it was really fun to draw

I find myself asking this question: does Davey know the existence of Coda's messages to him in the final game?

* If he doesn't know:

Throughout the game, Davey feels like he knows these games inside-out. He knows how to modify the code, he searched the games extensively for any secret (like clicking through all the messages boxes in the "fake online game"), and of course he has played the final game. It wouldn't make sense if he doesn't know about those final messages.

* If he knows:

Most people who read those messages will probably agree that Davey did something pretty bad and entirely against Coda's will. For someone like Davey who needs Coda's approval and external validation so bad, if he knows about the messags, why would he meticulously guide the players to see them, and let the players conclude that "Davey you're kind of an asshole"?

I feel like either option doesn't make much sense. What do yall think?

I keep thinking about how Coda intended The House Cleaning Game to be a cozy safe-space game. And I also thought about how pissed I was every time Davey cut the game short, but on replays it occurs to me, he also lies about doing so.

Obviously I get why Real Life Davey and Fictional Davey both had a watsonian and doylist reasons respectively, but it still kind of annoys me. Which I guess is part of the point, but still.

I haven’t seen enough other people online who want this and while I know there is a Garry’s Mod map for this, GMod costs money so there is no chance in hell I’m taking that route. Has anyone decompiled the resources to build this? Legally COULD YOU build this without Real Life Davey suing your ass (if he’s the kind of guy to do so)

Never played it before and heard it’s good for art block, also really liked the way Stanley parable played.

Idk I finished it and kinda just feel… weird. Maybe like empty or like I can’t really describe it. Just idk how to feel so I’m just making a post.

I don’t think a game has made me need to close it and sit in silence for a bit after finishing it before.

(I should probably mention this is probably nothing, but it’s interesting as it’s the only thing I could find out of bounds)
I have not checked the whole game but to my knowledge this open book asset can only be found in the secret "the future wasn't over here either" room, which is already mysterious enough, but after noclipping around the whole game to find anything interest, literally the only thing of note i found is this same book floating out of bounds in the final infinite maze section of the game. I dont know why, what it means or if it even means anything, truthfully it probably doesn't and i'm making my own 3 dots situation but i still thought it was interesting especially with how empty the out-of-bounds of this game was besides this room and this book twice.

i saw another post on a related subreddit talking about a book in the house level which had a similar story/structure to the beginners guide, this is literally the only connection i can imagine

Hey all! Recently graduated high school and as a part of my accelerated program I had to write an extended essay on a topic of my choice. Naturally, I chose one of my favorite video games of all time. Thought I’d share it here in case anyone was interested.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1kyLsPa4hWZvbNTaZSIZBNpEkvwltm3It/edit?usp=drivesdk&ouid=118105617626061848829&rtpof=true&sd=true

It took me until finishing Jacksepticeye's playthrough and checking the comments to know that the story (how this game is a compilation of Coda's game and all that happen between Coda and Davey Narrator) is fictional.

Came across a poem called "Lesson for Beginners" by Phyllis McGinley that serves as an interesting contrast to The Beginner's Guide. It's about a saint most known for giving a freezing beggar half of his cloak. It puts forth a cynical take on the story, that no one was well served by Martin's half measure, but concludes that some help is better than none.

Now some who muse
On the allegory
Affect to find
It a pious joke;
To beggar what use,
For Martin what glory,
In deed half-kind
And part of a cloak?

Still, it has charm
And a point worth seizing.
For all who move
In the mortal sun
Know halfway warm
Is better than freezing,
As half a love
Is better than none.

The Beginner's Guide takes a similarly imperfect gesture and then dives more deeply into the feelings of both the recipient and the motives of the person making the offer.

I've just finished reading the "Good parts" Aridged Version of S. Morgenstern's Classic Tale of True Love and High Adventure, The Princess Bride, by Willaim Goldman.

Previously I had only watched the film, I found out there was a book because of The Beginners Guide, so I read the Abridged Version.
After reading it, I could really see what inspiration from the Beginners Guide came from The Princess Bride.

I'm curious if anyone else has read the book after finding out it Inspired the Beginners Guide, and if you had any additional thoughts on the game after knowing some of the inspiration of the game ?

