An Office Variation is a change to the starting office, chosen at random/when certain criteria is met and changed with every restart. There can only be one variation at a time in The Stanley Parable: Ultra Deluxe (except for Other Soundtrack that can overlap with any), and usually endings with transition screens (e.g. Confusion Ending), endings that make the player go back to the office (e.g. Bucket Apartment Ending), or endings requiring going through a specific door (e.g. Escape Pod Ending) clear any variations active and reset the office to its default state.
Random Variations[]
Blue Office[]
Affects all rooms leading up to the Two Doors Room, replacing them with a small, blue, L-shaped office. While the bucket is available in the presence of this variation, the balloons, if present beforehand, will be gone.
Along with the Short Office variation, the Blue Office makes it impossible to activate an Awaiting Input monitor and acquire the Click on door 430 five times achievement, as neither the door nor computers are present.
This variation is the only way to access the Whiteboard Ending.
Its form of the alternate hallway glitch is different from the Short Office variation, while in the latter, going through the door simply swaps the hallway for a default office until the player walks back into the starting room. If Blue Office is active, unless the player avoids the alternate hallway glitch, going through the starting door resets the workplace to its default state, leaving an empty void in place of the door, in result, walking back will make the player fall out of bounds.
Short Office[]
Changes the entire starting office to just a straight hallway, leading directly from Stanley's office to the two doors room. The hallway is particularly lit dimly, and much like the Blue Office does not keep the balloons. The doors of Employees 426–423 are present in this variation, even though 424 and 423 don't have doors in the usual office. If unlocked, the bucket pedestal sits to the left of 424's door (in a similar manner to how the Bucket normally sits near Employee 424's desk). Objects of interest in this variation are the "CODES THAT ARE SECRET ARE THE BEST" and "Hi Lonnie" papers on the floor by the stack of cardboard boxes next to 426's door.
This nor any other variations that shorten the path to the two doors room are required for the Speedrun achievement but will greatly increase the player's chances of achieving it the legitimate way. It is also notable for being the most obvious example of the alternate hallway glitch.
Long Office[]
The Long Office variation puts two additional rooms between the two doors and the hallway leading up to it. Consists of a long, dim corridor with two turns and a straight hallway with a style similar in color palette and furniture to the Blue Office. Features office doors for employee numbers unseen anywhere else in the game and papers on the floor otherwise only present in the The Boss's Elevator Room.
Notable papers present in this variation are Employee 432's pencil sharpener drawing and a piece of paper that says:
Memo: Why are we here?
Hey dude. Do you ever just look up at
the stars and wonder - why AM I here?
Have you ever read Way of Zen by
Allan Watts? It's ... so good man.
Mind expanding stuff...
What if the stars are like... us in the
future man?
Duuuuuuude.... Deep.
Corner Hallway Left Turn[]
Makes the first hallway from the starting room turn to the left instead of to the right, meant to catch the player off-guard and disorient them for just a moment. The doors automatically close shut behind the player after they pass this room, which doesn't occur when the corner hallway turns to the right.
Opening the doors in the HD Remix after they are closed by using cheats from the console reverts the corridor to its default state, making it turn to the right again.
If there are still uncollected Stanley Figurines, the Figurine Finders Committee meeting paper on the wall will vanish. This also applies to the papers usually present on the floor.
Scattered Papers[]
Affects all reachable rooms leading up to the two doors room and intrudes partly on the aforementioned room itself. This variation results in the floor being covered in pieces of printed or blank paper, nothing of interest can be found on these. The two doors room remains normal on the most part aside from a few scattered papers making their way through the hall doorway.
The 430 achievement attainability and the office decoration balloons are not affected by this variation and are still available/present as normal while the scattered papers are applied to the office.
