow frustrated with Stanley's attempts to break the game and shift him over to Campo Santo's Firewatch for a bit before throwing him into Psyonix's Rocket League. It's a cute and unexpected touch that pays homage to the original game's easter eggs while feeling a bit more relevant to the current gaming landscape.

7 Collectibles

a figurine of a man in button-down shirt and slacks with a slight hunch in his shoulders. He's white with brown hair. in the top right corner is text that reads "5/6"

In a bid to make The Stanley Parable more competitive in the current video game market, the Narrator has embarked on a wide-scale revamp of the game's core systems. Collectibles are hot right now, according to the Narrator, so he's placed six figurines of Stanley around the office for players to find.

The Narrator does repeatedly stress that there is absolutely no reward for finding all of these figurines, but players will be rewarded with a unique loop that revolves around revisiting the memories of finding the statues. It's one of the game's more brilliant endings that sees the Narrator start to unravel a bit over the concept of collectibles.

6 The Stanley Parable 2

an exhibition room with a large sign in the middle that reads "The Stanley Parable 2." there are velvet ropes to the left and doorways leading to other exhibits on the right. Over the sign is a circular rig of spotlights

The Narrator's attempt to improve The Stanley Parable's prospects is a full sequel to the original game, not just a half-baked, enhanced version with one new feature that only has a limited number of uses. The Stanley Parable 2 is his new pet project, and he's put a surprising amount of work into bringing it to life.

This new game begins in a convention hall devoted to all the new features coming with the sequel, including collectibles, an epilogue with a to-be-determined surprise twist, and a particular water receptacle that will become very important to Stanley in the future. The Stanley Parable 2 then goes on to take over the rest of the game, inserting its influence over every subsequent loop.

5 The Jump Circle

a bare, stone room with a circle on the floor made out of tape. A large, stone wall behind the circle bears a sign that reads "New content! The Jump circle." next to that sign is another, smaller wall with a counter on it that reads "jumps remaining: 36." to the right of the counter is a low, wooden bench

After players make their way through a few loops of The Stanley Parable: Ultra Deluxe, they'll happen upon a slightly ajar door emblazoned with the words "New Content." This door leads players to the first of many fabulous additions Ultra Deluxe brings to The Stanley Parable experience: the Jump Circle.

The Jump Circle does exactly what its name suggests: players standing within the borders of the circle have the power to jump a limited number of times. It's also the catalyst for the Narrator to take the development of future Stanley Parable content into his own hands, which results in the creation of a sequel titled The Stanley Parable 2.

4 The Memory Zone

a museum-like building inside a slant-roofed, wooden house. plinths on the right hold artifacts of the game's past, and ahead there are photos taped to the wall near a doorway leading into the next room. over the doorway is a banner that reads "The Stanley Parable."

When the Narrator feels nostalgic for the halcyon days of the original The Stanley Parable, he visits a special place known as the Memory Zone, which is a picturesque museum dedicated to the history of the game. It's housed inside a large, wooden house with a modern aesthetic and filled with memorabilia and relics from The Stanley Parable's past.

The Memory Zone is home to some genuine artifacts like master copies of the original Half-Life 2 mod and rave reviews from notable publications, but it's also filled with more than a few in-jokes and meta-references. Fake newspapers proclaim the game's release like it was a victory in a protracted war, and the Narrator lovingly gushes over each item like a doting, parental figure.

3 The Bucket's Narrator

a glass case in the middle of a shadowy room. inside the glass case is a metal bucket being lowered from above by a rope. Behind the bucket, the case says "The Stanley Parable 2 Reassurance Bucket" followed by an exciting yellow graphic

The Stanley Parable 2 Reassurance Bucket is Stanley's stalwart companion and closest confidante on his quest to escape his office building, much to the Narrator's chagrin, but there's one ending that flips the script on Stanley. In a feat of heroism, the Bucket sacrifices itself to save Stanley from a gruesome death, which prompts the Bucket's Narrator to speak up.

The bucket's Narrator is a woman with a prim, efficient voice not unlike Stanley's Narrator's voice. She outlines why the Bucket was so special and why the world is worse off for no longer having the Bucket in it. She strongly suggests that Stanley return to the moment where the Bucket died and sacrifice his life for the Bucket's instead, which he promptly does, as the Bucket's Narrator is incredibly convincing.

2 The Skip Button Ending

a room that has partially collapsed. Vegetation has grown in the corner where the ceiling is open to the sky. In front of the plants is a small post with a yellow button on it with two arrows pointing right toward a single line

The Stanley Parable: Ultra Deluxe adds multiple new endings to the game that offer fresh perspectives on the game's meanings and feature new dialogue from the omnipresent Narrator. One such ending involves the Narrator waxing nostalgic, stumbling onto some negative Steam reviews, and attempting to update the game based on user feedback. Not always the best idea.

The result is a skip button, which places Stanley in a catatonic state while time passes normally for the Narrator. At first, the button only skips over a matter of seconds, but before long Stanley is losing days with each press. The Narrator's mental breakdown from being left alone for all that time has some of the most heart-wrenching dialogue in the game, and his eventual absence shifts the game's entire tone for the rest of that ending.

1 The Bucket

a purple curtain frames a stage with a sign over it that reads " Is this... a bucket?" the player is holding a dimly lit metal bucket of their own in the foreground

The Stanley Parable 2 Reassurance Bucket is something unexpected in The Stanley Parable: Ultra Deluxe and its importance doesn't become clear until well after it makes its first appearance. The Bucket is the central mechanic that alters the fabric of the game with this rerelease, making it the most pivotal piece of new content in the game.

The bucket takes on many roles over the course of these different loops: in some, it's a staunch ally, but in others, it's a sinister villain plotting to steal Stanley away from the Narrator. The Bucket alters every loop, changing the plot with its very presence. Now that Stanley has a bucket, who knows what might happen? He might finally escape his eternal prison, or he might just stumble onto a game show designed around figuring out if something is, in fact, actually a bucket.

The Stanley Parable: Ultra Deluxe Edition is playable on PC, PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.

More: The Stanley Parable: Ultra Deluxe - All Endings Guide