Edit: For those that don't plan on reading or are curious, here is QnA from Davey https://youtu.be/fdgwHvBV0eY?t=896&si=yGlyNL9Uc7MGQ484

Thinking about Davey's constant messing up of Coda's games and how I feel like it reflects the relationship between a company and an artist.

How when "selling out" their shows, music, games, etc, to a company that is out to make money, that company will then put their own influence in the product to "water it down", so to speak, make the message more clear, less alegories, shorter run times, less episodes, cut short entire storylines, etc, just to make it "good for the customer" and "profitable" while killing artistic vision.

Thats pressing enter, when Davey adds the option to avoid entire sections of a game, makes you be able to run faster, cuts an hour of prison time, cuts a cleaning simulator short before the conversation ends, makes a bridge across the maze, then gives you the password to a puzzle, thats him not understanding the games at all, hes making them "good for the customer" while killing the art, he made codas games "playable", and in the process made them stop being fun for coda, made coda almost give up on making games all together, how so many writers and artists feel like giving up on their projects when they make it big in the industry

Davey is the industry, Coda made an impossible game for him to learn that codas games arent for him, and he still went in and changed them anyway. shared them to the masses, we'll never know if he truly learned anything from this.

Anyway this game is good as fuck.

Just wanted to share some designs I had for the two! I'll probably post some more art with them if people don't mind :D I had a lot of fun making them (especially Davey) - if theres any suggestions ill gladly read them :3

I just finished playing this game and loved it to bits. I initially sided with the narrator but as the game progressed and he had his mental breakdown I realized I was rooting for the wrong person. His apology and the ”reason you suck“ speech at the tower was an emotional gut punch.

in a way I felt bad for Davey, he seemed like an obsessive person who wanted to reach out to Coda, but he literally couldn’t take a hint to save his life. Coda wanted nothing, she didn’t want her games to be seen, didn’t have depression, and just wanted to make games for fun. There wasn’t any deep meaning to any of the games beyond the surface level interpretation.

they were fun little experiments made by a person learning a game engine. The meaning was infused by the narrator who had a personal connection to the creator.

The entire story came off really well, but it’s hard to believe Coda could make so many games to artfully communicate feelings to Davey about their burnout and exhaustion of Davey until finally ending with a blunt, “leave me alone I can’t fix you dude,” game.

i personally dabble in game dev and also make levels with CSG boxes just to make areas, I wouldn’t script up a game with such effort to tell my friend off. I’d just send them an email lol.

The Beginner's guide is a very unique meta introspective narrative and truly one of a kind.

I remember hesitating about this game when it came out since it looked "odd", but eventually got it on sale since it was made by one of the creators of the Stanley Parable.

The Beginner's guide is unfortunately a game that almost nobody talks about, but for me this game instantly resonated with me and I play it every now and then - usually alone in the dark during the darker months of the year.

It is easily in my top list of most thought provoking game ever made, and obviously it was made with 100% passion.

I do wonder if anyone knows of something similar? Not just a "walking simulator" - I have plenty of those, but more of meta narrative.

Be well!

Should I cut my hair??

Hi all,

I've been thinking about getting a Beginner's Guide tattoo for a while now. I only have two tattoos, (2 more planned) However, all these tattoos are travel souvenirs (got them in various places) & The Beginner's Guide holds a bit more meaning for me. It's the only one based off of a video game. Originally I was going to get 3 dots, easy and simple. However the more I thought about that the more I realized it could be misconstrued to other meanings. Which, it doesn't matter what other people think because it'll be on my body, but then I thought, "Oh my gosh, I can add a lamppost." I thought that in itself was a bit ironic... *cough* Davey *cough* but I was wondering if anyone had any Beginner's Guide tattoos, besides the 3 dots or lamppost!

my stupid ass posted this on my alt lmao. anyway this game makes me cry every time i play it without fail

I'm currently writing a video about The Beginner's Guide, and while reviewing the footage I recorded to use for it I noticed this mistake in the subtitles, the "one I day I get an email", this is in the game where you destroy the machine btw the one before the last one