The Stanley Parable

After accepting the system, a crude panel appeared before Wang Chuan.

"As expected, every time traveler comes with a system."

After a brief pause, Wang Chuan began to examine it.

It was a virtual screen—invisible to anyone but himself.

He'd confirmed this earlier using his obliging deskmate as a test subject.

The panel's content was sparse, consisting of only four sections.

The first section was Fan Points.

According to the system's description, Wang Chuan learned where Fan Points came from.

Every time he produced a game, based on the satisfaction players experienced during gameplay, he could earn a certain amount of Fan Points.

This satisfaction—whether it moved, angered, or delighted them—only required that the player ultimately felt genuine approval toward the game.

As for the use of Fan Points, that depended on the next section.

The second section was the Big Wheel.

Everyone knew the purpose of the Big Wheel: it was for lottery draws.

From the system's information, Wang Chuan also learned that the Big Wheel required ten thousand Fan Points for a single spin.

Though he didn't yet know the exact odds, he instinctively felt this Big Wheel was pretty shady.

The third section was more familiar, called the Quest Board.

It was the standard quest template for time travelers, but for now, only two quests were available.

One Main Quest and one Side Quest.

Main Quest: Become the God of Games!

Quest Reward: One wish granted. (No time limit; failure carries no penalty.)

Side Quest: Become an official game producer within one month.

Quest Reward: Five to ten Big Wheel spins. (Failure carries no penalty.)

Become the God of Games?

Wang Chuan had some guesses about that, but since there was no time limit or penalty, there was no rush.

Become an official game producer within one month?

That one needed to be completed as soon as possible.

Not just to finish the quest, but also to fulfill a dream.

That's right—Wang Chuan had a dream: to bring the classics of his past life into this world.

However, he still needed to think carefully about how to proceed.

There were three ways to become an official game producer.

The first was to win the championship in the Game Producer Competition, which would grant official rewards and certification.

Another was to join a well-known game company in the industry and work diligently for a few years.

Then, one could apply for the company's assessment to become an official game producer.

The last option was to create an independent game. If the first two had thresholds, this one was open to anyone.

But the requirements were rather harsh: the game had to be released exclusively on official channels, with the certification option enabled.

Then, this certified game needed to reach number one on the New Game Chart and achieve sales of ten thousand units.

In other words, it had to rank first, with ten thousand people paying for it—refunds didn't count.

"Well, the only options left for me are the competition and independent games. Joining a company isn't realistic."

Rubbing his chin in thought for a moment, Wang Chuan gave up on that line of thinking.

There was still one section left to check.

The last section was the Item Board.

As Wang Chuan expected, it contained a Newbie Gift Pack.

Needless to say, it was a must-have item for time travelers.

He mentally clicked on the Newbie Gift Pack in the items.

After a flash of white light, the Newbie Gift Pack was opened.

What was inside disappointed Wang Chuan a little—just two cards, nothing else.

"Let's see what these two cards are first. The system shouldn't screw me over, right?"

Holding onto a sliver of hope, Wang Chuan clicked on the cards.

The next second, the cards' information appeared on the panel.

[Strange Association Device: Using this item on a game, anyone who experiences that game has a chance to develop strange associations.]

[Memory Searcher: Got a question? Ask Baidu. Want to recall something? Ask the Searcher.]

Holy shit, this thing is way too broken!

After Wang Chuan finished reading the item descriptions, he was instantly stunned.

But it was the good kind of stunned.

Putting everything else aside, this Memory Searcher was absolutely insane.

It let him freely search his own memories, just like typing keywords into Baidu.

He was, after all, a qualified game otaku who had played most games out there.

But playing was one thing; actually making them was another.

With this Memory Searcher, though, he could fully visualize every single detail of a game in his mind.

If he still couldn't make a good game with this, then he... ahem, he wouldn't bother swearing any oaths.

As for the other item, the Strange Association Device, Wang Chuan was a bit puzzled.

A chance for people playing the game to develop strange associations?

His first thought went to horror games, because that genre fit this item best.

Yeah, it would definitely scare the hell out of people.

But that kind of game clearly didn't suit his situation, so maybe he needed to think from a different angle?

Huh? The associations didn't have to be limited to horror!

Thinking this, Wang Chuan's eyes lit up.

After shifting his posture, he felt ideas flowing in endlessly.

Excluding anything his current funds couldn't handle, the most fitting option left was one: "Meta Games!" Or rather, "META Games!"

Simply put, this type of game created a connection between the game's content and the player.

The concrete manifestation was: when you're playing a game, controlling a character and making choices, feeling like you're the one in charge, suddenly, the game character turns around, stares coldly at you, and says, "Stop meddling in my life!"

This creates a feeling of breaking the fourth wall—that's the META element.

It makes the player feel tricked, as if everything happening in the game is real.

That's the unique charm of meta games.

In his past life, there were many representative works of meta games.

The Stanley Parable, focused on narration exploration; Icey, combining META with ACT; Undertale, fully leveraging META characteristics; and so on.

Among these, ACT referred to action systems, monster designs, etc.—simply put, fighting.

Wang Chuan carefully recalled the content of these games, comparing them to each other.

He had already decided to make a meta game, because it would maximize the use of his golden finger.

But which specific game to choose required careful deliberation.

"Oh, right, how much money do I have left?"

Suddenly, Wang Chuan thought of a fatal issue: making games cost money. How much did he have left?

He checked his phone: Your balance is 31,241.11 yuan.

Well, that was just over thirty thousand. No need to hesitate anymore.

"The Stanley Parable, I choose you."

No doubt about it. After discovering his funds, Wang Chuan decisively set his target as The Stanley Parable.