Glitched Monitors[]
Causes a majority of the computer screens to corrupt in the office and display the text "THE END IS NEVER" in a large font size uniformly over the entire screen, with the same text in a smaller font behind it. At the top-right of the screen, the monitors also display text that is present on the other computer screens with their terminal open:
PASSWORD: **********
THE CURRENT TIME IS:
LOADING... INTERNAL CLOCK ERROR PLEASE RESET
The Glitched Monitors variation replaces the monitor screens in the rooms that can regularly be entered without locking into a specific ending up until the two doors. Computers in rooms that can be looked into but not regularly entered are not affected either. Does not affect the computers of the following employees: 419, 422, 423, 429, 434, despite being in the main office rooms. There are no other changes.
Employee Database[]
The usually deactivated computer on Employee 436's desk will be turned on and display text regarding the Employee Database of the company.
EMPLOYEE DATABASE PASSWORD: ********** THE CURRENT TIME IS: INTERNAL CLOCK ERROR PLESE RESET LOADING... EMPLOYEE DATABASE LOADED ... PLEASE ENTER YOUR COMMAND /PRINT EMPLOYEE STATUS PRINTING... TOTAL EMPLOYEE IN DATABASE: [604] TOTAL EMPLOYEE IN OFFICE: [2] ... PLEASE ENTER YOUR COMMAND /PRINT LIST EMPLOYEES_IN_OFFICE PRINTING... EMPLOYEE [427] - STATUS: OFFLINE EMPLOYEE [] - STATUS: #~ ... PLEASE ENTER YOUR COMMAND /DISCONNECT
The database claims that there is a second employee in the office that isn't Stanley. A likely contender could have been Employee 432, now-turned Settings Person, which would explain the lack of number and status, if it weren't for this variation already being present in The Stanley Parable, before the Settings Person concept existed.
More likely possibilities when keeping that information in mind could be the Other Stanley, as the database might struggle with duplicates of already existing employees; The Narrator, as he's not an employee but present within the office nonetheless; or Employee 234, as shown in the Mind Control Facility that their monitor is glitched out and their number is displayed as ### on the screen.
This variation is similar to the computer on Employee 421's desk that shows some of said employee's emails since the terminal looks the same on both, with the difference being that 421's screen is turned on during all restarts with the exception of whenever the glitched monitor variation is activated.
The Employee Database computer, alongside the computers belonging to Employee 425 and 435 can be found in the main room of the Museum.
Phone Calls[]
On some restarts, the phone on Employee 434's desk will be ringing. The phone can be answered by interacting with it or can be ignored but it will not stop ringing. The phone call will overwrite The Narrator's starting dialogue and leave the door to Stanley's office open, which is necessary for achieving the Bucket Coward and Bucket Heaven endings. The door remains open by the time the player returns to the starting office during the Escape Pod Ending.
Employee 416's rotary phone.
All phone calls likely originate from the rotary phone right next to Employee 416's door after the New Content door is unlocked in Ultra Deluxe, as the phone call scripts are placed by it. Additionally, all callers seem to be the same person as they have the same voice (they are all voiced by Aviva Pinchas)
Stanley's Wife[]
The call starts with Stanley's wife saying she's leaving a message to remind Stanley to get some groceries on his way home from work, listing an array of items he needs to purchase, adding that she'll give him a call if there's anything she forgot, bidding goodbye before hanging up.
On the phone call script present outside of 416's office, the outline for this recording is: "STANLEY'S WIFE must sound like the perfect wife for a simple man: cute, flirtatious, all sugar and honey, the kind of woman a man like Stanley would spend all day thinking about, yearning to return to her embrace."
| Dialogue |
|---|
| Hi Stanley! I just wanted to leave you a message to let you know there's a few things I need you to pick up on your way home from work today. We need milk, cereal, dish soap, spaghetti, get a thing of sugar, some bread, and coffee beans - which ever ones you like. I'll give you a call if there's anything I forgot. Thanks sweetie, see you tonight! |
Pre-recorded Message[]
The caller will begin by informing the player that this is a recorded message scheduled "either by you or someone in your place of work", intended to warn about the danger of recorded messages. They'll begin by advising that the recipient that if at any point they are listening to a pre-recorded message they are to terminate it immediately before it "enters your perceptual sphere", afterwards the call ends.
