A little more than a decade ago, the video-game designer Davey Wreden experienced a crippling success. In October, 2013, he and a collaborator, William Pugh, released the Stanley Parable HD, a polished and expanded version of a prototype that Wreden had developed in college, and which he had made available, free of charge, two years before. Wreden and Pugh hoped that they might sell fifty thousand or so copies of the new version in the course of its lifetime. They sold that many on the first day. Wreden was twenty-five years old, and he had everything he’d ever wanted: money, success, recognition. He became severely depressed.
The Game Designer Playing Through His Own Psyche
Davey Wreden found acclaim in his twenties, with the Stanley Parable and the Beginner’s Guide. His new game, Wanderstop, grapples with the depression that followed.
Illustration by Max Guther
