Long story short, each of the endings represents a possible relationship between God and Man, most of which are pretty prevalent ideas.

• Freedom ending: God created a story for man to enact
• Countdown ending: God is toying with man / God is wrathful
• Button ending: Man is rewarded for his work with Heaven
• Museum ending: God is just a creation of a greater God (the museum represents all the work that the developer/greater-god put into creating the narrator/lesser-God)
• Insanity ending: God was an illusion of the mind and theists are deluded/insane; the woman represents atheists/agnostics and her job represents secular life

• Coward ending (staying in his office): Man waits for someone else to tell him whether or not God exists (AKA blindly following an organized religion)
• Broken-world ending: Man manages to defy God inexplicably, God's plans for Man are ruined, God is dismayed
• Apartment ending: God is disappointed in Man being Man
• Portal ending: Man is disappointed with God's world, God tries to work with Man to improve it, God eventually allows Man to make his own world
• Confusion ending: God confronts paradoxes created by himself (example: can God make food that is too hot for himself eat)

• Staircase Suicide ending: Man is disappointed with God's world, Man leaves the world the only way in which he knows how, God is dismayed (AKA real-life suicide)

Those are the main endings. I can't explain the other, weirder endings like the Escape Pod ending and the Warehouse Suicide ending.

This game is not about God. Fuck God.

Long story short, each of the endings represents a possible relationship between the narrator and stanley, most of which are pretty prevalent ideas.

Freedom ending: the narrator created a story for stanley to enact

Countdown ending: the narrator is toying with stanley / the narrator is wrathful

Button ending: stanley is rewarded for his work with Heaven

Museum ending: the narrator is just a creation of a greater the narrator (the museum represents all the work that the developer/greater-the narrator put into creating the narrator/lesser-the narrator)

Insanity ending: the narrator was an illusion of the mind and theists are deluded/insane; the wostanley represents atheists/agnostics and her job represents secular life

Coward ending (staying in his office): stanley waits for someone else to tell him whether or not the narrator exists (AKA blindly following an organized religion)

Broken-world ending: stanley stanleyages to defy the narrator inexplicably, the narrator's plans for stanley are ruined, the narrator is dismayed

Apartment ending: the narrator is disappointed in stanley being stanley

Portal ending: stanley is disappointed with the narrator's world, the narrator tries to work with stanley to improve it, the narrator eventually allows stanley to make his own world

Confusion ending: the narrator confronts paradoxes created by himself (example: can the narrator make food that is too hot for himself eat)

Staircase Suicide ending: stanley is disappointed with the narrator's world, stanley leaves the world the only way in which he knows how, the narrator is dismayed (AKA real-life suicide)

Those are the main endings. I can't explain the other, weirder endings like the Escape Pod ending and the Warehouse Suicide ending.

Fixed your post for you.

@soap's post made much more sense, no offense OP.

@soap: Fascinating, but I think you got a bit carried away with the find-and-replace? The wostanley stanleyages to slip through the spellcheck.

Edit: And huh, the rest of my reply vanished. As it was saying, I'd see the warehouse suicide ending similar to the broken world one but, rather than just defying the narrator, Stanley is actively forcing the narration in a (admittedly short) path of his choosing. But I would probably interpret most of them differently anyway.

Seconded. And if anyone hears the voice of "God" like you/Stanley hear the Narrator... seek mental help.

I think its something else. i think that the narrator is that little voice in your head telling you that the world you live in is fake and meaningless. That thought you've had since you first saw the matrix. Even if you suppress it, its still there, in the back of your mind. If you ignore the voice you'll end up where you are forever and eventually die. Life would have meant nothing. But if you listen to the voice, follow it, it can take you down a rabbit hole. It can set you free. But listening to a voice that's telling you to that your world is fake and meaningless can be scary and so you'll turn your back on it. Not unless you break through that fourth wall, you'll be stuck in this game forever...

but thats just a thought i had while i took a walk after playing the game.

I don't think there's supposed to be any deeper meaning.

Wow, so a person shares his opinion on the meanings of the endings in a game, and that seems justifiable to you guys? Geez. Regardless of your opinion on religion, or God his/herself, you don't have to be so bluntly aggressive and offensive towards someone.

@kindgineer said:

Meh, I think the reaction is pretty justified. The game is really clearly not spiritual or religious in any way, and is definitely about the relationship between a storyteller/game designer and their audience, however you want to spin that. If Levio is allowed his opinion of "the game is about God and Man", I don't see why others can't be allowed their own opinions, such as "Game isn't about God, fuck God" or "people who literally hear voices in their head should probably seek psychiatric help".

Well then certainly I'm allowed to say "Fuck people who say this game isn't about God and fuck people who paint people as stupid because of the way they interpreted a piece of art. This video game offers a lot of room for interpretation and you're a fucking asshole if you dismiss someone elses well thought out view because you have a stick up your ass about religion".

Jesus Christ. No wonder there's no Giantbomb book club.

@spraynardtatum said:

To be fair it's not like Giant Bomb promotes literacy.

Not sure if I should grab popcorn for this one or not

@xalienxgreyx: I feel like the main act is over, or about to be. But I'll make some anyway.

I actually really liked levio's view on it. Made me think for a second. And spraynardatum's right, a video game is like any other piece of art. Different people will interpret it in different ways.

The OP isn't explaining any deeper meaning to the game at all. There's no opinion or speculation in his post; he's transcribing exactly what happens in the game. @soap's post proves it. There's no discussion to be had. Quit bickering because he used the word "God".

@zaccheus: The game is obviously about God, or more precisely the voice of God trying to guide Stanley across through the other side. If you've ever opened your mind with DMT then you would realize this parallel between each of Stanley's endings and the different types of trips you'll have, both bad and good. It's also about the duality of man and the duality of God, whether he's benevolent, evil, or both like humans are. The fact that the story centers on Stanley being mind-controlled until he dies is also very psychedelic in nature, once he starts crossing over he "wakes up" and is able to question things the same way a strong mushroom trip will wake you up to the non-physical dimension of reality.

this is a great thread to be necro'd and a great post for it to be necro'd with