On the phone call script present outside of 416's office, the outline for this recording is: "This is a simulation of a pre-recorded message speaking in a friendly female voice designed to put the recipient at ease. The similarity in voice to Stanley's wife will cause Stanley to become more receptive to the important instructions coming through the speaker."
| Dialogue |
|---|
| Hello. This is a recorded message scheduled either by you or a person in your place of work. The purpose of this message is to warn you about the dangers of recorded messages. If at any time you believe you are listening to a recorded message, please terminate it immediately and cease all flow of information from the recorded message into your perceptual sphere. Thank you, and have a pleasant day. |
Future Happiness Foundation[]
Picking up the phone.
Confirming the shipment.
Cancelling the shipment.
The conversation consists of the caller on the behalf of Future Happiness Foundation asking to confirm an order of 1327 cardboard boxes, which if confirmed, will fill up the entirety of the starting office on the next reset. The boxes can overlap with any office variation, including another phone call. If the player doesn't interact with the phone, after 7 seconds the order would decline and nothing would change.
On the phone call script present outside of 416's office, the outline for this recording is: ""The Future Happiness Foundation" prides itself on customer service, and that is carried in the voice of the caller. This is a voice geared towards customer service. With every word spoken, the customer is put at ease. The gaiety of the caller could ease the worries of even the most anxious or angry customer. It is simply a delight to receive a call from the Future Happiness Foundation. Indeed, any customer awaiting our call can be sure of their future happiness."
| Dialogue |
|---|
| Good morning! Thank you for contacting the Future Happiness Foundation. We are confirming your shipment of 1327 cardboard boxes to your place of work. Can you verify that this is correct? |
| [Confirming] Excellent! Your order will arrive shortly. Thank you again for contacting the Future Happiness Foundation! |
| [Cancelling] Understood! Your order will be cancelled immediately. Thank you again for contacting the Future Happiness Foundation! |
With the Bucket[]
Available only in The Stanley Parable: Ultra Deluxe. The player can retrieve the bucket from the other room before picking up the phone, this will result in Stanley's wife telling him that he had forgotten his bucket at home and informs that she'll bring it to his workplace while going to get groceries. She then realizes that this isn't his bucket nor does it seem to belong to anyone, so she decides to keep it.
| Dialogue |
|---|
| Hey Stanley! It's me, just calling to let you know that you left your bucket at home, silly. It's okay, I'm off to pick up groceries soon so I could swing by your work and drop the bucket off at... Oh, wait a minute, this isn't your bucket! Wait- whose bucket is this?! ... Well, if it doesn't belong to anyone else I guess I could just, you know, keep it. Yeah, I'd really like to hang out with this bucket for a while. ... Oh, sorry, what was I saying? Oh yeah, uh, have a nice day at work, I'll be here at home, with my bucket. Bye, Stanley. |
Rain[]
There is a chance to hear the sounds of rain and wind blowing when standing near any of the windows in the office area, including the Boss's Office and the stairs leading up to it, but excluding the Employee Lounge and Executive Bathroom. Interestingly, if the player locks into the Escape Pod ending, rain will not be heard inside the office.
Different Soundtrack[]
This variation makes the "Exploring Stanley" track be replaced by "Anticipating Stanley", a song from The Stanley Parable Demonstration. This is the only Office Variation observed so far to be able to appear on the first run directly after Beginning the Game from the Main Menu.
Other Stanley[]
When looking into Employee 425's office, a person with the same model as Stanley can occasionally be seen slowly walking across the corridor on the other side.
There is no specific dialogue/environment variation that guarantees Other Stanley's appearance and he works completely independently from it.
In the HD Remix, he walks from right to left. In Ultra Deluxe, he walks from left to right.
Mugs[]
The mugs in Ultra Deluxe.
Present inside of the regular office layout, an open cardboard box containing three mugs can be found sitting to the right of the filing cabinets next to Employee 428's door.
