There has never been a game quite as charming, funny, and meta as The Stanley Parable. Beginning as a unique Half-Life 2 mod, its popularity eventually led to a standalone release in 2013. Gamers play as Stanley, a man who shows up to work one day to find everyone missing. His journey to discover where his coworkers went is told by an omniscient Narrator; the player can either do as the Narrator commands, or disobey to discover the game's many hilarious endings.

Nearly ten years after the original, developers Crows Crows Crows returned to the beloved title with The Stanley Parable: Ultra Deluxe; a game that includes the entire original, plus loads of new content. While there are several new endings, most are alternate variations of their originals. Some change only slightly, while others are entirely different.

12 Freedom Ending

The Bucket is to The Stanley Parable: Ultra Deluxe what the Companion Cube is to Portal. Understandably, players might want a chance at freedom with their beloved Bucket. Going through the Narrator's story with the Bucket seems to change little at first. Players go up to the boss's office, discover the Mind Control Facility, and turn off the machine, now with more input and emotion from Stanley's metal companion.

Everything seems to be going well: the immense office door slowly opens, and Stanley and the Bucket are moments away from freedom. Only, the door stops suddenly. Turns out, according to the Narrator, the office refuses to let the Bucket leave. Considering how everything up until this point stayed exactly the same, this creates an unexpected turn of events at the last moment. It's simple, but funny.

11 Museum Ending

Since players can't escape with the Bucket by traditional means, they might as well try that hand-written sign that reads "escape." In the original Museum ending, players got a unique behind-the-scenes look at The Stanley Parable. Of course, simply including a behind-the-scenes look at Ultra Deluxe would seem boring and repetitive.

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Instead, this may as well be the Bucket Museum, since it's all about the Bucket. Every exhibit revolves around Buckets, and each is funnier than the last. Exhibits range from cave paintings to "dangerous" attempts to make a two-handled bucket. The conclusion to the Museum ending is still the same, however; Stanley and the Bucket still get destroyed. Not much changes in this ending, but it's far more hilarious than the base game's version.

10 Countdown Ending

Stanley and the Bucket have followed the Narrator's story. They went up to Stanley's boss's office, entered the code, and discovered the Mind Control Facility. They're at the controls, and the player chooses to turn the Mind Control Facility. It's time for Stanley and the Bucket to brace for the worst.

Turns out that with the Bucket, the facility doesn't self-destruct when turned on. Instead, it simply plays videos of silly birds for Stanley and the Bucket to enjoy. The player can flip through the countless videos of adorable feathered critters for as long as the Narrator continues narrating. In contrast to the original game's dark conclusion in the original Countdown ending, these "silly birds" offer an unexpected alternative that is both cute and endlessly enjoyable.

9 New Content Ending

After playing through The Stanley Parable for long enough, an open door that reads "New Content" will appear. As one would expect, this is the way to access nearly all of the new content in the Ultra Deluxe version. Unless the game is reset, this ending can only be completed once, as it's what triggers the new content to appear in the new game.

After an in-game announcement that builds up the anticipation of the new content, the Narrator expresses his excitement over the new content. The first is a brand-new gameplay mechanic: jumping. It's only allowed in the designated jumping circle, and players only get thirty-six jumps. When players further explore the area, they discover that's everything! Don't worry, nobody is more frustrated than the Narrator, who berates the developers for rushing out an expansion for a quick buck, then vows to tweet them about it. There's not much in this ending, but that's part of the point. It's this moment that triggers the Narrator to change up The Stanley Parable, and becomes a driving force for the rest of the story.

8 Not Stanley Ending

Instead of picking up the phone, players can opt to unplug the phone. In the original, the Narrator claims that Stanley has somehow "chosen incorrectly." But this time around, the Narrator concludes that Stanley must have missed the joke, meaning that the Narrator has messed up his comedic timing. What follows is a ridiculous old-timey instructional video on the proper way to tell a joke. Turns out telling a joke is far more complicated than anyone would have thought, including bathroom breaks, surveys, and ending with the phrase: "I'm doney with the funny."

Most of the rest of the ending plays out like usual, though the map never deteriorates like in the original. While the second half of this ending is somewhat mundane due to how little it actually changes, the first half almost beata the original's in its parody of old instructional videos.

7 Mariella Ending

Walking downstairs in the original Stanley Parable leads both Stanley and the players to the conclusion that Stanley must be crazy, and while that stays true with the addition of the Bucket, the results become a lot more absurd. Stanley comes to the conclusion that the Bucket isn't actually his Bucket, so he discards it as he wanders through the various rooms. However, it turns out that Stanley really did need his Reassurance Bucket, as he now begins to hallucinate.

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When the Mariella cutscene begins, everything is exactly the same, except now she has a Bucket as well. She comes to the same conclusions that she does in the original ending, though now blames Stanley's insanity on the fact that he didn't have a Bucket, before doing backflips on her way to work. This ending keeps the spirit of the original Mariella ending, though somehow manages to add a new level of absurdity.

