Davey Wreden (born September 29, 1988) is a game designer and developer, best known for his work on The Stanley Parable and The Beginner's Guide.
[6] Wreden experienced depression after the success of The Stanley Parable, which included various media outlets' game of the year awards.
Through a series of introspective and emotionally charged levels, the game raises questions about authorship, interpretation, and the relationship between creators and players.
[16][17][18] From February 2021 to June 2022, Wreden and Cara Ellison hosted The Inspirational Quarterly, a podcast dedicated to reading, reviewing, and discussing Keith R. A. DeCandido's 2006 novel StarCraft: Ghost: Nova.
[19] In 2021, Wreden founded the game studio Ivy Road along with Karla Zimonja and C418, with additional support from Annapurna Interactive.
[23] Wreden has been influenced by cartoonist Alison Bechdel, author David Foster Wallace, and the games of Brendon Chung—including Gravity Bone and Thirty Flights of Loving.
[15] Discussing authorship and player agency in game design, Ivan Girina writes, "Davey Wreden's authorial discourse is often evoked as the focal point around which the meaning of not only Stanley but also his other creations, such as The Beginner's Guide ... is organised.