In the HD Remix, these three mugs have an equal chance of appearing as any of the four selections present, changing after each restart. The colorchanging mugs are not affected by other office variations being present like scattered papers or monitors, excluding variations that change the starting office layout such as the Blue Office or Short Office, as the mug box is missing completely from these variations.
In Ultra Deluxe, these mugs are always white. A similarity between the 2013 game and 2022 remake is that the mugs are specifically the "#1 DAD" ones, the only difference being the colors themselves.
.png "HD-mugs(cyanlimered).png (32 KB)")
.png "HD-mugs(redredyellow).png (32 KB)")
.png "HD-mugs(redgreenblue).png (32 KB)")
.png "HD-mugs(yellowpurplepurple).png (32 KB)")
Starting Dialogue[]
The dialogue spoken by the Narrator at the start of every run differs between restarts. See Dialogue - Rare alternatives for dialogue variations played when stepping out of the office and Dialogue (Ultra Deluxe) - Picking up the bucket for dialogue variations when picking up the bucket.
Orders Stopped[]
Every now and then, a specific starting dialogue variation will have the Narrator say: “Wait,” Stanley thought to himself. “Am I sure that the orders stopped coming in? “How is that possible, they've never stopped. Surely I was mistaken.” When this occurs, the door to Stanley's office is left open, as it otherwise closes at that point, and the player is expected to check the computer if it actually was true, prompting the Narrator to continue with: No, no, the orders were still missing. For now. Further entering and exiting the office doesn't prompt the Narrator to speak anymore.
If the player chooses not to go back into Stanley's office then the door will remain open indefinitely for the duration of the current run. This variation, or the ringing phone, is required to achieve the bucket versions of the Heaven and Coward endings as the player can pick up the bucket and return to the room, to either close the door or interact with Stanley's computer as long as the other Awaiting Input computers have been triggered beforehand.
Leaving the door open causes narration issues when paired with the Escape Pod ending when returning to the starting office area, as with this variation it simply requires the player to step into Stanley's office to trigger narration that is not supposed to be there.
Miscellaneous Dialogue[]
| All of his co-workers were gone, wha- [coughing]. Uh, excuse me. |
| How wonderful! Stanley was alone! Finally! “This is great!” he thought to himself. “This is what I've wanted all along! I got what I wanted.” |
| Stanley decided to go to the meeting room to check on his co-workers. He never functioned well by himself, and constantly needed support and guidance from others. So the thought of total solitude was terrifying to him. |
| All of his co-workers were... wait, no, this isn't the right office, is it? Is this Stanley's office? |
| “How long was I sitting there?” Stanley wondered to himself. “Minutes? Days? Centuries? Did something crucial happen while my senses were turned?” He made a note to be more careful with time from now on. |
| A soft wind blew outside, and perhaps rain started. And, if it did, it stopped shortly after. Stanley hoped he would one day see weather. |
| Stanley this, Stanley that... Stanley this, Stanley that... Stanley this, Stanley that... Stanley this, Stanley that... |
| Someone was following Stanley, he was sure of it. If he checked over his shoulder now he would surely catch them. It was only a matter of time. |
| Even now, Stanley's office was a distant memory. What had it looked like? There was a computer perhaps, and a painting? Was it a painting or a photo? He could no longer recall. |
| The meeting room, yes. That's where everyone would be. Stanley just needed to get to the meeting room, and from then on he would never be alone ever again. |
| “Just a step through this door,” Stanley thought to himself. “That's all I need. If I can make it through this door I can make it through them all.” |
| Already this was uncomfortable. And Stanley decided that as soon as he found a new space he felt safe in that he would never leave it again in his life. |
| Stanley had never seen the office this brightly lit. Was it a sign of something? He hoped it was, he hoped very much that it was. |
| “Wait,” Stanley thought to himself. “Am I sure that the orders stopped coming in? “How is that possible, they've never stopped. Surely I was mistaken.” No, no, the orders were still missing. For now. |
