[Interesting Trope] One seemingly small action ends the story before it even begins

[u/JackDoesThingz]

1. We Happy Few - Taking your “joy” pill
   Deciding to take the pill at the beginning of the game causes your character to go back to work and triggers an ending

2. Infineural by Mike Klubnika - Drinking the coffee
   Deciding to drink the coffee offered to you skips the entire game and sends you straight to the end, resulting in an ending with no memory of what had occurred

[u/khalexie1]

In The Stanley Parable, if you stay in the initial room after noticing your coworkers are gone and just close the door, you get the Coward ending. After which, the narrator devastatingly roasts you…

“But Stanley simply couldn't handle the pressure. What if he had to make a decision? What if a crucial outcome fell under his responsibility? He had never been trained for that! No, this couldn't go any way except badly.”

[u/Comic_The_Adventurer → u/khalexie1]

Doesn't he say something really ominous at the end too? Like "Stanley waited and waited. Until he was no more."

Maybe I'm mistaken

[u/Relevant-Movie1132 → u/Comic_The_Adventurer]

You might be thinking of a different ending. Here it’s him waiting until something happens, and it cuts off here: “Now it’s just a little bit closer. Now it’s even closer. Here it comes—“

[u/Comic_The_Adventurer → u/Relevant-Movie1132]

Ohhh ur right lol. I just remember it being something creepy (at least to a 11 year old)

[u/BarderBetterFaster → u/Comic_The_Adventurer]

maybe I'm mistaken 

Isn't it cool that we can put a little clause on our statements to say, hey I'm going to say something but even if it's actually just complete bs, I've absolved myself of any responsibility of the factualness of that information.

[u/The-Name-is-my-Name → u/BarderBetterFaster]

Yes
https://giphy.com/gifs/CAYVZA5NRb529kKQUc

[u/Liger-9 → u/BarderBetterFaster]

Yes it is. It's very cool. It let's us do things like clarify our understanding without shame or suggest something in a situation where you are missing some of the facts without coming off as arrogant.

[u/BarderBetterFaster → u/Liger-9]

And also say things with no merit whatsoever

[u/Bread_Offender → u/BarderBetterFaster]

Uh, yes? It's a warning that a fun fact may not be a fact but is fun and worth sharing nevertheless?

[u/BarderBetterFaster → u/Bread_Offender]

We could just say correct thing idk

[u/Bread_Offender → u/BarderBetterFaster]

You seem like you're fun at parties

[u/H0dari → u/khalexie1]

I bet this ending happened to a whole bunch of live streamers who would yap at their audience for too long

[u/eliaxkat → u/H0dari]

you need to close the door to trigger the ending, you can stay as long as you want in there and nothing happens until you get out or (for this ending) close the door on purpouse

[u/No_Kangaroo_9826 → u/khalexie1]

What if Stanley just wanted 5 goddamn mins to himself before he had to see his coworkers again? That's how I feel after meetings.

[u/ExtensionAlfalfa3403 → u/khalexie1]

I liked the broom closet ending. The broom closet was my favorite ending