STAY is an indie thriller game developed by Appnormals Team and published by Playdius Entertainment. Initially released in 2017 for mobile devices, it later received ports for PC (through Steam
), Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and Nintendo Switch in 2018, with those versions being published by PQube.
The game begins with a man named Quinn being abducted and waking up in a room with a computer. He opens a chat program, only to find he's talking to you...
The game's main gimmick is playtime. Every minute you spend offline in real life affects Quinn and puts him more on edge. Leave him alone for too long, and there could be consequences.
Not related to the film or fanfic of the same name.
STAY is a very ambiguous game by nature: playing or watching a walkthrough first is highly recommended.
STAY contains examples of the following tropes:
- Addressing the Player: You are not a specific character; you are simply the person on the other end of Quinn's chat program. Lampshaded during the opening credits.
- Air-Vent Passageway: Quinn can try escaping the haunted mansion through the air vents, but he'll get stuck and die.
- Bladder of Steel: The game runs on real time even when it's paused or turned off, and every second the player is away, Quinn slowly goes insane. There's even an achievement for completing the game without pausing at all.
- Guide Dang It!: The puzzles get progressively harder but their hints either become vague or nonexistent, especially in the brick puzzle and mirror maze. Since exiting the game will slowly eat away at Quinn's sanity, it's easy to get stumped without looking up the solutions on another device.
- Missed Him by That Much: Quinn rushes into a restaurant just as his unnamed love interest is leaving, a crowd of people separating them.
- Multiple Endings: The game contains multiple ending scenes, all equally confusing and ambiguous.
- No Ending: We never really get an answer as to who kidnapped Quinn or why.
- Relationship Values: The player can track Quinn's feelings and trust towards them by checking his temperament (represented by four windows that fill or drain with the four kinds of bile depending on their choices) and closeness meters.
- Unexpected Gameplay Change: Besides choosing dialogue options to advance the plot, the player also helps Quinn solve puzzles to go to the next room such as fixing the broken lamp, arranging the books to open a Bookcase Passage, arranging the chess pieces in a certain pattern, and navigating a mirror maze. The final confrontation with the killer is a mini-Fighting Game.
- Voice with an Internet Connection: Quinn wakes up in an abandoned computer room and makes first contact with the player via a chat system. He then finds a phone and chats with them with it as he explores the mansion.
