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The Beginner's Guide
The Beginner's Guide is a narrative video game from Davey Wreden, the creator of The Stanley Parable. It lasts about an hour and a half and has no traditional mechanics, no goals or objectives. Instead, it tells the story of a person struggling to deal with something they do not understand.
What players say
Steam review score and the most-helpful voices, which may include critical ones. Data as of 2026-05-20.
What reviewers agree on
56 of the 103 reviews raise this.
“Wow...this, legit made me ugly cry. I implore you to not read any reviews of this game until you finished playing and just go into this as completely blind as possible. If you're a creative in any sense and are dealing…”
“just. idk. This game is so weird and unique to me. I totally think everybody should give this game a try. It's short and its definitely an experience. If you ask me why you should play it I wouldn't be able to tell you.…”
“As someone who is a game dev who's been struggling with... stuff, this hit home so hard that I just took moments to just stop, look around the environment, and breathe. I can go on for hours on how each level made me…”
11 of the 103 reviews raise this.
“Don't read review's. Barely look at the store page, this game is short and sweet, and only 10 bucks. For 10 Dollars I have a game that is stuck in my head and can impact me in such a way, FOR ONLY 10 BUCKS! Everyone…”
“Haven't played it in a while but it has left a lasting impression on me. It's a heavy game but it tells an incredibly impactful story that made me reflect upon myself. It's a fairly short game but it is very much worth…”
“Well ♥♥♥♥. That was incredible. I don't even know what else to say other then everyone needs to play this if they haven't yet. I'm retroactively mad at myself for waiting this long. It's 10 bucks on Steam and takes an…”
8 of the 103 reviews raise this.
“This was a truly incredible game, it really does a turn youre not expecting. This only works as a video game, but they use the medium so well. Props to everyone involved with the creation of this. Genuinely incredible.…”
“This is a game for those who want to see video games as art, maybe even avant garde art. It isn't as pretentious as that description makes it sound, but uses the language and form of video games to tell a compelling and…”
“It's more of an experience than a game IMO. If you're interested in game design or are a game developer, this is highly recommended as it shows many interesting concepts and iterations of various short games.”
8 of the 103 reviews raise this.
“just. idk. This game is so weird and unique to me. I totally think everybody should give this game a try. It's short and its definitely an experience. If you ask me why you should play it I wouldn't be able to tell you.…”
“Don't read review's. Barely look at the store page, this game is short and sweet, and only 10 bucks. For 10 Dollars I have a game that is stuck in my head and can impact me in such a way, FOR ONLY 10 BUCKS! Everyone…”
“I don't think I've completely understood this game and that is probably the point. The story is simple and I enjoyed it coming from someone who often creates absurd things. It felt oddly relatable in some ways with both…”
6 of the 103 reviews raise this.
“Don't read review's. Barely look at the store page, this game is short and sweet, and only 10 bucks. For 10 Dollars I have a game that is stuck in my head and can impact me in such a way, FOR ONLY 10 BUCKS! Everyone…”
“[h1] The Beginner's Guide [/h1] [h3] Positives: [/h3] + Original idea + The game starts of brilliantly + Atmospheric + The philosophy and deeper meaning + Mysterious and confusing + Nice storytelling + Very good…”
“Beautiful design and visuals, fun but also intriguing story that becomes a bit deeper in the end. Quick game but worth it.”
13 of the 103 reviews raise this · 10 of them still recommend the game.
“[h1]One of the most emotionally-touching narrative games I have ever experienced.[/h1] I do not want to talk about the specifics or the themes this game touches - no matter how many hours I'd put into this review, I…”
“Haven't played it in a while but it has left a lasting impression on me. It's a heavy game but it tells an incredibly impactful story that made me reflect upon myself. It's a fairly short game but it is very much worth…”
“if you wanted stanley parable, this isn't it. if you lost someone, because of your own hubris, because of your own misgivings, because of your own need. this is it (get it on sale, not worth 10 bucks, quite short)”
10 of the 103 reviews raise this · 5 of them still recommend the game.
“This isn't much of a "game", but it is a story. A fantastically deep story that I keep thinking about frequently, even all these years later.”