| “I can't wait to tell this story to my co-workers,” Stanley thought. “How amusing they'll find it! Oh, won't we all just laugh and laugh at the time I thought everyone had gone missing!” |
| Stanley knew the office layout like the back of his hand. It was only a matter of time before he found the others, wherever they were. Only a matter of time. |
| Stanley picked up the bucket. |
| Stanley lifted the bucket into his arms, and a wave of comfort rushed over him. |
| The confusion and the chaos all seemed to melt away as Stanley embraced the bucket. |
| Warmth spread through Stanley's arms. With the bucket in his arms again, he was home. |
| Stanley picked up the bucket and smiled. He'd never be alone again. Not truly alone. Not with the bucket around. |
| The good ol' bucket. Just Stanley and the bucket, off on another thrilling adventure together. |
| “Where are we going today?” the bucket asked. Stanley just smiled. Anywhere they went together would be perfectly fine with him. |
| A good bucket. A strong bucket. A humble bucket. A committed bucket. A bucket of culture and distinction. |
| Ah, the embrace of an old friend. A weathered companionship that stands the test of time. |
| The bucket made Stanley want to be a better man, and a better co-worker. In time, perhaps he would become both of those things. |
| Not everyone is so lucky to have a bucket. But Stanley is a very lucky fellow. Very lucky indeed. |
| It takes a lot of humility to carry a bucket so magnificent. Stanley checked his ego, and then proceeded onward. |
| Stanley cradled the bucket in a gentle embrace. Protective yet delicate, assertive yet compassionate. |
| Ahh, Stanley's bucket. The only coworker he would ever truly need. |
| Is Stanley without the bucket really Stanley at all? No, no surely not. |
| As Stanley lifted his bucket, he felt a connection to all buckets everywhere. This adventure, he decided, was for all of them. |
| What new mysteries lay in store for our bucket-loving heroes today? Let's find out. |
| “Now this,” Stanley thought to himself, “This is a bucket!” And indeed, it was. |
| Finally, yes! The bucket! Yes, yes, yes! I love that bucket. |
| One man. One bucket. One chance to seize their destiny, together. |
| It's bucket time! |
Progression-tied Layout Variations[]
These are the same as layout variations, but are strictly tied to progress made to Ultra Deluxe's story.
New Content Door[]
The New Content door.
- See Have you played The Stanley Parable before? to see how the New Content door is unlocked.
The door to Employee 416's office is now labeled New Content, which gives access to the New Content Ending.
Employee 416's door can still be found by stepping through this door, meaning that the Click on door 430 five times achievement can still be earned during this part of the game if the player hasn't gotten it earlier.
Vent Corridor[]
Appears directly after the completion of New Content Ending.
The starting area will look reminiscent to the Maintenance Room, possibly hinting at the room's rushed/temporary nature, as the Narrator seems to have created it right after him and Stanley experienced the New Content ending. The pathway starts off with walking forward, where the played is greeted with a framed picture of the regular office right on the wall. Turning to the left leads up to a short set of stairs where walking up them will prompt the Narrator to open a vent hatch, briefly trying to make Stanley enter it, claiming to want to show him something.
The player can choose to ignore the Narrator and take a 180° U-turn up another set of stairs that lead back to the regular office at the corner turn, the Narrator will call them a dork for this. Returning to the vent will have him retract his statement. The office will remain in this configuration until the vent is entered and the Skip Button Ending is completed.
If the player chooses to listen and enter the vent, then they will be brought to the Memory Zone, which is the location of the Skip Button Ending and is needed for further progression of Ultra Deluxe's story. This variation cannot be revisited after completing its connected ending.
New New Content Door[]
The New New Content sign.
Appears after completing the Skip Button Ending.
The hallway right before the Two Doors Room is darker than usual, and is illuminated by a big neon sign pointing to the New Content door, now labeled with the words "New New Content". It leads to the Sequel Ending.
