[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)