“A beautiful, thought provoking game with an emotional depth I don't see in much media that keeps you hooked from the very beginning until the very end. Not much of a game rather than an interactive experience, but still…”
8 of the 103 reviews raise this · 4 of them still recommend the game.
“[h1]One of the most emotionally-touching narrative games I have ever experienced.[/h1] I do not want to talk about the specifics or the themes this game touches - no matter how many hours I'd put into this review, I…”
“if you wanted stanley parable, this isn't it. if you lost someone, because of your own hubris, because of your own misgivings, because of your own need. this is it (get it on sale, not worth 10 bucks, quite short)”
“Was not for me. And the price is a bit high for what it is imo.”
8 of the 103 reviews raise this.
“I didn't really like this, I at first enjoyed being taken through each game and found the creative process, as well as what it had to say about it interesting. The narrator eventually explains that he is essentially…”
3 of the 103 reviews raise this.
Counted across 103 English reviews, sampled to match this game's 88.0% positive rating · as of 2026-05-20
“One of the most touching games Ive played in a while, if one person is reading this, I love you dude I miss you tons everyday even if we still talk, to the man who bought this for me thank you I wouldnt be here or me without you <3”
— a player, Steam review · 2 hrs played“If you want to play this game I think you should first play The Stanley Parable Ultra Deluxe and if you liked the game then play The beginer's guide. Wow this game. It changed the way I view art and the author behind it and showed the power of games as a means of telling…”
— a player, Steam review · 6 hrs played“If you struggle with the feeling of not being good enough, and rely heavily on external validation, this one will hit home. 10/10 (bring tissues)”
— a player, Steam review · 6 hrs playedPlayer activity
Monthly average concurrent players. Live count fetched 2026-07-11 12:13 UTC · history via SteamCharts.
Price tracking
US-region pricing (USD), sampled twice daily by our own tracker since 2026-07-11. Steam prices vary by region — always confirm your local price on Steam.
Regional prices at last sample, in local currency — Steam sets each region's price independently.
Cheapest → most expensive, converted to USD at ECB reference rates (2026-07-24). Relative comparison only.
Latest official news
Developer announcements via the Steam news API — links go to the original posts. More across all games on the news hub.
New Game Announcement: Wanderstop
Hi all, this is Davey, the writer and originator of The Stanley Parable and The Beginner's Guide. I'm making this post to let you know that I've just announced a new game that I've been working on for
The Beginner's Guide Update Released
An update to The Beginner's Guide has been released. The major changes include: All platforms Resolved an issue where pressing 9 could cause the game to crash. Windows Resolved various issues that cou
The Beginner's Guide Update Released
An update to The Beginner's Guide has been released. The major changes include: All platforms Resolved an issue where pressing 9 could cause the game to crash. Windows Resolved various issues that cou
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Screenshots
Official Steam store screenshots — click any shot to enlarge.
Facts & details
From the Steam store record, snapshot 2026-05-20.
| Genres | Adventure, Indie |
| Player tags | Story Rich · Walking Simulator · Narration · Indie · Atmospheric · First-Person · Short · Singleplayer · Abstract · Adventure · Surreal · Psychological (SteamSpy community voting) |
| Features | Single-player · Captions available · Partial Controller Support · Remote Play on Tablet · Family Sharing |
| Languages | English * , French, German, Spanish - Spain, Russian * |
| Estimated owners | 500,000 – 1,000,000 (SteamSpy) |
| Official site | http://www.thebeginnersgui.de |
Minimum system requirements (PC)
Minimum: OS *: Windows Vista/7/8/8.1/10 Processor: 3.0 GHz P4, Dual Core 2.0 (or higher) or AMD64X2 (or higher) Memory: 2 GB RAM Graphics: Video card must be 128 MB or more and should be a DirectX 9-compatible with support for Pixel Shader 2.0b (ATI Radeon X800 or higher / NVIDIA GeForce 7600 or higher / Intel HD Graphics 2000 or higher - *NOT* an Intel Express graphics card). Storage: 4 GB available space Sound Card: DirectX 9.0c compatible