This door is closed during The Stanley Parable 2 and is later re-opened after the Epilogue, or if the player forgets to visit the Figurines Exhibit or the Bucket Exhibit during the Sequel Ending. Stepping through it at this point allows the player to return to the The Stanley Parable 2 Expo, allowing the Sequel Ending and the Infinite Hole Ending to be replayed.
Fake Turn[]
Appears after collecting the six Stanley Figurines.
Opening up the game at this stage of the game will have the intro loading screen, intro cutscene skipped, and Stanley already facing the doorway of his room, as opposed to usually facing the computer, since the player is usually in the middle of playing as this section is reached and would otherwise not notice the discrepancy.
Walking into the room with the Fake Turn will lead to a dead end and have the Narrator close the door, apologising for putting the regular story on halt, claiming to be unable to stop thinking about the figurines/Figleys, just wanting to revisit them one more time and reexperience the joy it was to collect them.
The Out of Map Ending, Coward Ending, and Heaven Ending cannot be accessed while this variation is in effect: The window is blocked with an invisible wall (although the Narration trigger still exists), the door to Stanley's office cannot be closed, and the computer is always at its default state.
An interesting detail is that a mouse cursor is present on the top-center of the printed wall.
Post-Ending Variations[]
These office variations are tied to the completion of a specific ending, and will appear only directly after a restart is done. If a player exits the game/returns to the main menu while on the loading screen after completing the ending that triggers the variation once it's done, and then comes back, the variation will be present on the player's first run through the office.
No Bucket[]
Appears after completing the Escape Pod Ending while carrying the bucket.
The bucket is launched at the end of the Bucket Escape Pod Ending, leading to it missing from the office on the next restart and no bucket endings can be achieved in the current run. After a second restart, the Narrator will place a new bucket on the podium with a sign stating "REPLACEMENT BUCKET" next to it on Employee 422's desk partition. Picking up the replacement bucket will prompt the Narrator to say "And try not to lose this one too, you dolt."
The replacement bucket will keep any stickers that were present on the previous bucket.
This variation can interfere with any of the other office variations. When it comes to the variations that alter the layout of the starting office, it appears that the bucket can be missing during the Blue Office and Short Office, but when the replacement bucket and its sign appears - these variations will never occur.[unconfirmed]
Adventure Line™ Sightings[]
Appears after completing the Confusion Ending Without the Bucket.
The Stanley Parable Adventure Line™ will weave in many directions throughout the Office, mostly in the Inaccessible Areas to prevent anyone from following It™. In the HD Remake, the only appearance of it was the one in the blue office near the Employee Lounge, and then in the Ultra Deluxe two more sightings were added. This variation prompts any other variation to be disabled during the run.
It is currently unknown if there are any other places the Line goes through, although there may be.
REBOOT THE GAME ENTIRELY.[]
Appears after completing the Figurines Ending under certain conditions.
The written text on the opposite side to the door in the Meeting Room has been cleared out and instead of the usual business announcments, there is large text underlined twice that says: "REBOOT THE GAME ENTIRELY." This indicates what the player should do to get access to the Epilogue, as it is required that the player boots up the game five times at a minimum to have seen all of the Settings Person's dialogue, since this office variation only occurs when the Figurines Ending has been completed but the boot up requirement hasn't been met yet.
This office variation will not occur if the player had already booted up the game and spoken to the Settings Person more than once prior to completing this ending[unconfirmed] .
Trivia[]
- In the Original 2011 Mod, the office would stay the same, and there were no variations present.
- One of the starting dialogue variations has subtitles that say: "Stanley knew the office layout like the back of his hand. It was only a matter of time before he found the others. Only a matter of time", although the Narrator actually says [...] Just a matter of time.
| Secrets | ||
|---|---|---|
| Secrets | Achievements • Console Commands • Debug Menu • Eight • Employee 432 • Employee 432 Peer Reviews • Facepunch • Fictional Companies • Glitches • Inaccessible Areas • Jump Glitch • Loading Dock B • Low Poly Rats • Mumbletown • Office Variations • README.txt • Secret Disco • Serious Room • Ultra Deluxe Secrets • Who Likes to Party | |