6 Apartment Ending

In the original game, riding the entire cargo lift and picking up the phone meant being greeted by Stanley's wife at his apartment, only it turns out Stanley never had a wife. This time, however, Stanley dedicates his life to the Bucket. He repeatedly switches from his office to his apartment and finds the Bucket in various places, while the Narrator describes how Stanley spent his entire life obsessed with the Bucket.

At first, the Narrator wants to help Stanley, but he eventually wants to take the Bucket for himself, causing him to fight with Stanley. This ending still keeps the principle ideas of the original but changes much, adding more interactivity. Players can explore Stanley's apartment and imagine a life with the Bucket. The execution and delivery of the humor is just as excellent as the rest of the game.

5 Confusion Ending

The Confusion ending is one of the most memorable endings of the original Stanley Parable. While Ultra Deluxe's version is much shorter, it still lives up to that reputation. Once players take the lift down to trigger the ending, they'll be met by their favorite characters from the original: the mannequin, the fern, the baby, and others. It turns out that the Narrator has staged an intervention for Stanley, feeling that he has been spending too much time with the Bucket.

The Narrator then introduces the player to a new character: the Bucket Destroyer. The Bucket Destroyer has one singular character trait: to destroy buckets. The Narrator urges Stanley to destroy the Bucket, but destroying it is impossible for the player. Eventually, the Bucket Destroyer destroys itself due to the lack of buckets it's been able to destroy. This ending is hysterical and creative, as the "intervention" is so unexpected but also fitting for the Narrator. It would have been nice to have the option to destroy the Bucket, but the ending still stands as a worthwhile one.

4 Skip Button Ending

Feeling nostalgic? The Narrator sure is. After becoming disappointed with the "new content" offered in Ultra Deluxe, he lures the player away from the office and invites them to explore "the Memory Zone." He leads the player to a triangular house where he keeps all the glorious memories of The Stanley Parable. Acting as a sort of museum, it holds screenshots and artifacts related to both the original mod and the official release of The Stanley Parable, as well as one hilarious fake award.

If the player keeps exploring, they'll discover an abandoned part of the map that contains the Narrator's worst nightmare: Steam reviews. He understandably becomes infuriated by negative user reviews and decides to incorporate a "skip" option for the narration. He introduces the player to the "skip button", which jumps the player ahead in time. By using it over and over, the Narrator will eventually disappear, the room will fall apart, and nature will reclaim the building as Stanley seems to be the last survivor on Earth. This ending is jam-packed with easter eggs and references, as well as commentary on nostalgia and critical self-reflection. But the ending never sacrifices the clever humor that makes The Stanley Parable special.

3 No Buckets Ending

Trying to get to the red and blue doors is impossible with the Bucket, as a sign indicates that no buckets are allowed in the area. However, the Narrator is unsure if the player even knows what a bucket is in the first place. To solve this issue, the Narrator introduces the player to an all-new game show titled Is This a Bucket? The goal of the game is simple: the Narrator showcases an item, and all the player has to do is declare whether the item is a bucket.

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It seems simple enough, though even players trying to purposefully guess incorrectly will find themselves stumbling a couple of times. Like in all endings in The Stanley Parable, this one eventually falls apart for the Narrator, who eventually comes to the stark realization that everything must be a bucket. This is one of the most unexpected and surprising endings in the game, and one that manages to deliver even on multiple playthroughs.

2 Sequel Ending

Players thought Ultra Deluxe was an expansion? Surprise! Turns out this is actually the long-awaited Stanley Parable 2​​​​​​. After thinking over the perceived negative reaction over The Stanley Parable, the Narrator decides he needs to make a sequel that will capitalize on everything players loved about the original while also incorporating the "input" gathered from negative Steam reviews.

The Stanley Parable 2 includes everything players loved about The Stanley Parable, plus more! The Narrator shows off everything the sequel will provide. The sequel now contains everything from an endless pit to collectible Stanley figurines. This ending hilariously shows the Narrator going over the top to win over his fanbase, introducing a ton of ridiculous new content. There's a ton to see, and what's more, much of what players see in the sequel ending does actually get incorporated into The Stanley Parable. It perfectly pokes fun at developers bending over backwards to infuse sequels and expansions with unnecessary new content. And to top it all off, the title screen now permanently changes to The Stanley Parable 2.

1 Figurines Ending

Though there is no official ending to either The Stanley Parable or Ultra Deluxe, the Figurines ending is the closest that players will ever get. This ending is unlocked by collecting all of the Stanley figurines that the Narrator hides across the map. When players collect the last one, the ending will trigger automatically the next time the game resets. The Narrator congratulates Stanley on finding them all, then goes on a trip down memory lane of Stanley collecting each of the figurines.

Afterwards, the player continues down the memory trip to Stanley's office, in which a cutscene occurs. The opening cutscene of the game plays backwards, with the Narrator reflecting on why he created Stanley in the first place. He supposes that he created Stanley to make decisions for him and because he was lonely; he now decides that while he loved The Stanley Parable, it's time to move on. This ending is the one time that the Narrator seems to almost develop as a character, as he's gone a long way from obsessing over The Stanley Parable in the Skip Button ending to learning to let go. It offers a surprisingly poignant conclusion to an otherwise hilarious game.

The Stanley Parable: Ultra Deluxe is available on PC, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S

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