The Beginner’s Guide review: Failure is as failure does

You'll see a few of these weird-head people scattered around Coda's demos.

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The Stanley Parable ranked highly in our "best games of 2013" list because it made yet another case for video games as an intriguing medium for unique storytelling. It offered—and effectively toyed with—the concept of choice. The narrative-first game gave players a sense of agency as they explored a weird world packed full of statements about interactivity and sense of self. For all of the quality in its writing and art design, the biggest reason The Stanley Parable earned our accolades wasn't just because it was interesting—but because it was an interesting application of interactivity.

Stanley co-writer Davey Wreden has now returned with a new game, one that is interesting for entirely different reasons. Frankly, you won't find many video games who posit their creators as a lead character in the way that The Beginner's Guide does—which, in this game's case, is really, really bad news. The Beginner's Guide is so gobsmackingly personal—so heart-on-the-sleeve earnest—that its every failing is that much harder to parse or swallow.

Show, don't tell

The major thing Stanley and TBG have in common is a narrative-first approach, meaning this is a story game with nothing in the way of challenge, puzzles, or action sequences. Folks who still like a little "game" in their narrative-first experiences will feel even more let down by TBG's approach, however.

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